Benjamin Cowan Shields 'Lefty'' or ''Big Ben''(June 17, 1903 – January 24, 1982) was a

middle relief In baseball, a middle reliever or middle relief pitcher, is a relief pitcher who typically pitches during the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings of a standard baseball game. In leagues with no designated hitter, such as in the National League pri ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played from through for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

(1924–1925),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

(1930) and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(1931). Listed at , 195 lb., Shields batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. He was born in

Huntersville, North Carolina Huntersville is a large suburban town in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. A part of the Charlotte metropolitan area, the population was 61,376 at the 2020 census, making Huntersville the 15th largest municipality in North Caroli ...

. In a four-season career, Shields posted 4–0 record with an 8.27

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 13 appearances, including two starts, two

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, nine

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 41

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He holds the major league record for most career wins without a loss (4), despite his high ERA of 8.27. He benefited from pitching for a powerful Yankees team that featured

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

and Lou Gehrig among others. He recorded three of his wins towards the end of the 1925 season, winning games by scores of 6-5, 7-6, & 9-8 respectively. He would record an additional win by pitching four scoreless innings in a 1931 game for the Philadelphia Phillies. However, he had entered that game having given up seven earned runs in 2/3 inning which calculated to an ERA of 94.50. It lowered to 13.50 after the outing that resulted in his fourth win, but only appeared in one major league contest after that. Shields died at the age of 78 in

Woodruff, South Carolina Woodruff is a city in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States, located in upstate South Carolina. The population was 4,333 at the 2020 census. Geography Woodruff is located at (34.740530, -82.032580). According to the United States C ...

External links

Baseball Reference
Boston Red Sox players New York Yankees players Philadelphia Phillies players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina 1903 births 1982 deaths People from Huntersville, North Carolina {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub