Clifford Day Chambers (January 10, 1922 – January 21, 2012) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

who appeared in 189 games in

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), ...

(

MLB 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), ...

) from to for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He threw and batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed .

Biography

Chambers was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. He played two seasons of

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program com ...

in 1941–42. He broke into the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1948, and he was pleasantly surprised to find out that he had been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1949 season. Chambers said that he had not been happy with his salary in Chicago, and that he was excited to play with a well-regarded organization like Pittsburgh. Before the 1950 season, Chambers had threatened not to sign with Pittsburgh unless he made $20,000, a large increase from his $7,500 salary the year before. After Pirates general manager

Roy Hamey Henry Roy Hamey (June 9, 1902 – December 14, 1983) was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). A longtime employee of the New York Yankees, he was appointed the club's general manager in November 1960. Inheriting a ...

called Chambers at his home in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (loc ...

, Chambers agreed to sign an extension worth less than $15,000. On May 6, 1951, while with the Pirates, Chambers no-hit the Boston Braves 3–0 in the second game of a doubleheader at Braves Field. It was the first no-hitter by a Pirates pitcher in 44 years.May 6, 1951: Chambers throws 1st Pirates’ no-hitter in 44 years
/ref> A month later, on June 15, the Pirates traded Chambers and Wally Westlake to the Cardinals for Dick Cole,

Joe Garagiola Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality. Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...

, Bill Howerton,

Howie Pollet Howard Joseph Pollet (June 26, 1921 – August 8, 1974) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s. A three-time All-Star in 1943, 1946 and 1949, he twice led the National League in earned run avera ...

and

Ted Wilks Theodore Wilks (November 13, 1915 – August 21, 1989) was an American professional baseball player. Born in Fulton, New York, he was a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 385 games in Major League Baseball over ten seasons (1944–53) as a memb ...

. Not until Edwin Jackson in 2010 would a pitcher be traded after hurling a no-hitter earlier in the season. Over his six MLB seasons, Chambers compiled a 48–53 career won–lost record with an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 4.29, with 37 complete games and seven

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in 113 starts. He allowed 924 hits and 361 bases on balls in 897 innings pitched, with 374 strikeouts. He was an above-average hitter as a pitcher, posting a .235

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(69-for-294) with 24 runs, three home runs and 25 RBI.

References

External links

* 1922 births 2012 deaths Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Chicago Cubs players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Eagle, Idaho Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Washington State Cougars baseball players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links