Richard Rudolph (August 25, 1887 – October 20, 1949), was a

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 for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

through 13 seasons spanning 1910–1927. He attended

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. Though he stood only 5' 9.5" and weighed just 160 lbs., Rudolph was a large contributor for the 1914 "Miracle Braves" team that went from last place to first place of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July.The 1914 Boston Braves at www.thisgreatgame.com
The Braves then went on to sweep

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

's heavily favored

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in the

1914 World Series The 1914 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 1914 season. The 11th edition of the World Series, it was played between the American League champion and defending World Series champion Philadelphia Athletics and t ...

, becoming the first MLB club ever to win a series in just four games, as Rudolph pitched complete-game victories in Games 1 and 4. Rudolph won 12 straight games during the regular season. In doing this, he turned in a 12-game consecutive winning streak from July 4 through August 24. Overall, he posted a 26–10 record with a 2.35

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 42 games (36 starts), including 31 complete games and six

shutout 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 ...

s in 336.1 innings of work.Batting and Pitching statistics
''Baseball Reference''. Retrieved on June 3, 2019. (A team record that stood until

Tom Glavine Thomas Michael Glavine (born March 25, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, for the Atlanta Braves (1987–2002, 2008) and New York Mets (2003–2007). With 164 victories durin ...

won 13 straight in 1992). Though Rudolph never reached his 1914 peak again, he collected 22 wins in 1915 and 19 in the next season. As a hitter, Rudolph posted a .188

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 ...

(131-for-698) with 46 runs, 2

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 56 RBI, 9

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

and 53

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He had 17 RBI for the 1915 Boston Braves. Defensively, he recorded a .970

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

which was 14 points higher than the league average at his position. Rudolph is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

References

External links

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Retrosheet
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SABR Biography Project
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolph, Dick 1887 births 1949 deaths Boston Braves coaches Boston Braves players Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Fordham Rams baseball players Major League Baseball coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers New Haven Blues players New York Giants (NL) players Providence Grays (minor league) players Rutland (minor league baseball) players Baseball players from New York City Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players