Earl Andrew Hamilton (July 19, 1891 – November 17, 1968) was a left-handed

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 ...

for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

(1911–16, later in 1916–17), Detroit Tigers (1916), Pittsburgh Pirates (1918–23), and the Philadelphia Phillies (1924) of

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). He pitched a no-hitter against Detroit on August 30, 1912, becoming the first player to pitch a no-hitter without recording a strikeout. The Tigers did get a run on a

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

and an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

, making the final score 5-1 Browns. Hamilton also batted left-handed and ended his career with an average pitcher's

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 ...

of .153 in 733 at bats.

Career overview

Born in

Gibson City, Illinois Gibson City is a city in Ford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,407 at the 2010 census. History The site of Gibson City was purchased and platted by Jonathan B. Lott in 1869. In 1870, Lott built a home and a post office there, ...

, Hamilton played his first major league game on April 14, 1911. Through the early to mid-teens, Hamilton was considered a quality pitcher and was one of the better pitchers on some terrible Browns teams. In 1914, Hamilton had a very quality season, going 16–18 with a 2.50

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 innings pitched. After being purchased by Detroit in 1916, he was waived back to the Browns less than a month later. Then, in 1918, he finally left St. Louis for good after an 0–9 season, being purchased by Pittsburgh before the season began. That season, in 6 starts, he had one of the most amazing seasons ever recorded. Hamilton was 6–0 with a 0.83 ERA in 54 innings that year. He finished with 1

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 ...

in his 6 complete games. Hamilton had only given up 7 runs (5 earned) in 6 games. Oddly, he picked that season to enlist in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

. Hamilton returned for more fair seasons with the Pirates. Along with

Wilbur Cooper Arley Wilbur Cooper (February 24, 1892 – August 7, 1973) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A four-time winner of 20 games in the early 1920s, he was the first Na ...

Whitey Glazner Charles Franklin "Whitey" Glazner (September 17, 1893 – June 6, 1989) was a professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of five seasons (1920–24) with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies. For his c ...

, and

Babe Adams Charles Benjamin "Babe" Adams (May 18, 1882 – July 27, 1968) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1906 to 1926 who spent nearly his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Noted for his outstanding control, ...

, he helped make up a good rotation for Pittsburgh, culminating with a second-place finish in 1921 (behind only the New York Giants, 4 games). However, they never made the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

with Hamilton. Before he retired in 1924, Hamilton was selected off waivers by the Phillies, and he went 0–1 with them, with a 10.50 ERA. Hamilton made sparse appearances on leaderboards throughout his career, such as a 9th-place finish in the ERA leaderboard (3.36, 1921) and tying for a 7th-place finish in wins in 1914, when he had 16. He also made the top 10 in losses three times (1914, 15, 21), and ended up finishing only two years of his career with a winning record; his 6–0 season of 1918 and 1922 (11-7). Hamilton pitched 16 shutout innings on July 16, 1920, with the Pirates, before losing 7–0 against the New York Giants, clearly having run out of gas in the 17th.

Rube Benton John Cleave "Rube" Benton (June 27, 1890 – December 12, 1937) was a pitcher for Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds (1910–15, 1923–25) and New York Giants (1915–21). He pitched in the minor leagues for the Minneapolis Millers of the Am ...

was the Giants' pitcher, also going 16 shutout innings. In 14 years, he was 115–147 with a solid 3.16 ERA in 410 games (261 starts). He pitched 140 complete games, 16 of them shutouts. Hamilton recorded 790 career strikeouts and allowed 1075 runs (822 earned) in innings pitched. He died in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, at the age of 77.

References

Sources

Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Earl 1891 births 1968 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Browns players Pittsburgh Pirates players Detroit Tigers players Orientals players Philadelphia Phillies players Baseball players from Illinois Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players People from Gibson City, Illinois American expatriate baseball players in Cuba 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Career overview

See also

References

Sources