Gene Arlan "Suds" Fodge (July 9, 1931 – October 27, 2010) 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 briefly for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

during the season. Listed at , Weight: 175 lb., Fodge batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United S ...

. Fodge was a 1950 graduate of

South Bend Central High School South Bend Community School Corporation (SBCSC), located in South Bend, Indiana, is St. Joseph County's oldest and largest school corporation, and the fifth largest in the state. They have 30 schools and seven support facilities in a geographic ...

, lettering in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. He was originally signed by the Cubs as an amateur free-agent in 1950, and was assigned to Class-D Janesville Cubs in 1951. He ended with a 12–13 record and a 3.78

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 ...

in his first professional season. He then went on to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps for two years during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Following his discharge, Fodge returned to play in 1954 and posted a 5–4 record with a 3.99 ERA in 29 games for Class-A

Des Moines Bruins Des Moines Bruins were a minor league baseball based in Des Moines, Iowa. The team played in the Western League from 1947 to 1958. Their home ballpark was Pioneer Memorial Stadium, and they were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs (1947–1957) and ...

. Fodge improved markedly with Des Moines in 1955, going 16–10 with a 2.28 ERA in 36 games, including 29 starts. The next season, he finished 19–7 with a 4.31 ERA in 44 games (25 starts) for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. In 1957 Fodge pitched Double-A ball with the

Fort Worth Cats The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball. ...

Memphis Chickasaws Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memphis ...

and

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

, going to a combined 8–14 with a 4.30 ERA in 34 games (22 starts). Fodge made his big league debut with the Cubs in 1958. Facing the

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 hav ...

in his first game, he appeared in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

, pitching two perfect innings and

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

two batters. He compiled a 1–1 record with a 4.76 ERA in 16 games (one start), giving up 22 runs (21 earned) on 47 hits and 11 walks while striking out 15 in 39⅔ innings of work. His only major league victory came at the expense of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, pitching a

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 ...

in a Cubs 15–2 beating at LA Memorial Coliseum, where Dodgers pitchers

Don Drysdale Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball, D ...

, Roger Craig, Ron Negray and

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

were unable to hold the visitors in hand. He returned to Fort Worth for the rest of 1958, finishing with an 8–3 mark and a 2.23 ERA in 14 games. In a six-season minors career, he went 68–51 with a 3.47 ERA in 190 pitching appearances. After his baseball career ended, Fodge returned to South Bend to raise his family. He died in

Mishawaka, Indiana Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River, in Penn Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South ...

, aged 79.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fodge, Gene 1931 births 2010 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago Cubs players Des Moines Bruins players Fort Worth Cats players Janesville Cubs players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Memphis Chickasaws players Portland Beavers players United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War Baseball players from South Bend, Indiana

See also

Sources