George Franklin Blaeholder (January 26, 1904 – December 29, 1947) 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), ...

. Blaeholder began his career in 1925 with 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 ...

, but he pitched in just two innings that season. Back in the minors in 1926, he returned to the majors with the Browns in 1927, where he again saw limited duty, pitching only 9 innings. He spent most of the prior four seasons with the

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

. In 1928, he became a regular full-time pitcher, posting a 10–15 record and a 4.04 ERA in 214 innings. In 1929, Blaeholder posted arguably his best season, going 14-15 with a 4.18

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 ...

and four

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. He won 10 or more games in 7 seasons with the Browns, but the Browns were a perennial losing team, and Blaeholder had only one non-losing season with the Browns (in 1932 when he went 14–14). During the 1935 season, he was traded to the

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 ...

for Sugar Cain and Ed Coleman. He went 6-10 for the Athletics that year. The following year, he played his final season with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, where he went 8–4, the only winning season of his career. After leaving the major leagues, Blaeholder spent the next six seasons with the minor league

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

before retiring. He died shortly thereafter of liver cancer at age 43. Blaeholder is most noted for popularizing the

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

pitch. Pitchers had previously used the pitch, but not nearly as extensively as Blaeholder threw it, as the pitch was considered by pitchers at the time to ruin the arm.Neyer, Rob.
The slider: A concise history
– ESPN

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaeholder, George 1904 births 1947 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Browns players Philadelphia Athletics players Cleveland Indians players Baseball players from California Sportspeople from Orange, California