Ulysses Grant Thatcher (February 23, 1877 – March 17, 1936) was an American right-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 ...

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), ...

in the United States.

Biography

Born in

Maytown, Pennsylvania Maytown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The population was 4,098 at the 2020 census. History Maytown is noted as the birthplace of 19th-century politician Simon Cameron, who serv ...

on February 23, 1877, Thatcher pitched in five games for the

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

during the 1903 and 1904 baseball seasons, making four starts, and acquiring a 4–1 record with a 3.16

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 ...

during his appearances. Thatcher had an unusual end to his Major League career. When the Superbas attempted to play a second Sunday home game on April 24 against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, the club was tipped off that the pitcher, catcher and hitter at the start of the game would be arrested. Thus three "decoys" were inserted at the start of the game, with

Ed Poole Edward Isaih Poole (September 7, 1874 – March 11, 1919) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played from 1900 to 1904 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Brooklyn Superbas. Poole stood at and weighed 175 lbs.

being replaced by Thatcher after Poole's arrest..

Death

Thatcher died at the age of fifty-nine in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

on March 17, 1936.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Grant 1877 births 1936 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Superbas players Baseball players from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster Maroons players Johnstown Mormans players Palmyra Mormans players Brockton Shoemakers players Reading Coal Heavers players Bristol Bell Makers players Troy Washerwomen players Ilion Typewriters players Los Angeles (minor league baseball) players Savannah Pathfinders players Johnstown Johnnies players