Augustus Franklin Ketchum (March 21, 1897 – September 6, 1980) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

who played in six games for the 1922 Philadelphia Athletics 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). Listed at and , he threw and batted right-handed.

Biography

Ketchum played in minor league baseball from 1922 to 1930, except for 1928. In 180 minor league pitching appearances, he accrued a 41–56

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

. In August and September 1922, Ketchum pitched in six games for 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 ...

, the only major league appearances of his career. The Athletics had purchased his contract from the minor league Ardmore Producers for $1750 on July 11. In six relief appearances totaling 16 innings, he compiled an 0–1 record with a 5.62

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 ...

while striking out four batters. His loss came on August 11 in a road game against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

; entering a 2–2 tie game, Ketchum pitched a scoreless eighth inning, then allowed a run in the ninth on two

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 ov ...

s, a

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

, and a game-winning

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by opposing pitcher

Bullet Joe Bush Leslie Ambrose "Bullet Joe" Bush (November 27, 1892 – November 1, 1974) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in ...

. Born in 1897 in

Royse City, Texas Royse City is a city in Rockwall County in the U.S. state of Texas. It also extends into Collin and Hunt counties. The population was 2,957 at the 2000 census, rising to 9,349 in 2010. The estimated population in 2018 was 12,998. In 2020, its po ...

, Ketchum died in 1980 in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, and was interred in

Altus, Oklahoma Altus () is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 in 2000. Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air F ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ketchum, Gus 1897 births 1980 deaths Baseball players from Texas People from Royse City, Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Athletics players Ardmore Producers players Shreveport Gassers players Meridian Metropolitans players Mexia Gushers players St. Paul Saints players Marshall Indians players Toledo Mud Hens players Nashville Vols players Corsicana Oilers players Monroe Drillers players Peoria Tractors players Beaumont Exporters players Tampa Smokers players Shreveport Sports players