John Gordon Rhodes (August 11, 1907 – March 22, 1960) was a

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 who played in

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) from 1929 to 1936. He played for 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 ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, and

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 ...

. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Rhodes played four sports—baseball, basketball, football, and track—at West High School in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, and then attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

for a year before signing a professional baseball contract. His baseball career spanned 12 years, 1928 to 1939; he spent parts of eight seasons in the major leagues (appearing in 203 games) and parts of seven seasons in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

(appearing in 174 games). Rhodes made his major league debut in April 1929 at age 21, after his contract was purchased by the

from the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

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 ...

. During parts of four seasons, he went 7–9 in 41 games (17 starts) with the Yankees. He was then traded to Boston in August 1932, in the same transaction that brought

Wilcy Moore William Wilcy "Cy" Moore (May 20, 1897 – March 29, 1963) was a professional baseball right-handed pitcher over parts of six seasons (1927–1933) with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. He led the American League in ERA as a rookie in 192 ...

to the Yankees. Rhodes spent parts of four seasons with the Red Sox, recording a career-high total of wins, 12, in both 1932 and 1933. However, he did not have a winning record in any of his years with Boston, compiling a 27–45 record in 124 games (90 starts) with the Red Sox. Rhodes, minor league catcher George Savino, and cash were sent to the

in December 1935, in a deal that brought

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

and

Johnny Marcum John Alfred Marcum (September 9, 1909 – September 10, 1984), nicknamed "Footsie" and "Moose", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played for seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Philadelphia Athletics, Bosto ...

to Boston. With the Athletics, Rhodes collected 9 wins in 1936, but led

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pitchers with 20 losses and 26

home runs allowed In baseball statistics, home runs allowed (HRA) signifies the total number of home runs a pitcher allowed. The Major League Baseball record for the most home runs allowed by any pitcher belongs to Jamie Moyer (522 in his career). He gave up home r ...

. During his major league career, Rhodes posted a 43–74 record with 356

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and a 4.85

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 200 appearances, including 135 starts, 47

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 ...

s, one

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 ...

, four saves, and innings of work. As a hitter, he had a .194

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 ...

(69-for-356) with two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 34

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. Nicknamed "Dusty", Rhodes was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

; he died at the age of 52 in

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total popu ...

. Rhodes was inducted to the

Utah Sports Hall of Fame The Utah Sports Hall of Fame is an athletics hall of fame in the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, organized in 1967 as The Old Time Athletes Association, was founded "to celebrate and preserve Utah's storied sports heri ...

in 1982.

Notes

Rhodes' places of birth and death are listed as they appear in baseball sources. An alternate source with a family connection to Rhodes has given his place of birth as

Winnemucca, Nevada Winnemucca () is the only incorporated city in, and is the county seat of, Humboldt County, Nevada, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 8,431, up 14.0 percent from the 2010 census figure of 7,396. Intersta ...

, and place of death as

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. Rhodes' draft registration card, which he signed in October 1940, lists his place of birth as Salt Lake City. Long Beach was noted as his place of death in contemporary news reports; Long Beach and Bellflower are adjacent communities.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Gordon 1907 births 1960 deaths Boston Red Sox players New York Yankees players Philadelphia Athletics players Hollywood Stars players Jersey City Skeeters players Newark Bears players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Dallas Steers players Dallas Rebels players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Salt Lake City Baseball players from Utah University of Utah alumni United States Army personnel of World War II West High School (Utah) alumni

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links