Hugh Thomas Casey (October 14, 1913 – July 3, 1951) was an American

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), ...

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 ...

. He played 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 ...

(1935),

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

(1939–42 and 1946–48),

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1949), and

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 ...

(1949).

Baseball career

Casey was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1913. He started his professional baseball career with the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

at the age of 18. Except for a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs in 1935, he pitched mostly in the minor leagues from 1932 to 1938."Hugh Casey Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021. After going 13–14 for

Memphis 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 * Memp ...

in 1938, Casey was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers."Hugh Casey Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021. He was a starter and reliever for the Dodgers from 1939 to 1941, winning over 10 games each season. In 1941, Casey helped the Dodgers win the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

championship. He is perhaps best known for an alleged wild pitch that he threw in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the

1941 World Series The 1941 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall. The name "Subway Series" arose for a World Series played ...

which precipitated a

rally. Catcher

Mickey Owen Arnold Malcolm "Mickey" Owen (April 4, 1916 – July 13, 2005) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a catcher for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between and for the St. Louis Cardinals, Brookly ...

thought that the pitch was a

spitball A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to mo ...

, but Casey always swore it was not. Officially, the play was recorded as a passed ball. Brooklyn lost the game and, eventually, the series. Casey went 0–2. Casey was used mostly as a reliever in 1942 and led the league in saves. In January 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Casey entered the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He was discharged in December 1945. Upon his return to the Dodgers, he had two good seasons in 1946 and 1947. In 1947, Casey led the National League in saves for the second time. He pitched well in the

1947 World Series The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Yankees won the Series in seven games for their 11th World Series championship in team history. Yankees manager Bucky Harris won the Series for the first time ...

, going 2–0 with a save, but the Dodgers lost in seven games. Like many of the colorful Dodger players during that era, Casey had his share of adventure. His teammates later recalled a time in which he sparred with writer

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

in Hemingway's house. After 1947, Casey lost his effectiveness, and his major league career ended in 1949. He went 10–4 for his old team, the Crackers, in 1950; Atlanta won the pennant.

Later life

Towards the end of his life, Casey ran a restaurant in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. On July 3, 1951, Casey died in Atlanta from a self-inflicted shotgun blast to the neck while his estranged wife was pleading with him on the phone. Casey was upset that he had recently been named as the father of a child by another woman in a paternity suit. He was 37 years old. Casey was inducted into the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

in 1991.

References

External links

Hugh Casey
at The Deadball Era * {{DEFAULTSORT:Casey, Hugh 1913 births 1951 suicides Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Atlanta Birmingham Barons players Brooklyn Dodgers players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chicago Cubs players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) Memphis Chickasaws players New York Yankees players Pittsburgh Pirates players Suicides by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) United States Navy personnel of World War II

Baseball career

Later life

See also

References

External links