John "Needles" Bentley (March 8, 1895 – October 24, 1969) was a professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. He was a left-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 ...

over parts of nine seasons (1913–1916, 1923–1927) with the Washington Senators,

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and

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 ...

. For his career, he compiled a 46–33 record in 138 appearances, with a 4.01 ERA (

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 259

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. Bentley was a member of the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

' pennant-winning teams in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

. He was 1–3 with a 4.94 ERA and 11 strikeouts in

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

play. He was a good hitting pitcher in his major league career. In nine seasons, he compiled a .291 average (170-584) with 7 home runs and 71 RBI. In 1923 Bentley batted .427 (38-89) for the New York Giants. In the 1923 and 1924 World Series, he hit .417 (5-12) with one home run and 2 RBI. He would be the last pitcher to pinch-hit in the World Series until

Zach Greinke Donald Zackary Greinke ( ; born October 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2004 and has also played in MLB for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los ...

, who pinch-hit in the

2021 World Series The 2021 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2021 season. The 117th World Series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the American League (AL) champion H ...

. He also played 59 games at first base and 3 games in right field in the majors. In 1922, Bentley pitched for the minor league

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, going 13–2 with a 1.73 ERA before he was called up again to the Big Leagues by the New York Giants.Klingaman, Mike. "This Week in Sports", ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' (July 30, 2018), p. 2 Sports. He was born in

Sandy Spring, Maryland Sandy Spring is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Geography Sandy Spring's boundaries are roughly defined as Brooke Road and Dr. Bird Road to the north ...

, and later died in

Olney, Maryland Olney is a U.S. census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located in the north central part of the county, north of Washington, D.C. Olney was largely agricultural until the 1960s, when growth of ...

, at the age of 74. Bentley was drafted into the military in July 1917. It was thought that he would claim exemption from military service as a conscientious objector due to his religious faith, yet he chose to enlist in the army and serve his country in World War I. In March 1918, Bentley was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland. Shortly thereafter, he was deployed to France with the 313th Infantry. He documented his experiences through letters sent home throughout his 19 months of service.

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1895 births 1969 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Maryland Washington Senators (1901–1960) players New York Giants (NL) players Philadelphia Phillies players People from Sandy Spring, Maryland Minor league baseball managers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Newark Bears (IL) players York White Roses players Rochester Red Wings players Elmira Red Wings players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub

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