Jacob Henry "Ol' Jake" Eisenhart (October 3, 1922 – December 20, 1987) was an American 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 ...

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), ...

who appeared in one game for the Cincinnati Reds in 1944. The 6'3½", 195 lb. left-hander was a native of

Perkasie, Pennsylvania Perkasie is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Perkasie is southeast of Allentown and north of Philadelphia. Establishments in the borough early in the twentieth century included silk mills, brickyards, lumber mills, tile works, a stone c ...

. Eisenhart is one of many ballplayers who only appeared in the major leagues during World War II. After attending

Juniata College Juniata College is a private liberal arts college in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a co-educational school, it was the first college started by members of the Church of the Brethren as a center for vocational learning for those wh ...

, he was signed by the Reds to a 30-day trial contract, but his only big league action came on June 10, in a home game against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

at Crosley Field. He entered the game with two out in the top of the ninth inning, and the Reds behind 18–0. The pitcher he came in to relieve was 15-year-old

Joe Nuxhall Joseph Henry Nuxhall (; July 30, 1928 – November 15, 2007) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds. Immediately after retiring as a player, he became a radio broadcaster for the Reds f ...

, who had just made his major league debut. Eisenhart walked the first batter he faced, George Fallon, then got the last out, retiring opposing pitcher

Mort Cooper Morton Cecil Cooper (March 2, 1913 – November 17, 1958) was an American baseball pitcher who played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played from 1938 to 1949 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Braves, New York Giants, and Chi ...

on a foul out. His total major league experience ended up lasting only 1/3 of an inning. He was released by the Reds on June 24. Eisenhart also served in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during World War II, and toiled three years in the Philadelphia Athletics organization, but never made it back to the major leagues. He died in 1987 in

Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Huntingdon is a borough in (and the county seat of) Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the Juniata River, approximately east of Altoona and west of Harrisburg. With a population of 7,093 at the 2010 census ...

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenhart, Jake 1922 births 1987 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cincinnati Reds players Trenton Spartans players Juniata Eagles baseball players Baseball players from Pennsylvania United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II People from Perkasie, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania