James Henry Dygert (July 5, 1884 – February 8, 1936) was a

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), ...

from 1905–1910. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics of the

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 ...

Career

Dygert, 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 m ...

specialist, started his professional baseball career in 1904 in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

. In 1905, he went 18-4 with the pennant-winning New Orleans Pelicans,"Jimmy Dygert Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-30. and he was purchased by the Athletics in August. He pitched a few games down the stretch but went just 1-4. The next season, he broke into the A's

starting rotation R rabbit ears :Indicates a participant in the game who hears things perhaps too well for their own good. A player who becomes nervous or chokes when opposing players or fans yell at or razz them is said to have rabbit ears. Also, an umpire ...

and improved his record to 11-13. He pitched a combined no-hitter with

Rube Waddell George Edward Waddell (October 13, 1876 – April 1, 1914) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-hander, he played for 13 years, with the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Orphans in the National ...

on August 29. Dygert hit his peak in 1907. On a pitching staff with three Hall of Famers – Chief Bender,

Eddie Plank Edward Stewart Plank (August 31, 1875 – February 24, 1926), nicknamed "Gettysburg Eddie", was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, Plank played in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 through 1914, t ...

, and Waddell – Dygert was the number three starter. He completed the season with a 21-8 record, 151 strikeouts, and a 2.34

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 ...

. In the pennant stretch of October, he pitched three

shutouts 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 ...

in four days. The A's finished just 1.5 games out of first place. Jimmy Dygert circa 1911

In 1908, Dygert again struck out a lot of batters (164), but he also led the league in walks with 97. He pitched less in 1909 and 1910. The A's won the pennant in 1910, but Dygert did not pitch in the

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 ...

. In 1911, he moved to the Eastern League's

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

and went 25-15 in a career-high 318.2 innings; he also led the league with 218 strikeouts. However, that was his last season as an effective pitcher. He retired in 1913. Dygert was very skinny even for his era, weighing about 115 pounds. Bill James listed him as one of the lightest major league players of the 1900–1909 decade. ''

Baseball Digest ''Baseball Digest'' is a baseball magazine resource, published in Orlando, Florida by Grandstand Publishing, LLC. It is the longest-running baseball magazine in the United States. History and profile It was created by Herbert F. Simons, a spor ...

'' wrote that he was probably the lightest pitcher of the 20th century. Nonetheless, Dygert was also one of the best spitballers when the pitch was legal and is considered the greatest ever for his weight. After his baseball days, Dygert became a

construction foreman A construction foreman, construction forewoman, or construction foreperson is the worker or skilled tradesperson who is in charge of a construction crew. This role is generally assumed by a senior worker. Duties and functions Normally the forema ...

and was married to Clara Castaing. He died of

lobar pneumonia Lobar pneumonia is a form of pneumonia characterized by inflammatory exudate within the intra-alveolar space resulting in consolidation that affects a large and continuous area of the lobe of a lung. It is one of three anatomic classifications ...

on February 7, 1936."Jimmy Dygert Death Certificate"
. ''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-30.

References

External links

Jimmy Dygert
at Baseball Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Dygert, Jimmy 1884 births 1936 deaths Sportspeople from Utica, New York Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Athletics players Poughkeepsie Colts players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Beaumont Oilers players Baseball players from New York (state)