James Alvin Wiggs (September 1, 1876 – January 20, 1963), nicknamed "Big Jim", was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

(1903) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1905–06). Born in Trondheim, Norway in 1876, Wiggs is one of three Norwegian major league baseball players in history. Wiggs was a big man at 6'4" tall. In April 1903, Wiggs made his major league debut at age 26 with the

. He appeared in only two games for the Reds, pitching in only 5 innings with a 5.40

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. Compa ...

. In 1905, Wiggs got a second chance in the majors with the

. He pitched in 11 games for the Tigers in the 1905 and 1906 seasons. In 1905, Wiggs pitched innings (including 4 complete games) with a 3.27 earned run average (ERA) and a 3–3 record. According to records of long-term holdouts by major league baseball players, Wiggs became the first player (in 1905) to hold out for at least of month of the season

In 1906, Wiggs pitched in only 10-1/3 innings and saw his ERA jump to 5.23—two points higher than the previous season. Wiggs pitched his final game for the Tigers on May 25, 1903, and did not play another game in the major leagues. After being cut by the Tigers, Wiggs played for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1906. In 1909, Wiggs pitched for the

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: * Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey t ...

in 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 ...

, and appeared in the longest shutout in professional baseball history, a 24-inning 1–0 loss to the San Francisco Seals. In what was called "the greatest game ever seen west of the Rockies," Wiggs struck out 11 batters, and held the Seals scoreless through 23 innings, but lost the 3-hour, 35-minute game when the Oaks allowed an unearned run in the 24th inning.

Cack Henley Clarence T. "Cack" Henley (June 21, 1884 – July 9, 1929) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played for the San Francisco Seals and Venice / Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League from 1905 to 1915. He is a member of the PC ...

pitched the complete game shutout for the Seals. ("''Runs, Hits, and an Era: The Pacific Coast League, 1903-58''," By Paul J Zingg) Jimmy Wiggs died in Xenia, Ohio in 1963 at age 86.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggs, Jimmy Major League Baseball pitchers Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball players from Norway Sportspeople from Trondheim American people of Norwegian descent 1876 births 1963 deaths London Tecumsehs (baseball) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players St. Joseph Saints players Helena Senators players Portland Green Gages players Salt Lake City Elders players San Francisco Pirates players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Altoona Mountaineers players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Montreal Royals players Seattle Giants players