Joseph Carl Oeschger (May 24, 1892 – July 28, 1986) was an American

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), ...

. He played for the

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 ...

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. ...

, Boston Braves, and Brooklyn Robins from 1914 to 1925. Oeschger is best known for holding the MLB record for the most innings pitched in a single game. In 1920, both Oeschger and

Leon Cadore Leon Joseph "Caddy" Cadore (November 20, 1891 – March 16, 1958) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1924. Early life Born in Chicago, Illinois, Cadore was orphaned at 13 and went to live with his uncle, ...

pitched 26 innings for their respective teams in a game that was eventually called a tie due to darkness. After his baseball career ended, Oeschger was a teacher for the

San Francisco Board of Education The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and f ...

for 27 years.

Early life

Oeschger was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, one of six children of immigrants from Switzerland. In 1900 his family moved to

Ferndale, California Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 1,371 at the 2010 census, down from 1,382 at the 2000 census. The city contains dozens of well-preserved Victorian storefronts and homes. Ferndale is the nor ...

, where Joe's father bought of land and established a dairy ranch. Joe and his three brothers all attended Ferndale High School, where they played baseball. After high school, Joe attended and played baseball at

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic Church, Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college of ...

, graduating in 1914.

Early MLB career

Oeschger began his MLB career with the Philadelphia Phillies in the

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

season. He won four games, while losing eight, and posting a 3.77

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 ...

. He pitched in a handful of games during the 1915 and 1916 seasons before becoming a full-time starter in 1917. That season he had 15 wins against 14 losses and a 2.75 earned run average. Oeschger then led the league in losses during the 1918 season with 18 and had an earned run average of 3.03. One of the few highlights of his season was his

shutout 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 ...

against the Brooklyn Robins on April 22. He also tied for the league lead in saves, with three. On May 27, 1919 Oeschger was traded from the Phillies to the New York Giants for

Ed Sicking Edward Joseph Sicking (March 30, 1897 – August 30, 1978) was a Major League Baseball infielder who played for five teams from to . He appeared at second base, third base, and shortstop. External links Interview with baseball player Eddie S ...

and George Smith. He only pitched in five games for the Giants before being included in a trade to the Braves for

Art Nehf Arthur Neukom Nehf (July 31, 1892 – December 18, 1960) was an American baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Boston Braves (1915–1919), New York Giants (1919–1926), Cincinnati Reds (1926–1927), and the Ch ...

Longest game

On May 1, 1920 the Braves and Robins played at Boston in front of a crowd of 2,000 spectators. Oeschger started for the Braves, and Leon Cadore started for the Robins. The game was held scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when

Ernie Krueger Ernest George Krueger (December 27, 1890 – April 22, 1976) born in Chicago was a catcher for the Cleveland Naps (1913), New York Yankees (1915), New York Giants (1917), Brooklyn Robins (1917–1921) and Cincinnati Reds (1925). Biography ...

scored on an

Ivy Olson Ivan Massie "Ivy" Olson (October 14, 1885 – September 1, 1965) was an American professional baseball shortstop. He played fourteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1911 to 1924 for the Cleveland Naps, Cincinnati Reds, and Brooklyn Ro ...

single. In the sixth inning

Walton Cruise Walton Edwin Cruise (May 6, 1890 – January 6, 1975), born in Childersburg, Alabama, was an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals (1914, 1916–1919) and Boston Braves (1919–1924). In 10 seasons, he played in 736 games and had 2,321 at bats ...

tripled, then scored on a

Tony Boeckel Norman Doxie "Tony" Boeckel (August 25, 1892 – February 16, 1924) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder who played six seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Braves of the National League (NL). He drove in one of the runs sc ...

single. The game was eventually ruled a tie after 26 innings because of darkness. Oescheger only gave up 9 hits the entire game, while Cadore allowed 15. Oeschger had one hit in nine trips to the plate, a double. If they had played one more inning the pitchers would have played the equivalent of three games. For the rest of the 1920 season Oescheger won 15 games with a 3.46 earned run average.

Later MLB career

On September 8, 1921, Oeschger became the fourth pitcher in major league history to throw an

immaculate inning In baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a batter during his time at bat. An immaculate inning occurs when a pitcher strikes out all three batters he faces in one inning, using the minimum possible number of pitche ...

, striking out all three batters on a total of nine pitches in the fourth inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He had his only 20-win season that year, which was the third-best in 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 ...

. He also had a lack of control, leading the league in walks with 97, and

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

es with 10. Oeschger then collapsed the next two seasons, having a combined total of 36 losses with only 11 wins, and an earned run average over 5. On November 11, 1923, Oeschger and

Billy Southworth William Harold Southworth (March 9, 1893 – November 15, 1969) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player in and and from to for five big-league teams, Southworth took part in almost 1,200 games, fell j ...

were traded from Boston to the New York Giants for

Dave Bancroft David James Bancroft (April 20, 1891 – October 9, 1972) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Robi ...

and

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New York ...

. Oeschger played for the Giants and Phillies in 1924, and he finished his MLB career with the Robins in 1925. For his career he had 83 wins and 116 defeats and never appeared in a

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 ...

Later life

Oeschger later moved to San Francisco, where he taught

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

for the San Francisco Board of Education for 27 years. He was invited to throw out the first pitch of game one of the

1983 World Series The 1983 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1983 season. The 80th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League champion Baltimore Orioles and the National ...

that pitted the Philadelphia Phillies against the

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 ...

. He died in

Rohnert Park, California Rohnert Park is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco. The population at the 2020 United States Census was 44,390. It is an early planned city and is the sister city of Hashimoto in ...

, at age 94.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oeschger, Joe 1892 births 1986 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players New York Giants (NL) players Boston Braves players Brooklyn Robins players Providence Grays (minor league) players Mission Bells players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Mobile Bears players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players Baseball players from Chicago American people of Swiss descent