John Gill Valentine (November 21, 1855 – October 10, 1903) 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 ...

and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

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 played one season as a player for the Columbus Buckeyes of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, and later umpired from to .

Playing career

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, he made his major league debut for the Buckeyes in 1883, his only season as a player, and compiled 13

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

, starting 12 and completing 11 of them. He had a win-loss record of 2–10, with an

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 ...

of 3.53 in 102

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

Umpiring career

After the 1883 season, Valentine became an umpire, beginning in 1884 for the American Association, and umpiring 102 games that first season. He continued umpiring in the Association until midway through the season, when switched over to 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 ...

, which is where he continued to umpire until retiring after the 1888 season. Valentine was involved in a couple of notable games, including being behind the plate for two

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

s. The first game came on May 29, 1884, when Ed Morris of the Columbus Buckeyes blanked the Pittsburgh Alleghenys; and the other came just seven days later on June 5, when

Frank Mountain Frank Henry Mountain (May 17, 1860 – November 19, 1939) was an American baseball player from 1880 to 1886. He played seven seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a pitcher (143 games), outfielder (36 games) and first baseman (18 game ...

, also of the Buckeyes, no-hit the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

Death

Valentine died at the age of 47 in

Central Islip, New York Central Islip is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip, New York, Islip in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 34,450 at the 2010 c ...

, and is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

References

External links

Retrosheet
– career umpiring record {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, John 1855 births 1903 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers 19th-century baseball players Columbus Buckeyes players Baseball players from Brooklyn Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Major League Baseball umpires National League umpires Winona Clipper players Holyoke (minor league baseball) players Brooklyn Atlantics (minor league) players Trenton (minor league baseball) players People from Central Islip, New York Baseball players from Suffolk County, New York