John Chambers Berly (May 24, 1903 – June 26, 1977) was a

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), ...

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 ...

. Berly was born in

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; french: link=no, Les Natchitoches) is a small city and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was name ...

. He made his major league debut for 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 ...

on April 22, 1924. Making four appearances, all in late relief, he gave up five runs over eight innings pitched. Berly would not return to the majors for seven seasons. In Berly joined the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League, then managed by

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 ...

. The Red Wings won three straight IL pennants in 1928–, and Berly went 33–22 in those seasons, winning the IL

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 ...

title in 1930 (2.49). In the New York Giants acquired Berly. He had seven wins with eight losses in 27 games. In – he pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies, mostly in relief. Berly returned to Rochester in , beginning a period of eight years' service in the International League with the Red Wings,

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

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. He returned to Rochester in late , just in time to play on his fourth IL pennant winner. His IL career ended in . Over 11 IL seasons he had a won-lost record of 101–84, with a 3.68 ERA in 1610 innings pitched. Berly was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 1955. In 1977, he died in Houston, Texas.

References

International League Hall of Fame page
1903 births 1977 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Cardinals players Philadelphia Phillies players New York Giants (NL) players Rochester Red Wings players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Baseball players from Louisiana Sportspeople from Natchitoches, Louisiana {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub