Kenneth Lowther Ash (September 26, 1901 – November 15, 1979) 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 ...

. He was born in

Anmoore, West Virginia Anmoore is a town in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States. It is located at the intersection of WV 58 and Interstate 79. The population was 514 at the 2020 census. The town derives its name from nearby Ann Moore Run. Geography Anmo ...

on September 16, 1901. He batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, was 5 foot 11, and 165 pounds. Ken attended school at

West Virginia Wesleyan College West Virginia Wesleyan College is a private college in Buckhannon, West Virginia. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist E ...

. Ash pitched in two games in the season for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

with an

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. Comp ...

of 9.00. He played 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 ...

in the - seasons with 53 games and 158 innings pitched. In his career, Ken had a 6–8 record in 55 games, allowing 6 home runs and an ERA of 4.96. On July 27, 1930, Ash earned a win against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

with just one inning of relief and with him only throwing one pitch. Ash was called in to relief by Cincinnati Manager

Dan Howley Daniel Philip "Dapper Dan" Howley (October 16, 1885 – March 10, 1944) was a Major League Baseball manager with the St. Louis Browns and the Cincinnati Reds. His first year as manager of the Browns saw his team lose 94 games and finish games be ...

with the Reds trailing 3–2 in the top of sixth. The Cubs had two runners on base,

Hack Wilson Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson (April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948) was an American Major League Baseball player who played 12 seasons for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Despite his diminutive statur ...

on third, and Danny Taylor on first. At the plate for Chicago was

Charlie Grimm Charles John Grimm (August 28, 1898 – November 15, 1983), nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman, most notably for the Chicago Cubs; he was also a ...

. Grimm grounded Ash's first pitch to Reds shortstop

Hod Ford Horace Hills "Hod" Ford (July 23, 1897 – January 29, 1977) was an American professional baseball second baseman and shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnat ...

. Wilson broke for home. Ford threw the ball to Reds third baseman

Tony Cuccinello Anthony Francis Cuccinello (November 8, 1907 – September 21, 1995) was an American professional baseball second baseman and third baseman, then a longtime coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers ...

who then threw to Reds catcher

Clyde Sukeforth Clyde Leroy Sukeforth (November 30, 1901 – September 3, 2000), nicknamed "Sukey", was an American professional baseball catcher, coach, scout and manager. He was best known for signing the first black player in the modern era of Major League ...

who successfully ran down Wilson and tagged him for out number one. In the meantime, Grimm after reaching first base set off for second. Taylor was still occupying that base. Grimm tried returning to first, but Sukeforth threw the ball to Reds first baseman

Joe Stripp Joseph Valentine Stripp (February 3, 1903 – June 10, 1989) was an American professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Bees between 1928 ...

. Stripp tagged Grimm for out number two. Taylor took off for third base. Stripp threw the ball to Cuccinello who tagged Taylor out to complete a 6-5-2-3-5 triple play. Ken Ash was pinch hit for in the bottom of the sixth and Cincinnati scored four runs to take the lead which they held.

References

External links

Interview with Ken Ash
conducted by

Eugene Murdock Eugene Converse Murdock (April 30, 1921 – July 23, 1992) was an historian and author best known for his research into baseball. Early life and education Eugene C. Murdock was born in Lakewood, Ohio, on April 30, 1921, and attended school ther ...

, July 10, 1979, in Annmoore, West Virginia (1 hour 40 minutes) 1901 births 1979 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from West Virginia People from Harrison County, West Virginia Cincinnati Reds players Chicago White Sox players West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats baseball players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub