Marshall Bridges (June 2, 1931 – September 3, 1990) was an American
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Mod ...
player
Player may refer to:
Role or adjective
* Player (game), a participant in a game or sport
** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games
** Athlete, a player in sports
** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...
who
pitched in the
Major Leagues from 1959 to 1965 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 hav ...
,
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 ...
,
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
and
Washington Senators.
A strong
left-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 ...
pitcher blessed with an excellent
fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...
, Bridges was listed as tall and . After spending time with the
Negro league
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
Memphis Red Sox
The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...
, then bouncing around the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
for six seasons, he broke into the majors with St. Louis in the mid-season of
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
, posting a 6–3
won-lost record and a 4.26
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 ...
,
striking out
''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...
76 hitters in 76
innings
An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...
. He might have pitched more in his first couple seasons, but sore heels gave him trouble.
Used almost exclusively as a
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...
throughout his seven-season career, Bridges' best season came in while a member of the Yankees, anchoring the
world champions' relief staff while recording a team-leading 18
saves to go with an 8–4 record and a 3.14 earned run average. However, that same season he also became the first
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
pitcher to give up a World Series
grand slam home run
In baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with bases loaded, all three bases occupied by baserunners ("bases loaded"), thereby scoring four run (baseball), runs—the most possible in one play. According to ''The Dickson Baseball Dictionary'', t ...
when
Chuck Hiller
Charles Joseph Hiller (October 1, 1934 – October 20, 2004) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman. In the 1962 World Series, he became the first National League player to hit a grand slam in a World Series.
Hiller batted left-h ...
of the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
got hold of one in Game 4.
One of the era's most colorful characters, Bridges was nicknamed "Sheriff" and "Fox." He was known as a teller of tall tales and an instigator or victim of elaborate practical jokes. During
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
in a
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
, bar, a disagreement between Bridges and a female patron resulted in her shooting him in the leg. The resulting negative publicity annoyed the image-conscious Yankee brass and may have been a major factor in them selling his contract to last-place Washington on November 30, 1963. His recovery from the gunshot wound was apparently complete, but Bridges never regained the dominance that he had shown in 1962.
The 1965 Senators were Bridges' last stop in his MLB career. His lifetime totals include a won/lost record of 23–15, 25 saves, an ERA of 3.75 and 302 strikeouts in 345
innings pitched.
Bridges died of cancer on September 3, 1990, at the age of 59 at the
University of Mississippi Medical Center
University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) is the health sciences campus of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and is located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. UMMC, also referred to as the Medical Center, is the state's only aca ...
in Jackson.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Marshall
1931 births
1990 deaths
African-American baseball players
Amarillo Gold Sox players
Austin Senators players
Baseball players from Jackson, Mississippi
Beaumont Exporters players
Cincinnati Reds players
Danville Leafs players
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Hawaii Islanders players
Jersey City Jerseys players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Memphis Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Rochester Red Wings players
Sacramento Solons players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Sioux City Soos players
Topeka Hawks players
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players
Washington Senators (1961–1971) players
20th-century African-American sportspeople