Marvin Mardo Goodwin (January 16, 1891 – October 21, 1925) was a professional baseball player who was a

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), ...

from 1916 to 1925. He would play for the Washington Senators,

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Goodwin was known for throwing the

spitball A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to mo ...

, and he was one of the 17 pitchers allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was outlawed in 1920. Goodwin was a pilot in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and died after the war from injuries sustained in a training flight while a member of the Army Air Service Reserve. He is believed to have been the first professional athlete killed as a result of a plane crash.

Early life

Goodwin was born and raised in

Gordonsville, Virginia Gordonsville is a town in Orange County, Virginia, Orange County in the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Located about 19 miles northeast of Charlottesville, Virginia, Charlottesville and 65 miles northwest of Richmond, V ...

, and graduated from high school there. He attended college for two years in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, and later took a position as a

telegraph operator A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Royal ...

with the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond ...

. Goodwin became an established baseball star with the semipro team in his hometown, and the railroad agreed to give him time off when he was offered a contract by the Washington Senators in 1916.

Baseball career before World War I

In , Goodwin pitched for the Martinsburg Blue Sox of the Class D

Blue Ridge League The Blue Ridge League was the name of two minor league baseball organizations that operated in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States. History The first league operated for the better part of sixteen years, from 1915 throu ...

, starting and completing 31 games with a record of 19–12, with 10 shutouts. His major league debut came in September of that year, when he appeared 3 times in relief for Washington, pitching innings and giving up two earned runs. Goodwin started the season with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

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 compiled a record of 8–9 with a 1.91 ERA, before being acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals in July. With the Cardinals his record for the season was 6–4 with a 2.21 ERA.

Military service during World War I

In December 1917, Goodwin joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Being unmarried and with no dependents, he told the Cardinals he was sure to be drafted, so he enlisted in order to join the aviation corps. He was stationed in Texas, where he successfully completed his training, and became an aviation instructor. He was preparing to deploy to France when the war ended in November 1918.

Baseball career after World War I

After the war, Goodwin rejoined the St. Louis Cardinals. In his record was 11–9 with a 2.51 ERA, and in his record was 3–8 with a 4.95 ERA. For and he split time between the Cardinals and their farm club, the

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, and then spent all of the 1923 and 1924 seasons with Houston. In May 1924, Goodwin became

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the Houston club, a role he continued through the next season. Late in the season he was sold to the Cincinnati Reds; he appeared in four games for the Reds, compiling a 0–2 record with a 4.79 ERA. His final major league appearance came on the final day of the season, when he pitched a complete game in the first half of a doubleheader, but lost 4–2.

Death

Two weeks after his final appearance with the Reds, Goodwin crash landed his airplane at

Ellington Field Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the aegis ...

on October 18, 1925. The accident occurred during a training exercise when he was performing

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

duty with the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

. Goodwin experienced a

tailspin In flight dynamics a spin is a special category of stall resulting in autorotation (uncommanded roll) about the aircraft's longitudinal axis and a shallow, rotating, downward path approximately centred on a vertical axis. Spins can be entered ...

about in the air. He was hospitalized with serious injuries including two broken legs. His piloting skills were credited with saving him from immediate death. Goodwin died on October 21, 1925, from the injuries he sustained three days earlier.

Legacy

As noted by

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

, "Marvin was a gentleman and an athlete of whom baseball can be proud... Lieutenant Goodwin sacrificed his life in behalf of his country. No person can do more." Goodwin is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in his hometown of Gordonsville.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Marv 1891 births 1925 deaths People from Gordonsville, Virginia Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Virginia Cincinnati Reds players St. Louis Cardinals players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Dallas Giants players Houston Buffaloes managers Houston Buffaloes players Martinsburg Blue Sox players Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Texas United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I United States Army officers