Michael Henry Golden (September 11, 1851 – January 11, 1929) was an American

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), ...

player who pitched and played in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

for three teams during his two season career.

Career

Born in

Shirley, Massachusetts Shirley is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately thirty miles west-northwest of Boston. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The town has a well-preserved historic New England town center. It is ho ...

, Golden made his debut on May 4, 1875 for the

Keokuk Westerns The Western baseball club of Keokuk, Iowa, or Keokuk Westerns in modern nomenclature, was a professional baseball team in the National Association in 1875, the last season of that first professional league. It is considered a major league team by ...

of the National Association. He was their

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

for all 13 games the team was in the Association, completing all 13, with 113

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 ...

, a 2.79

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 ...

, and won just one game against 12 losses. When the Westerns folded, he signed with the Chicago White Stockings for the rest of the season. He pitched 119 innings in 14 games pitched for the White Stockings, with a 2.79 ERA, a 6–7 W-L records, 12 complete games, and one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. In addition to pitching, he also played 27 games in the outfield. In total, he played in 39 games, hitting .258, and scored 16 runs. The only other season he played at the top level of professional baseball, and his only "Major League" season, was for the 1878

Milwaukee Grays The Milwaukee Grays were a short-lived baseball team that spent one year, 1878, in the National League. The team was part of the League Alliance, loosely affiliated with the National League, in 1877. It won 19 games and lost 13 (including a 10– ...

of 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 ...

. He pitched in 22 games that year, starting 18, and led the league with four

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

. He again played in the outfield when he didn't pitch, playing in a total of 55 games for the Grays, hitting .206, had 3–13 pitching record, and a 4.14 ERA. Golden's career totals include a 10–32 pitching record, a 2.79 ERA, and a .217 batting average in 107 total games played, 49 games as a pitcher.

Post-career

Golden died in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

at the age of 77, and is interred at Saint Mary and Saint James Cemetery in Rockford.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden, Mike 1851 births 1929 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Massachusetts Keokuk Westerns players Chicago White Stockings players Milwaukee Grays players Indianapolis Blues (minor league) players Rockford White Stockings players People from Shirley, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts