Oral Clyde Hildebrand (April 7, 1907 – September 8, 1977) 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 1931 to 1940. He played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

, and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

Early life

Hildebrand was born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. He attended

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

and was the starting

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the basketball team."Oral Hildebrand's Obit"
''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-26. He led Butler to the 1929 national collegiate championship, was the captain of the 1930 squad, and is in the Butler Hall of Fame.

Baseball career

Hildebrand started his professional baseball career in 1930 with 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 ...

's Indianapolis Indians. In two seasons, he went just 14–18"Oral Hildebrand Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-26. but made it to the major leagues in late 1931. Hildebrand broke into the Cleveland Indians' starting rotation in 1933. That season, he went 16–11, led the

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 ...

shutouts 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 ...

with six, and was selected to the All-Star team."Oral Hildebrand Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-26. He pitched a one-hitter on April 26. From 1934 to 1936, he continued to pitch effectively for the Indians, going 30–28 in those years. Hildebrand also had several public disputes with manager

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball as a right-ha ...

, which ended when Johnson was fired in 1935. In 1937, Hildebrand was traded to the Browns in a blockbuster deal. He struggled in two seasons with St. Louis and was then traded again, to the Yankees. In 1939, he went 10–4 with a career-low 3.06

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 ...

, helping the Yankees win the AL pennant. He started game 4 of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

and pitched four shutout innings, as the Yankees clinched the title. Hildebrand went back to the minor leagues in 1941 and retired the following year.

Later life

After his baseball career was over, Hildebrand became a tool and die maker for the Link-Belt Division of

FMC Corporation FMC Corporation is an American chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer in 1883 and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of US involvemen ...

. He retired in 1972."Saint Paul Saints History 1940–1960"
''usfamily.net''. Retrieved 2010-10-26. Hildebrand died on September 7, 1977, at the age of 70. He was survived by his wife Frances and five children and was buried in the Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hildebrand, Oral 1907 births 1977 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American League All-Stars Baseball players from Indianapolis Basketball players from Indianapolis Butler Bulldogs baseball players Butler Bulldogs men's basketball players Cleveland Indians players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players St. Paul Saints (AA) players American men's basketball players Centers (basketball)

Early life

Baseball career

Later life

See also

References

External links