Oscar Marion Graham (July 20, 1878 – October 15, 1931) was a

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 ...

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 ...

. In a 17-year career, he won four games in

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), ...

and 272 games in the minor leagues. Graham was 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds."Oscar Graham Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.

Professional career

Graham was born in

Plattsmouth, Nebraska Plattsmouth is a city and county seat of Cass County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 6,502 at the 2010 census. History The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed the mouth of the Platte River, just north of what is now Main Street Pla ...

in 1878. He started his professional baseball career in 1901. In 1902, he won 16 games in the class A Western League. Graham then went to the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

's Oakland Oaks, and he put up some big numbers in the long PCL seasons. In 1903, he went 28-29 with a 3.44

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 ...

, pitching 504.2 innings in 61 games."Oscar Graham Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011. He led the league in

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

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 ...

, losses, and earned runs (193). His 234 walks and 49 hit batters during that season are PCL records that have never been broken. Graham was also a good hitter, as he had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .323 to finish sixth in the league in that category. In 1904, Graham had a slightly lesser workload, as he pitched 392.1 innings and went 19-23 with a 2.89 ERA. Again, he hit well and finished ninth in the batting race at .305. Graham had one of his better seasons in 1905. He pitched over 500 innings for the second time and tied his career-high in wins with 28. His ERA dropped to 2.37, and he led the league with 56 games started. The following year, he tossed another 432 innings for Oakland and went 25-23. He was purchased by 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 ...

's Washington Senators in August of that year. Graham made his major league debut with the Senators on April 16, 1907. He ended up appearing in 20 games for them, including 14 starts, and he went 4-9 with a 3.98 ERA. His last MLB game was on August 5, and he then finished the season 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 ...

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

. Graham started 1908 with Minneapolis. He had a

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of 8-5 before leaving to play for another team in

Virginia, Minnesota Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mesabi Iron Range. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Range's commercial center. The population was 8,423 ...

, where he was paid a "whopping" $350 each month. Graham returned to the American Association in 1909, this time with the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

. In 40 games, he went 15-15. He started off 1910 with them, as well, but was released in July for "failure to keep in winning condition." For the next few years, Graham bounced around the minor leagues. He had his fifth, and final, 20-win season in 1916, when he went 23-12 with a 2.31 ERA in the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

. He tied for the league-lead in victories.

After retirement

Graham retired from professional baseball after the 1917 season. He pitched a total of 17 years and won 276 games – 272 in the minor leagues and 4 in the major leagues. Graham lived in Rising Sun, Iowa, in the winters, and he worked as a corn husker and rabbit hunter during that time. He died in

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East M ...

, in 1931.

Death

Graham died on October 15, 1931 in

. He is interred at Riverside Cemetery in Moline.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Oscar 1878 births 1931 deaths People from Moline, Illinois People from Plattsmouth, Nebraska Major League Baseball pitchers Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Omaha Omahogs players Rock Island Islanders players Oakland Clamdiggers players Omaha Indians players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players San Jose (minor league baseball) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Indianapolis Indians players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Wheeling Stogies players Battle Creek Crickets players Evansville River Rats players Terre Haute Terre-iers players Moline Plowboys players Joplin Miners players Baseball players from Nebraska