John Cyrus "Red" Oldham (July 15, 1893 – January 28, 1961) was a left-handed pitcher 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), ...

who played five years with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1914–1915, 1920–1922) and two years with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1925–1926). He pitched the final inning of the

1925 World Series The 1925 World Series was the championship series of the 1925 Major League Baseball season. A best-of-seven playoff, it was played between the National League (NL) pennant winner Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Senators. The Pirates def ...

for the Pirates, striking out

Goose Goslin Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin (October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971) was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until . Goslin ...

to end the game and the series.

Detroit Tigers

Born in

Zion, Maryland Zion is an unincorporated community in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The Isaac England House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal governm ...

, Oldham was drafted by the

on July 31, 1914.

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

owner

Joseph Lannin Joseph John Lannin (April 23, 1866 – May 15, 1928) was a Canadian-born American baseball entrepreneur. He was the sole owner of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball for most of the 1914 through 1916 seasons, during which the team won two W ...

bought the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...

and Melrose Park from the Tigers for $75‚000. Detroit got to pick one player from the Providence roster and they selected Oldham‚ overlooking

Carl Mays Carl William Mays (November 12, 1891 – April 4, 1971) was an American baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. During his career, he won over 200 games, 27 in 1921 alone, and was a member of four Wor ...

. Oldham made his debut for the Tigers at age 21 in August 1914 and pitched in nine games for the 1914 team—seven as a starter. He had a record of 2–4 with a 3.38 ERA (

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

of 83) in 45.3 innings pitched. In 1915, Oldham played in 17 games for Detroit, only two as a starter. He had a 3–0 record with a 2.81 ERA (Adjusted ERA+ of 107) in 57.7 innings pitched. On April 5, 1916, the Tigers released Oldham to the San Francisco Seals of 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 ...

"under optional agreement." Oldham returned to the Tigers in 1920, playing in 39 games, including 22 as a starter. He had a record of 8–13 with a 3.85 ERA (

of 97). In 1921, Oldham was the #3 starter behind Dutch Leonard and

Hooks Dauss George August "Hooks" Dauss (September 22, 1889 – July 27, 1963), born George August Daus, was an American professional baseball player from 1909 to 1926. He played 15 seasons of Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Detroit ...

on the 1921 Tigers team that set all time

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 ...

records with 1724

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

and a team

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 .316. But without pitching, the 1921 team finished in sixth place, 27 games behind the Yankees. With a 4.24

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 ...

(11-14 record), Oldham had the second lowest ERA on the 1921 team. In 1921,

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

became the Tigers' manager. Shortly after an interview in which he told a reporter that "his aim was to use tact and diplomacy" in dealing with players, Cobb called time-out from his position in center field, "ran in, wrested the ball from pitcher Red Oldham's hand, and gave him a dressing-down before calling in a reliever." Oldham played his final season in Detroit in 1922, going 10–13 with a 4.67 ERA (Adjusted ERA+ of 83).

Minor leagues

On November 24, 1922, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that Oldham, who was under investigation by Judge Landis on the charge of playing winter baseball in Los Angeles, had announced that he would retire from baseball and go into business. There were also published reports that Odham signed on with the Santa Rita team in the Copper League. It was reported that during the 1924 season, the Santa Rita team had signed up Oldham to pitch. Santa Rita tried to sneak him into the game under the assumed name of Miller. The El Paso team, however, caught them at their game and refused to play if Oldham participated.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Oldham made it back to the big leagues in 1925 with the

. He appeared in 11 games and had a record of 3–2 in 53 innings pitched. His

in 1925 was 3.91, well below the league average, for a career high

of 115. Oldham accompanied the Pirates to the

against the Washington Senators. He pitched the final inning of Game 7 on October 15, 1925, before 42,856 fans at

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of t ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. In the 8th inning, AL MVP

Roger Peckinpaugh Roger Thorpe Peckinpaugh (February 5, 1891 – November 17, 1977) was an American professional baseball player shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1910 through 1927, during which he played for the Cleveland Naps ...

homered to put the Senators on top 7–6. In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Pirates scored three runs to take a 9–7 lead. Then, in the top of the 9th inning, Oldham entered the game with the heart of the Washington lineup coming to bat. Oldham proceeded to pitch a masterful 1-2-3 inning against three future Hall of Famers. He struck out

Sam Rice Edgar Charles "Sam" Rice (February 20, 1890 – October 13, 1974) was an American pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball. Although Rice made his debut as a relief pitcher, he is best known as an outfielder. Playing for the Washington Se ...

looking, got

Bucky Harris Stanley Raymond "Bucky" Harris (November 8, 1896 – November 8, 1977) was an American professional baseball second baseman, manager and executive. While Harris played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators and Detroit Tige ...

on a lineout to second base, and finished the game by striking out

looking. The Pirates won the game and the World Series with Oldham on the mound.

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 ...

was the losing pitcher for the Senators. In 1926, Oldham's ERA soared to a career high 5.64 (Adjusted ERA+ of 70). He played his last major league game on July 8, 1926.

Career statistics and death

In his seven major league seasons, Oldham appeared in 176 games (92 as a starter) and had a record of 39–48 with 292 walks, 267 strikeouts, and an

of 4.15. Oldham was a better than average hitting pitcher, posting a .226

(64-for-283) with 35 runs, 2

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 30

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and 22

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He had 13 RBI in 1922 as a member of the Tigers. Oldham died in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...

at age 67 in 1961.

References

External links

Red Oldham
- Baseballbiography.com
Game Log of Game 7 of 1925 World Series
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oldham, Red Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Maryland Pittsburgh Pirates players 1893 births 1961 deaths York White Roses players Trenton Tigers players Providence Grays (minor league) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Portland Beavers players Vernon Tigers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Mobile Bears players Atlanta Crackers players Mobile Marines players Knoxville Smokies players People from Cecil County, Maryland