Ralph Overton "Razor" Ledbetter (December 8, 1894 – February 1, 1969) was a

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), ...

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 ...

who pitched one inning for 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 ...

in April 1915. He also played 11 years in minor league baseball from 1913 to 1926. Ledbetter was born in

Rutherford College, North Carolina Rutherford College is a town in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 1,341. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town was named for the ...

in 1894. He began playing professional baseball in the

North Carolina State League The North Carolina State League was a "Class D" league in Minor League Baseball. The original version of the league existed from 1913–1917 as the successor to the Carolina Association. The second version of the league was established in 1937 i ...

in 1913. In 1914, he compiled a 26–12 record for the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. After his 26-win season, Ledbetter joined the

at the start of the 1915 season. On April 16, 1915, Ledbetter came in to pitch the top of the 9th

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

in a home game against 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 F ...

Navin Field Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit. The stadium was nicknamed "The Corner" for its location at the intersection of Michigan and Trumbul ...

. He pitched a scoreless inning, but the Tigers lost 9–6. He never appeared in another Major League game, although he did play for the Tigers in a May 10, 1915 exhibition game against the

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 ...

. His lifetime

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 ...

stands at 0.00. Ledbetter returned to Charlotte for most of the 1915 season, compiling a record of 17–12. He continued to play in the minor leagues through the 1925 season, including stints with the

(1914–1915, 1920),

Mobile Sea Gulls Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

(1916),

Little Rock Travelers The Little Rock Travelers were an American minor league baseball team located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and members (1902–1910, 1915–1958, 1960–1961) of the Southern Association, which as a Class A, A1 or Double-A (baseball), Double-A circuit ...

(1917, 1919), St. Joseph Saints (1923–1924), and

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...

(1924–1925). He compiled a 19–9 record in 1921. His career record in the minor leagues was 119–112. Ledbetter died in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledbetter, Razor Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from North Carolina Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Detroit Tigers players Durham Bulls players Greensboro Patriots players Greenville Spinners players Little Rock Travelers players Mobile Sea Gulls players Portsmouth Truckers players Shreveport Gassers players St. Joseph Saints players 1894 births 1969 deaths People from Burke County, North Carolina