Samuel Leever (December 23, 1871 – May 19, 1953), nicknamed "The Goshen Schoolmaster", was an American right-handed
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
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), ...
. He spent his entire career 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 ...
.
Early life
Sam Leever was born in
Goshen, Ohio, the fourth child of Edward Leever, a farmer, and Ameredith Andelia (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Watson) Leever. He graduated from
Goshen High School, and then became a teacher there for several years.
Professional baseball career
Leever's first year in the Major Leagues was 1898 at age 26, making his debut on May 26 against the
Washington Senators. Of that debut, the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' wrote, "The interest of the 1,300 spectators was largely centered in the work of Leever, who had his first chance in a championship game. Leever is a big, strong fellow, who has plenty of speed and some good curves to help out in a pinch ... He is not afraid to put the ball over the plate." That year he pitched in 5 games for the Pirates. However, the following year he led 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 ...
in games pitched with 51 and in innings pitched with 379 as he posted a record of 21–23. In 1901 and 1905 he led the league in winning percentage (14–5 and 20–5, respectively), as well as in 1903, when he had his best season, going 25–7 with a league-leading 2.06
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 ...
(ERA).
In 1903 Leever also led the Pirates to their third consecutive National League pennant. However he injured his shoulder late in the season and was ineffective in the first-ever
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 ...
, losing both of his starts as the Pirates were defeated by
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
Leever later went 8–1 for the 1909 Pirates, when they won their first World Series title. His lifetime ERA was 2.47, and he had a 194–100 record, 847
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...
s, 39 shutouts, 241 complete games, 587
walks, and only 29
home run
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 ...
s allowed in 2,660.2 innings.
As a hitter, Leever posted a .184
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 ...
(183-for-993) with 90
runs, 17
doubles, 14
triples, 2
home run
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 ...
s, 78
runs batted in
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 49 bases on balls.
Personal life
Sam Leever married Margaret Leever in 1903 when he was 32 and she was 18. They had no children. He died in 1953 at age 81 in
Batavia, Ohio
Batavia ( ) is a village in and the county seat of Clermont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,509 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Batavia is located at (39.077332, -84.179160).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the ...
near his hometown of Goshen.
His wife Margaret died in 1959. They are buried in Goshen Cemetery.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
In baseball, earned run average (ERA) is a statistic used to evaluate pitchers, calculated as the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. A pitcher is assessed an earned run for each run scored by a baserunner who reach ...
*
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
The following is a list of annual leaders in shutouts in Major League Baseball (MLB). A shutout occurs when a single pitcher throws a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a single run.
Walter Johnson holds the career shut ...
*
List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders
The following is a list of annual leaders in saves in Major League Baseball (MLB), with separate lists for the American League and the National League. The list includes several professional leagues and associations that were never part of MLB.
...
*
List of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the mean of earned runs given up 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 of in ...
*
List of Major League Baseball career WHIP leaders
In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. WHIP reflects a pitcher's propensity for allowing batters to reach base, there ...
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leever, Sam
1871 births
1953 deaths
19th-century baseball players
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League ERA champions
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Minor league baseball managers
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Richmond Giants players
Richmond Bluebirds players
Kansas City Packers players
Covington Blue Sox players
Baseball players from Ohio
People from Clermont County, Ohio