Hollis John "Sloppy" Thurston (June 2, 1899 – September 14, 1973) was an American
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 ...
. He played 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), ...
(MLB) for the
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 ...
,
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
,
Washington Senators, and
Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers between 1923 and 1933. He batted and threw right-handed.
Biography
Thurston was born in
Fremont, Nebraska
Fremont is a city and county seat of Dodge County in the eastern portion of the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 27,141 at the 2020 census. Fremont is the home of Midland University.
History
From the 1830 ...
, and graduated from
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School.
["Sloppy Thurston Stats"](_blank)
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
Thurston was a
screwball
A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...
pitcher.
He played professional baseball from 1920 to 1938, spending time in the minor leagues when not in the majors. He played his first MLB game on April 19, 1923, with the St. Louis Browns.
On August 22, 1923, Thurston became the fifth pitcher in major-league history to pitch an
immaculate inning
In baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a batter during his time at bat. An immaculate inning occurs when a pitcher strikes out all three batters he faces in one inning, using the minimum possible number of pitche ...
, striking out all three batters on nine total pitches in the 12th inning of a game against the
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
; he was also the first pitcher to achieve the feat in
extra innings
Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie.
Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...
.
In 1924, while pitching for the Chicago White Sox, Thurston led the American League with 28 complete games, posting a 20–14 record in 36 starts, while also leading the league in hits allowed (330), earned runs allowed (123), and home runs allowed (17) in 291 innings pitched.
Thurston played his last MLB game on October 1, 1933. He finished his nine-year MLB career with 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 matc ...
of 89–86, a 4.24
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 ...
, and 306
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. As a hitter, he posted a .270
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 ...
(175-for-648) with 5
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 and 79
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 ...
.
Thurston died on September 14, 1973, in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. He is interred at
Holy Cross Cemetery in
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...
.
References
External links
Baseball Almanac: Sloppy Thurston stats*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, Sloppy
1899 births
1973 deaths
Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from Nebraska
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Brooklyn Robins players
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Chicago White Sox players
Chicago White Sox scouts
Cleveland Indians scouts
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School alumni
Minor league baseball managers
Mission Reds players
Oakland Oaks (baseball) players
People from Fremont, Nebraska
Pittsburgh Pirates scouts
Salt Lake City Bees players
San Francisco Seals (baseball) players
Screwball pitchers
Seattle Indians players
St. Louis Browns players
Tacoma Tigers players
Washington Senators (1901–1960) players