Charles Reno (Togie) Pittinger (January 12, 1872 – January 14, 1909) was a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

in Major League Baseball who played for the

Boston Beaneaters 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- most po ...

(1900–1904) and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(1905–1907). Pittinger batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Pittinger was a hard-luck pitcher who played for two of the worst teams in the National League at the turn of the 20th century. In 1901, Pittinger joined the Boston Beaneaters rotation that included Vic Willis, Bill Dinneen and

Kid Nichols Charles Augustus "Kid" Nichols (September 14, 1869 – April 11, 1953) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Boston Beaneaters, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies from 1890 to 1906. A switch hitter w ...

. He started 33 games,

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * '' Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Foot Pole, 2022 ...

13 with a 3.01 earned run average in 27

complete Complete may refer to: Logic * Completeness (logic) * Completeness of a theory, the property of a theory that every formula in the theory's language or its negation is provable Mathematics * The completeness of the real numbers, which implies t ...

appearances. The next season, he collected 27 wins, tying with teammate Willis for the second place in the National League behind

Jack Chesbro John Dwight Chesbro (June 5, 1874 – November 6, 1931) was an American professional baseball pitcher. Nicknamed "Happy Jack", Chesbro played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1899–1902), the New York Highlanders (1903–1909), and the Boston Red Sox ...

(29). In 1903, he had 18 victories with a 3.48 ERA, but led the NL with 22 losses. His 1904 season was almost the same, as he went 15–21 with a 2.66 ERA. Before the 1905 season, Pittinger was sent by Boston to the Philadelphia Phillies in the same trade that brought

Chick Fraser Charles Carrolton Fraser (August 26, 1873 – May 8, 1940) was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched for numerous teams between 1896 and 1909. He ranks second all time among major-league pitchers in the category of hit batsmen, ...

and

Harry Wolverton Harry Sterling Wolverton (December 6, 1873 – February 4, 1937), nicknamed "Fighting Harry", was an American professional baseball player. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball from 1898 through 1905 and 1912. He pla ...

to the Beaneaters. Pittinger finished with 23 wins, second to

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

star Christy Mathewson (31) for the NL lead. He also led the Phillies in starts (37), complete games (29),

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 ...

(337) and

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 (136), while posting a 3.09 ERA. Hampered by shoulder problems, Pittinger averaged 8.5 wins and 115 innings from 1906 to 1907. He did not return for the 1908 season. In an eight-year career, Pittinger posted a 115–113 record with 832 strikeouts and a 3.10 ERA in innings pitched. Pittinger died in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, two days after his 37th birthday after developing Bright's disease.

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittinger, Togie Boston Beaneaters players Philadelphia Phillies players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Pennsylvania 1872 births 1909 deaths Chambersburg Maroons players Roanoke Magicians players Brockton Shoemakers players Springfield Ponies players Worcester Farmers players 19th-century baseball players

See also

External links