Walter Albert Holborow (November 30, 1913 – July 14, 1986) was an American

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baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player who had a brief career in

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— one year and only three

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

Minor league page from Baseball Reference
/ref> in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

in 1937 with the Class C

Akron Yankees The Akron Yankees were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1935 until 1941. A class C farm team of the New York Yankees, the club was based in Akron, Ohio and played in the Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-At ...

of the

Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-Atlantic League) was a lower-level circuit in American minor league baseball that played during the second quarter of the 20th century. History The Middle Atlantic League played from 1925 through 1951, with t ...

, followed by three stints (1944–1945; 1948) and 21 games pitched in

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for the Washington Senators and

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 ...

. A native of New York City, the right-handed Holborow stood and weighed . Holborow's full record at

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includes three games in 1937 and then no further appearances in "organized baseball" until his Major League debut with Washington on September 27, , during the peak of the World War II manpower shortage. On that day, Holborow relieved

Baby Ortiz Oliverio "Baby" Ortiz (December 5, 1919 – March 27, 1984) was a Cuban-born Major League Baseball pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin eac ...

in the sixth

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at Cleveland's

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough, Cleveland, Hough neighborhood. It was built ...

and pitched three hitless, scoreless innings as 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 ...

won, 6–4. Holborow gave up two

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 ...

and

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one. In Holborow worked in 15 games, all but one in relief. But in his only Major League

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 ...

assignment, on August 4 at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Bounda ...

, Holborow pitched a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, two-hit

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against the

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 ...

as the Senators won, 4–0. Holborow surrendered a

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Catfish Metkovich George Michael "Catfish" Metkovich (October 8, 1920 — May 17, 1995) was an American outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (1943–46), Cleveland Indians (1947), Chicago White Sox (1949), Pittsburgh Pira ...

, a

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to Ty LaForest, and three bases on balls. He struck out four. Holborow appeared in three more games for Washington during 1945, then was out of professional baseball until September 6, 1948, when he made the first of his five appearances on the mound for the Philadelphia Athletics. He went 8⅓ innings against 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 a start on September 23, but lost the game 8–7 and gave up 16 hits in the process.1948-9-23 box score from Retrosheet
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holborow, Wally Major League Baseball pitchers Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Philadelphia Athletics players Baseball players from New York (state) 1913 births 1986 deaths Akron Yankees players