John Joseph Powell (July 9, 1874 – October 17, 1944) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

at the end of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th century. He had a relatively successful 16-year career, which lasted from 1897 to 1912 he won 245 games, but also lost 254 games. So, despite his sparking 2.97 career ERA, he holds the record for most wins by a pitcher with a career losing record. Powell was born in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

. He made his debut with the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

, and by

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

he became one of the best pitchers on the team. His 23 wins trailed only teammate

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered t ...

. He was one of the star players sold to 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 ...

before the 1899 season. He won 23 games again that year, which was three more than the Spiders had all year. After three successful

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, he was lured to the new

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's ...

, where he pitched for the

. Powell was traded to the

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

before the 1904 season, where he went 23–19. However, after an 8–13 start in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, he was traded back to the Browns. By this time, the Browns had become one of the worst teams in the league. He had a 2.50 ERA over the last seven years of his career, but posted a 78–106 record. This was due partially to low run support, and partially to poor defense. Of the 619 runs he allowed in these seven years, 189 of them were unearned. Powell retired after the 1912 season. He died in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1944.

References

External links

The BASEBALL Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Jack New York Highlanders players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Perfectos players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Cleveland Spiders players Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Bloomington, Illinois Baseball players from McLean County, Illinois 1874 births 1944 deaths Fort Wayne Farmers players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Venice Tigers players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen

See also

References

External links