AllenFaber, Charles
"Allen Sothoron"

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

Biography Project Sutton Sothoron (April 27, 1893 – June 17, 1939) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player, coach and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. As a player, he was a spitball

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, ...

who spent 11 years in the major leagues playing for the St. Louis Browns,

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and the St. Louis Cardinals. Born in Bradford, Ohio, Sothoron threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He attended

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1856 and had an enrollment of 1,652 students as of fall 2023. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when "Union Sem ...

and Juniata College. Sportswriters frequently misspelled Sothoron's given name (as "Allan") and family name (as "Southern", among other variations) and some sources continue to refer to him as "Allan," although his personal documents show his preference for ''Allen.''

Career

Sothoron broke into the major leagues when the spitball was still legal. His best season came in 1919, when he posted a 20–13 record with a 2.20

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 ...

for the Browns, finishing fifth in the

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 ...

in wins and ERA. After the spitball was outlawed following the 1919 campaign, Sothoron at first was not permitted to throw it, then in mid-1920 he was added to a list of 17 spitballers in the majors who were allowed to continue using the banned pitch. But he was never able to match his 1919 numbers. His pitching career ended in St. Louis with the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Cardinals, where he played for his first MLB manager, Branch Rickey, and led the NL in shutouts with four in , despite a mediocre 10–16 (3.57) record. During his MLB career, he appeared in 264 games pitched, and allowed 1,583 hits and 596 bases on balls in

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. He struck out 576 and hurled 102

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 ...

s. In 1921, sportswriter Bugs Baer came up with this immortal quip: "Allen S. Sothoron pitched his initials off yesterday." After his playing days, Sothoron managed in

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, coached for the Cardinals (1927),

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

(1928), and Browns (1932–1933), and with the 1933 Browns he served a brief, eight-game managerial stint after the dismissal of Bill Killefer. After compiling a win–loss record of 2–6 between July 19 and July 27, he was replaced with hometown favorite

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "the Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager (baseball), manager, and coach (baseball), coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. ...

.Retrosheet, "Allen Sothoron"
/ref> Sothoron died in St. Louis at age 46 in the middle of the

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

season after a series of illnesses. He is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Managerial record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sothoron, Allan 1893 births 1939 deaths Albright Lions baseball players Baseball players from Darke County, Ohio Boston Braves coaches Boston Red Sox players Cleveland Indians players Haverhill Hustlers players Juniata Eagles baseball players Louisville Colonels (minor league) managers Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) managers People from Bradford, Ohio Portland Beavers players St. Louis Browns coaches St. Louis Browns managers St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen St. Louis Cardinals coaches St. Louis Cardinals players Wichita Witches players Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Baseball players from Jefferson County, Ohio