Clarence Waldo Blethen (July 11, 1893 – April 11, 1973) 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 ...

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, ...

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

and

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

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 ...

as well as 18 seasons in minor league baseball. Blethen batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Blethen attended the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Black Bears from 1912 to 1915. Blethen spent 18 years in organized baseball, almost all of it 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 Nort ...

. He pitched briefly for the Boston Red Sox in 1923 and did not earn another opportunity until 1929, when he played with the

. In seven major league games, Blethen had no decisions and posted a 7.32

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

, with two

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in 19-2⁄3

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 ...

. Blethen suffered an unusual injury while playing for the Knoxville Smokies of the Southern Association in 1933. In a game on June 6, the pitcher, who had false teeth and would put them in his hip pocket when he was running the bases, slid into second base, and the false teeth took a bite out of him in what one news account called "a tender spot." Following his major league career, Blethen spent seven years with the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

minor league club, winning 20 or more games in two seasons. He also played for several teams and managed Leaksville and

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

in the late 1930s. After that, Blethen took an active part in coaching little leaguers until the mid-1960s. Blethen died in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

, at age 79.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blethen, Clarence 1893 births 1973 deaths Maine Black Bears baseball players Baseball players from Maine Boston Red Sox players Brooklyn Robins players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers Atlanta Crackers players Frederick Hustlers players Greenville Spinners players Knoxville Smokies players Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets players Little Rock Travelers players Macon Peaches players Mobile Bears players San Antonio Bears players Savannah Indians players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players People from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine 20th-century American sportsmen