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Horace Owen Eller (July 5, 1894 – July 18, 1961), better known as Hod Eller, was an American
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, ...
in
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 ...
.


Biography

Hod Eller was born in
Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...
. He started his minor league career in 1913. In 1915, he won 19 games for the
Moline Plowboys The Moline Plowboys was a primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Moline, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities. Moline teams played as members the 1892 Illinois-Iowa League, 1894 Western Association, the Mississippi Valley League (19 ...
of the
Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Class B level Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymo ...
. His performance gained the attention of the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
, and he was drafted by the team after the 1916 season. He pitched five years for the Reds, going 60–40 with a 2.62
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 ...
(108 Adjusted ERA+). Eller peaked in the Reds' pennant-winning 1919 season. He led the team in innings, and went 19–9 with a 2.39 ERA. On May 11 of that season, Eller no-hit the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
6–0 at Redland Field. He then pitched two complete game victories in the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
, but it was later revealed that members of the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
had intentionally thrown the series for money. In Game Five of that Series, Eller shut out the White Sox 5–0 with nine
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, including six consecutively—a record that would be tied by Moe Drabowsky in the
1966 World Series The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League ...
opener. After his major league career ended, Eller played in the minors for a few years, last playing for the
Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...
in 1924. The ''Baseball Record Book'' records that on August 21, 1917, Eller struck out three batters on nine pitches in the ninth inning of a 7–5 win over the
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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
; however, the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' from the day after the game noted that Eller allowed a single to start that inning, and so did not officially achieve an immaculate inning. He died from cancer in Indianapolis on July 18, 1961, and was buried at
Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high poi ...
.


In popular culture

In the 1987 movie '' Matewan'', Hod Eller was mentioned as the child preacher Danny Radnor's favorite pitcher. Screenwriter and Director
John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He is known for writing and directing the films '' The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), '' Matewan'' (1987), ...
would later write and direct the movie '' Eight Men Out'' featuring the circumstances around the fixing of the 1919 World Series and Eller's Reds' team victory.


See also

*
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters Below is a list of Major League Baseball no-hitters, enumerating every no-hitter pitched in Major League Baseball history. The list also includes no-hit games that were broken up in extra innings or were in shortened games, although they have no ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eller, Hod 1894 births 1961 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cincinnati Reds players Champaign Velvets players Danville Speakers players Moline Plowboys players Mount Sterling Essex players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Indianapolis Indians players Baseball players from Indiana Sportspeople from Muncie, Indiana Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery 20th-century American sportsmen