Henry Levi "Johnny" Werts (April 20, 1898 – September 24, 1990) was an American right-handed

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, ...

who played for the

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). ...

from 1926 to 1929. His last name was also spelled Wertz. He made his major league debut on April 14, 1926 at the age of 27, approximately a week shy of his 28th birthday. He went 11–8 in his rookie season, posting a 3.28 ERA in 32 games (23 starts) and finishing second on the team in wins, trailing only Larry Benton's 14. He finished second in the league in

hit batsmen In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter (baseball), batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded f ...

, behind only Don Songer. In 1927, he went 4–10 with a 4.55 ERA in 42 games (15 starts), walking 52 batters and striking out only 39. His six wild pitches were third most in the National League that season. In each of the next two seasons, he appeared in only 10 games and four games respectively, going 0–2 with a 10.31 ERA in 1928 and 0–0 with a 10.50 ERA in 1929. He appeared in his final game on May 22. On June 2, 1928, he was traded with Jimmy Cooney and

Luke Urban Louis John "Luke" Urban (March 22, 1898 – December 7, 1980) was an American multi-sport athlete and coach. He played four seasons of professional football in the National Football League and two years of Major League Baseball with the Boston ...

to the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

for Bonnie Hollingsworth. Overall, Werts went 15–21 with a 4.29 ERA in his four-year major league career. In 378 innings, he allowed 460 hits and 111 walks, while striking out 111 batters. He also spent seven years playing in the minor leagues, going 59–62 in 218 games. In 1924, he posted a 2.79 ERA despite going 16–17.BR Minors
/ref> Following his death, he was interred at St. Paul Lutheran Church Cemetery in Newberry, South Carolina.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Werts, Johnny 1898 births 1990 deaths Boston Braves players Baseball players from Newberry County, South Carolina People from Newberry County, South Carolina Nashville Vols players 20th-century American sportsmen