Urbain Jacques Shockcor (September 22, 1890 – September 9, 1928), known as Urban James Shocker, 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, ...

. He played 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 ...

(MLB) for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

and St. Louis Browns between 1916 and 1928. Shocker, known as one of the last legal

spitball A spitball is a now-illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it ...

pitchers, led 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 ...

(AL)—and set the Browns' record—in 1921 with 27 wins, and won 20 games in four consecutive seasons from 1920 to 1923. At the time of his retirement, he was the Browns' all-time leader in wins with 126 and shutouts with 23.

Career

Shocker was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

to Anna and William Shockcor and relocated to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

some time later. Shocker began his career in the Border League, where he played as a catcher. Trachtenberg, Leo, pp. 88 In 1913, when he played for the Windsor team in the Border League, he broke the middle finger on his right hand; when it healed it became hooked, which allowed him to throw a breaking ball as well as his spitter. As a prelude to his major league career, Shocker was demoted by the Yankees for seasoning and improvement, and he spent most of the 1916 season playing for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

in the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, where he posted a 15–3 record and strung together 54 consecutive scoreless innings. His scoreless inning streak and 1.31 ERA for the campaign both still stand as International League records. He was called up by the Yankees and played with them through the 1917 season. That winter, Miller Huggins engineered a trade of Shocker to the Browns, eventually returning to the Yankees in 1925. In March 1918, his draft number came up and he reported for service on May 31 of that year. Huhn, David, pp. 69 Faber, Charles, pp. 68 After he served overseas he returned to the Browns in April 1919. Shocker had four consecutive 20-win seasons with the Browns in the early 1920s, during which he was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Urban was the last Yankee to legally throw a

, as he and a handful of other pitchers were grandfathered to continue the practice after it was banned by baseball in 1920. Shocker lived with a heart condition so severe some books say he had to sleep either sitting or standing up. By the early fall of 1927, he was too ill to maintain his place in the starting rotation. Shocker's career totals for 412

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

include a 187–117 record, a .615

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

, 317

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games pitched, games that a pitcher has starting pitcher, started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opp ...

, 200 complete games, 28 shutouts, 72

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is the ...

, 25 saves, and an

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 ...

of 3.17 in 2,681.2

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 compiled a career .209

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(167–798) with 89

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

, 70 RBI and 139

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. He was a good fielding pitcher in his era, committing only 15 errors in 769

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

for a .980

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. After his release from the Yankees in 1928, Shocker entered an exhibition tournament in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. He pitched in one game on August 6, 1928, against a team from

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

and fared poorly in that outing. Around this time, Shocker contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and was hospitalized shortly thereafter. On September 9, 1928, Shocker died in Denver as the result of heart failure exacerbated by pneumonia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shocker, Urban 1890 births 1928 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Cleveland Windsor (minor league baseball) players Ottawa Senators (baseball) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players American League strikeout champions American League wins champions Deaths from pneumonia in Colorado American expatriate baseball players in Canada Burials at Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis)

Career

See also

Further reading

References

External links