George Livingston Earnshaw (February 15, 1900 – December 1, 1976) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in parts of nine seasons (1928–36) with the Philadelphia Athletics,

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, Brooklyn Dodgers, and

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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He was the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

wins leader in 1929 with the A's. For his career, he compiled a 127–93 record in 319 appearances, with a 4.38 ERA and 1,002 strikeouts. Earnshaw played on three

pennant winners with the Athletics, winning the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

. Born in New York City, Earnshaw grew to be tall and , earning him the nickname "Moose". He was aggressive, threw hard, and threw strikes. His career covered nine years with a total of 127 victories, and over half of Earnshaw's victories occurred during the A's pennant winning years 1929–31. He won four World Series games, starting eight games with five being complete games. He struck out 56 batters in 62 innings pitched and had an earned run average for the three Series of 1.58.

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds untoucha ...

gave more credit to Earnshaw for the Athletics' 1930 World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals than any other player. Earnshaw did not reach the major leagues until he was 28 years old. A graduate of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, he was a pitching star for the minor league Baltimore Orioles when Connie Mack purchased his contract in June 1928. That season, the A's finished second in the

, 2 games behind the Yankees. Moose had a record of 7–7 with a 3.85 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 158 innings pitched. It was in 1929 that Earnshaw and

Lefty Grove Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove (March 6, 1900 – May 22, 1975) was an American professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's P ...

began to dominate big league hitters. For the next three years, they were the only two pitchers on any one team to win 20 or more games. The 1929 season was George's turn to shine. His 24 victories against 8 losses was the most in the majors, and his 149 strikeouts were second only to teammate Grove in the American League and third in the majors. His fastball being wild at times, Earnshaw's 125 walks were an American League high, but his 3.28 ERA was among the best. By 1936, Earnshaw's career came to an end with the St. Louis Cardinals and old nemesis

Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning ab ...

. Within a few years, George became a commander in the Navy in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He returned to the majors for two years as a coach for the 1949–50 Philadelphia Phillies. A better than average hitting pitcher in his 9 year major league career, Earnshaw compiled a .230

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 ...

(162-for-704) with 61 runs, 3 home runs and 70

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. In the A's three consecutive pennants in 1929, 1930 and 1931, he recorded 10, 10 and 13 RBIs respectively. However, in the eight World Series games in which he appeared, he went 0-for-22 with a run scored. On December 1, 1976, Earnshaw died in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. He currently ranks seventh in

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

franchise history in winning percentage (.627).

Quotes

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

once said of Earnshaw, "I used to send a taxicab to the Almanac Hotel the day he was gonna pitch. I didn't want him to get lost on the way to the stadium." - p. 255 from the book ''Play Ball''

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Earnshaw, George 1900 births 1976 deaths American League wins champions Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from New York (state) Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago White Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Athletics players Philadelphia Phillies coaches Philadelphia Phillies scouts St. Louis Cardinals players Swarthmore Garnet Tide baseball players

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