Robert Francis Keefe (June 16, 1882 – December 6, 1964) 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 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 ...

. 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 Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

and

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 ...

Baseball career

Keefe was born in

Folsom, California Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. The population was 80,454 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 72,203 residents at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. History The Nisenan tribe of Ind ...

, in 1882."Bobby Keefe Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. In 1902, he graduated from

Santa Clara College Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

, where he was a star pitcher. Keefe started his professional baseball career with the Sacramento Senators in 1903, the first year of the

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

(PCL). The following year, the Sacramento franchise moved to

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, and Keefe spent two seasons with the

Tacoma Tigers Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mou ...

. In 1904, he had 438.2 innings pitched, a

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

of 34–15, and a 2.40

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 ...

(ERA). He had the second-most wins in the PCL and helped the Tigers win the league championship. In 1905, Keefe had 468.2 innings pitched and went 30–22 with a 1.61 ERA. He had the second-most wins in the PCL again."Bobby Keefe Independent & Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021. Keefe then played for the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club ( Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

of the Eastern League from 1906 to 1910. In 1907, he also played for 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 ...

's New York Highlanders. Keefe had 57.2 innings pitched, a 3–5 record, and a 2.50 ERA during his first major league season. In 1911, Keefe made it back to the majors with the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

's Cincinnati Reds. He had his best season in MLB in 1911, going 12–13 with a 2.69 ERA in 234.1 innings pitched. The following year, he went 1–3 with a 5.24 ERA in 68.2 innings pitched and never played in the majors again. Keefe played in the minor leagues from 1913 to 1915 and again in 1921 before leaving professional baseball.

Later life

While playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Keefe met Margaret Carroll, who later became his wife. The couple raised four children: Helen Roberta Keefe, Carol B. Keefe, Robert Gael Keefe, and John Franklin Keefe. After his baseball career ended, Keefe returned to the Folsom area, where he worked for the Natomas Gold Dredging Company. He later became the county assessor for East Sacramento County. For several years, he was in charge of the water system for the Folsom area. In his last years before retirement, Keefe was also the postmaster of Folsom. He retired to the

Land Park Land Park is a neighborhood in the city of Sacramento. Land Park consists of mainly single-family dwellings in the area between Interstate 5 to the west, Broadway to the north, Sutterville Road to the south and Freeport Blvd to the east. Willia ...

area of Sacramento. Keefe died in 1964.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keefe, Bobby 1882 births 1964 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Cincinnati Reds players New York Highlanders players Sacramento Senators players Tacoma Tigers players Montreal Royals players Rochester Hustlers players Portland Beavers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Baseball players from Sacramento County, California Sportspeople from Folsom, California 20th-century American sportsmen