Charles W. Householder (February 8, 1854 – September 3, 1913) was an American

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 ...

played mainly as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

in and the

Brooklyn Atlantics The Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn ("Atlantic" or the "Brooklyn Atlantics") was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty. The team was also the first baseball club to visit the White House in 1865 at the invitation of President An ...

in .

Career

On July 18, 1882,

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, ...

Tony Mullane Anthony John Mullane (January 30, 1859 – April 25, 1944), nicknamed "Count" and "the Apollo of the Box", was an Irish professional baseball player who pitched for seven major-league teams during 1881–1894. He is best known as a switch pitch ...

of the

Louisville Eclipse The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

, normally a right-handed pitcher, began to pitch left-handed whenever a

Baltimore Oriole The Baltimore oriole (''Icterus galbula'') is a small icterid, icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the Flag of Maryland, coat- ...

left-handed hitter would come to bat. This strategy appeared to work until the ninth inning when left-handed hitting Charlie Householder hit a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

to win the game for the Orioles. For the season, Householder signed with and was playing for the Merrits of

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

, when Charlie Byrne of fellow league team, the

Brooklyn Grays The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

bought his contract, along with other Merrits

Sam Kimber Samuel Jackson Kimber (October 29, 1852 – November 6, 1925) was an American Major League Baseball player who pitched one full season, for the 1884 Brooklyn Atlantics of the American Association, and one game for the 1885 Providence Grays ...

, Bill Greenwood,

Frank Fennelly Francis John Fennelly (February 18, 1860 – August 4, 1920) was a 19th-century Major League Baseball shortstop. He played his entire career for American Association teams: the Washington Nationals (1884), Cincinnati Red Stockings (1884– ...

, and

Jack Corcoran John H. Corcoran (May 15, 1858 – December 28, 1935), was an American catcher in Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (b ...

. He finished out the year and transitioned with the team over to the American Association, where they would be known as the Atlantics. On October 4, 1884, Householder collected two of the Atlantics four

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off Tony Mullane, this time of the

Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American As ...

, a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. The game went 10 innings and was called because of darkness, ending in a 0-0 tie, with Atlantic pitcher Sam Kimber recording the first extra-inning

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

. Householder died in his hometown of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

at the age of 59, and is interred at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Philadelphia.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Householder, Charlie 1854 births 1913 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Philadelphia Burials at Mount Vernon Cemetery (Philadelphia) Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball first basemen Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Brooklyn Atlantics (AA) players Springfield (minor league baseball) players Utica Pent-Ups players Ashland (minor league baseball) players Charleston (minor league baseball) players Atlanta (minor league baseball) players