Elmer Joseph "Doc" Hamann (December 21, 1900 – January 11, 1973) was a

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 ...

player. He only appeared in one game, a 15–5 loss to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

while pitching for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

on September 21, 1922. Hamann co-holds a dubious record which can never be broken; since Hamann faced seven hitters and did not record a single out, he retired with a lifetime

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 ...

infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...

. Hamann was one of a group of players that Indians

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Tris Speaker Tristram Edgar Speaker (April 4, 1888 – December 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Gray Eagle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1907 to 1928. Considered one o ...

sent in partway through the game on September 21, 1922, done as an opportunity for fans to see various minor league prospects. Also playing his only ML game that day was first baseman Uke Clanton. For shortstop Chick Sorrells, third baseman

Ike Kahdot Isaac Leonard Kahdot (October 22, 1899 – March 31, 1999) was a professional baseball third baseman in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Chief", he played for the Cleveland Indians in 1922.

and left fielder Joe Rabbitt, all of whom had made between 1–3 appearances earlier in the month, this would also mark the final major league game of their careers. Hamann entered the game in the ninth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

, taking over from Logan Drake, who was also making his major league debut. (Drake would pitch 10 games in the majors, through 1924.) With the Indians already trailing 9–5, Hamann walked Johnny Mitchell and Ed Chaplin, then hit opposing pitcher Jack Quinn. He followed that up with a walk to Mike Menosky, forcing in a run. Elmer Miller then tripled to clear the bases, and

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

singled Miller home. Only after Del Pratt followed with another single did manager

pull Hamann, who also threw a

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third st ...

in what was his only major league appearance. Burns also eventually came around to score, for the sixth and final run charged to Hamann. In addition to his infinite ERA, Hamann holds the record for most batters faced in a career without recording an out. His appearance with the Indians was apparently his only one in a pro baseball game; there is no record of Hamann ever playing in the minor leagues. Before pitching for the Indians, Hamann played semi-pro baseball in

New Ulm, Minnesota New Ulm ( ) is a city and the county seat of Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River a ...

. He died more than a half-century later, in 1973.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamann, Elmer 1900 births 1973 deaths Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Minnesota People from New Ulm, Minnesota 20th-century American sportsmen