Earl Hershey Yingling (October 29, 1888 – October 2, 1962) was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 all or part of five seasons in

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), ...

for the Cleveland Naps (1911),

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

(1912–13),

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

(1914) and Washington Senators (1918). Yingling was born in

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Count ...

and attended Steele High School in

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

. Yingling began his professional career with the

Dayton Veterans Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

from 1907 to 1909 and the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

from 1910 to 1911. He married Florine Sausser in 1908 after she said she would marry him if he

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...

the next hitter, which he did. His best season between Toledo and Dayton was 1910, finishing the year with a win–loss record of 22–9 in 287

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Yingling made his major league debut for the Cleveland Naps on April 12, 1911, and pitched in four games for the team. After the 1911 season, he along with

Pat Paige George Lynn Paige (May 5, 1882 in Paw Paw, Michigan – June 8, 1939 in Berlin, Wisconsin), nicknamed "Piggy", was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for one season. He pitched in two games for the Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardia ...

were selected by the

in the rule 5 draft. He spent the next two seasons with the Dodgers, going 6–11 with a 3.59

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) in 1912 and 8–8 with a 2.58 ERA in 1913; he also had a .383 batting average in 40 games for the team in 1913. In one game for the Dodgers, Yingling threw only one pitch against the

, causing the batter to ground into a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

before being replaced; coming into a game to face one batter was a rare move at the time. After the 1913 season, Yingling was purchased by the Reds, where he had a 9–13 record and a 3.45 ERA in 34 games. He then spent the next two seasons with the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

, winning 19 and 24 games, respectively. After considering retirement, the Washington Senators signed him to a contract just before the 1917 season. Yingling served in the military during World War I, and returned to Washington for the 1918 season. He pitched in five games for the team, then spent three more seasons with Minneapolis before retiring from the game. He died in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

in 1962 at the age of 73.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yingling, Earl Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Naps players Brooklyn Dodgers players Brooklyn Superbas players Cincinnati Reds players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Dayton Veterans players Toledo Mud Hens players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Baseball players from Ohio Sportspeople from Chillicothe, Ohio 1888 births 1962 deaths