Charles Elmer Ponder (June 26, 1893 – April 20, 1974) was a professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. Known as "Elmer Ponder", he was a right-handed major league

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

(1917, 1919–21) with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. With the

, he pitched a perfect 5 2/3 innings of relief in his first outing of the year, against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader on July 23; it would be 94 years until another member of the Pirates, Vin Mazzaro, threw as many as 5 perfect innings of relief, in 2013. In 1920, Ponder appeared in 33 games, with a record of 11–15. His ERA of 2.62, while not the best on the squad, was better than the team ERA of 2.89. He was an aviator and airplane mechanic in World War I in 1917 until the end of the war, and he returned to the Pirates a war hero. In 1921, he was doing well with an ERA of 2.19 in 24 2/3 innings, when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs. His ERA with them went up to 4.74. He was of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

descent and played with other famous "Indian players" of his generation such as Ben Shaw, Moses Yellow Horse, Bill Marriot and Virgil Cheeves. He joined the Allied Forces in World War I and served for the U.S. when the Americans joined the war. For Elmer Ponder's baseball career, he compiled a 17–27 record, with a 3.21

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 numb ...

, and 113 strikeouts in 378⅔ innings pitched. Ponder recalled playing an exhibition game in Cuba with

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 ...

as being a post-career highlight, along with his providing financing to former Indian ball players from his self started Ponder Finance company, during a time banks would not provide financing to minorities. His father had owned a bank in Magnum, OK. Ponder was alumnus of the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, where he was a captain and second baseman, as well as playing on the basketball team. Ponder was born in

Reed, Oklahoma Reed is an unincorporated community in Greer County, Oklahoma, United States, located along State Highway 9 at North County Road 1840. The ZIP Code is 73554. The post office opened September 16, 1892. Reed was said to have been named for the ...

. He married silent film organist, Zelpha Gledhill, in San Diego, and they had two children. Elmer Ponder had a successful automobile and finance company in Albuquerque, New Mexico and he lived there with his wife, Zelpha, until his death at the age of 80.

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1893 births 1974 deaths Pittsburgh Pirates players Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Oklahoma Dallas Giants players Grand Rapids Champs players San Antonio Bronchos players Birmingham Barons players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Salt Lake City Bees players Portland Beavers players Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players University of Oklahoma alumni {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub