George Washington Bradley (July 13, 1852 – October 2, 1931), nicknamed "Grin", was an American 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 ...

player who was a

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, ...

and

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. He played for multiple teams in the early years of 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 ...

, the oldest league still active 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). Bradley is noted for pitching the first

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 ...

that is officially recognized by MLB, on July 15, 1876, for the St. Louis Brown Stockings against the

Hartford Dark Blues The Hartfords (more commonly called the Hartford Dark Blues because of their uniform color) were a 19th-century baseball team. The team was based in Hartford, Connecticut. History In 1874, baseball in Hartford was being played in a fever pitch. ...

. As a player, he was listed at and ; he threw and batted right-handed.

Baseball career

Bradley is credited as throwing the first official

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

, no-run game in major league history. He pitched for the St. Louis Brown Stockings in the clubs victory over the

on July 15, 1876. The score ended 2–0 without a hit being allowed by Bradley. That year, he completed 63 of the 64 games for St. Louis, winning 45 and leading the league with a 1.23

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 ...

. Additionally, he also threw 16

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

, setting a record which has not been broken to date, although was tied in 1916, 40 years later, by

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

pitcher

Grover Cleveland Alexander Grover Cleveland Alexander (February 26, 1887 – November 4, 1950), nicknamed "Old Pete" and "Alexander the Great", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, an ...

. After 1876, Bradley was not as effective as a pitcher and played mostly other positions after 1879. He was involved in professional baseball for 30 years, 19 of them with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

. In 1883, he was the team's regular

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

and also went 16–7 on the mound to help the A's win the American Association championship. In 1887, he served as a

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 ...

for the Nashville Blues of the Southern League.Traughber, Bill
"Looking Back: Nashville Blues."
''Nashville Sounds''. April 26, 2004. Retrieved on March 22, 2008.

Later life

Bradley became a

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 ...

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

following his baseball career. He died at his home in Philadelphia,on October 2, 1931. At the time of his death at age 79, he was retired on a pension from the police department which he had only begun receiving in September 1931. Bradley was interred at the

Northwood Cemetery Northwood Cemetery is a cemetery located in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, It was established in 1878. Notable interments * George Bradley (1852–1931) Major League Baseball player * Duke Esper (1868–1910) ...

in Philadelphia.

References

*Philadelphia Public Ledger, Sunday Morning, Oct. 4, 1931, P.6 *MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia Digital Edition (1996)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, George 1852 births 1931 deaths Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Baseball player-managers Binghamton Crickets (1880s) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Capital City of Albany players Chicago White Stockings players Cincinnati Outlaw Reds players Cleveland Blues (NL) players Detroit Wolverines players Easton (minor league baseball) players Hartford (minor league baseball) players London Tecumseh players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball third basemen Nashville Blues players National League ERA champions New Bedford (minor league baseball) players New Haven (minor league baseball) players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Baseball players from Reading, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Philadelphia Police Department officers Providence Grays players Rochester Hop Bitters players Rochester Maroons players Sioux City Corn Huskers players St. Louis Brown Stockings (NA) players St. Louis Brown Stockings players Troy Trojans (NL) players Burials at Northwood Cemetery, Philadelphia Baseball players from Philadelphia

Baseball career

Later life

See also

References

External links