John Gordon Rhodes (August 11, 1907 – March 22, 1960) was a 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 ...

pitcher who played 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) from 1929 to 1936. He played for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Rhodes played four sports—baseball, basketball, football, and track—at West High School in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, and then attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

for a year before signing a professional baseball contract. His baseball career spanned 12 years, 1928 to 1939; he spent parts of eight seasons in the major leagues (appearing in 203 games) and parts of seven seasons in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

(appearing in 174 games). Rhodes made his major league debut in April 1929 at age 21, after his contract was purchased by the

from the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles–based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars ( ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. During parts of four seasons, he went 7–9 in 41 games (17 starts) with the Yankees. He was then traded to Boston in August 1932, in the same transaction that brought

Wilcy Moore William Wilcy "Cy" Moore (May 20, 1897 – March 29, 1963) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher over parts of six seasons (1927–1933) with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. He led the American League in ERA as a r ...

to the Yankees. Rhodes spent parts of four seasons with the Red Sox, recording a career-high total of wins, 12, in both 1932 and 1933. However, he did not have a winning record in any of his years with Boston, compiling a 27–45 record in 124 games (90 starts) with the Red Sox. Rhodes, minor league catcher George Savino, and cash were sent to the

in December 1935, in a deal that brought

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "the Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red ...

and

Johnny Marcum John Alfred Marcum (September 9, 1909 – September 10, 1984), nicknamed "Footsie" and "Moose", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played for seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Philadelphia Athletics, Bosto ...

to Boston. With the Athletics, Rhodes collected 9 wins in 1936, but led

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pitchers with 20 losses and 26

home runs allowed A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be pe ...

. During his major league career, Rhodes posted a 43–74 record with 356

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s and a 4.85

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 200 appearances, including 135 starts, 47

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s, one

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, 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 basketba ...

, four saves, and innings of work. As a hitter, he had a .194

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(69-for-356) with two

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 ( ...

s and 34

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. Nicknamed "Dusty", Rhodes was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

; he died at the age of 52 in

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

. Rhodes was inducted to the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

Notes

Rhodes' places of birth and death are listed as they appear in baseball sources. An alternate source with a family connection to Rhodes has given his place of birth as

Winnemucca, Nevada Winnemucca () is the only incorporated city in Humboldt County, Nevada, United States, of which it is also the county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 8,431, up 14.0 percent from the 2010 ...

, and place of death as

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. Rhodes' draft registration card, which he signed in October 1940, lists his place of birth as Salt Lake City. Long Beach was noted as his place of death in contemporary news reports; Long Beach and Bellflower are adjacent communities.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Gordon 1907 births 1960 deaths Boston Red Sox players New York Yankees players Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Hollywood Stars players Jersey City Skeeters players Newark Bears players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Dallas Steers players Dallas Rebels players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Salt Lake City Baseball players from Utah University of Utah alumni United States Army personnel of World War II West High School (Utah) alumni Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links