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James Evans "Grasshopper Jim" Whitney (November 10, 1857 – May 21, 1891) was an American professional
baseball 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 ...
player. He was a right-handed
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 ...
over parts of ten seasons (1881–1890) with the Boston Red Caps/Beaneaters, Kansas City Cowboys,
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadi ...
, Indianapolis Hoosiers and
Philadelphia Athletics (AA) The Philadelphia Athletics were a professional baseball team, one of six charter members of the American Association, a 19th-century major league, which began play in 1882 as a rival to the National League. The other teams were the Baltimore Ori ...
. He was the
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
strikeout champion in 1883 with the
Boston Beaneaters Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
.


Early life

Whitney was born in Conklin, New York, and he had a brother named Charlie with whom he played baseball. When the brothers played on the same teams, each could serve as a pitcher or a catcher, so one sibling was often pitching to the other. Charlie Whitney played independent professional baseball.


Career

Playing with the semi-pro Binghamton Crickets before minor league stints in
Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port Ci ...
, Omaha, and
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Whitney debuted in the major leagues for
Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, ...
's 1881 Boston Red Caps, and he worked hard that season, throwing 57
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—pit ...
s and pitching 552 innings that year. A Boston journalist called Whitney "the swiftest pitcher in the league". Some accounts describe that Whitney was disliked by umpires, who said that he would spend much of the game complaining about calls that did not go in his favor. Whitney had unique pitching mechanics. In 19th century baseball, the ball was delivered from a rectangular pitcher's box six feet in length. Pitchers would sometimes hop forward within the box before releasing the ball, and some would leap into the air during the process. Batters made fun of Whitney when he did this, giving him the nickname "Grasshopper Jim", but Whitney's pitching was effective for several years. For his career, he compiled a 191–204 record in 413 appearances, with a 2.97 ERA and 1,571 strikeouts. During his five seasons with the Boston franchise (now the
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...
), he ranks 4th in franchise history in
ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Com ...
(2.49), 3rd in
WHIP A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...
(1.082), 9th in
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 inning ...
(2263), 8th in strikeouts (1157), 9th in games started (254), 4th in
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—pit ...
s (242), 1st in strikeout to walk ratio (5.03), 7th in losses (121), and 2nd in
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 ...
es (162).


Death

Whitney died in 1891 in Binghamton, New York, at the home of his father, Rufus Whitney.
Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...
was the cause of death.


See also

*
List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders The following is a list of annual leaders in saves in Major League Baseball (MLB), with separate lists for the American League and the National League. The list includes several professional leagues and associations that were never part of MLB. ...
*
List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders In baseball, the strikeout is a statistic used to evaluate pitchers. A pitcher earns a strikeout when he puts out the batter he is facing by throwing a ball through the strike zone, "defined as that area over homeplate ''(sic)'' the upper limit ...
*
List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders Major League Baseball recognizes the player or players in each league with the most wins each season. In baseball, wins are a statistic used to evaluate pitchers. Credit for a win is given by the official scorer to the pitcher whose team takes an ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Jim 1857 births 1891 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers National League wins champions National League strikeout champions Boston Red Caps players Boston Beaneaters players Kansas City Cowboys (NL) players Indianapolis Hoosiers (NL) players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Binghamton Crickets (1870s) players Omaha Green Stockings players San Francisco Athletics players San Francisco Knickerbockers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Baseball players from New York (state) People from Broome County, New York 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)