James Alvin Wiggs (September 1, 1876 – January 20, 1963), nicknamed "Big Jim", was a right-handed pitcher 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 ...

for the

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

(1903) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1905–06). Born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in 1876, Wiggs is one of three Norwegian major league baseball players in history. Wiggs was a big man at 6'4" tall. In April 1903, Wiggs made his major league debut at age 26 with the

. He appeared in only two games for the Reds, pitching in only 5 innings with a 5.40

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 1905, Wiggs got a second chance in the majors with the

. He pitched in 11 games for the Tigers in the 1905 and 1906 seasons. In 1905, Wiggs pitched innings (including 4 complete games) with a 3.27

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) and a 3–3 record. According to records of long-term holdouts by major league baseball players, Wiggs became the first player (in 1905) to hold out for at least of month of the season

In 1906, Wiggs pitched in only 10-1/3 innings and saw his ERA jump to 5.23—two points higher than the previous season. Wiggs pitched his final game for the Tigers on May 25, 1903, and did not play another game in the major leagues. After being cut by the Tigers, Wiggs played for 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 baseball team nicknamed the ...

in 1906. In 1909, Wiggs pitched for the

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: *Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey te ...

in 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 ...

, and appeared in the longest shutout in professional baseball history, a 24-inning 1–0 loss to the San Francisco Seals. In what was called "the greatest game ever seen west of the Rockies," Wiggs struck out 11 batters, and held the Seals scoreless through 23 innings, but lost the 3-hour, 35-minute game when the Oaks allowed an unearned run in the 24th inning. Cack Henley pitched the complete game shutout for the Seals. ("''Runs, Hits, and an Era: The Pacific Coast League, 1903-58''," By Paul J Zingg) Jimmy Wiggs died in

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southwestern Ohio, it is east of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton and is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area as well as the Miami Valley region. As o ...

in 1963 at age 86.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggs, Jimmy Major League Baseball pitchers Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball players from Norway Sportspeople from Trondheim American people of Norwegian descent 1876 births 1963 deaths London Tecumsehs (baseball) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players St. Joseph Saints players Helena Senators players Portland Green Gages players Salt Lake City Elders players San Francisco Pirates players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Altoona Mountaineers players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Montreal Royals players Seattle Giants players