Joseph Carl Oeschger (May 24, 1892 – July 28, 1986) was an American

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, ...

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 ...

. He played for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

, and

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

from 1914 to 1925. Oeschger is best known for holding the Major League Baseball (MLB) record for the most innings pitched in a single game. In 1920, both Oeschger and

Leon Cadore Leon Joseph Cadore (November 20, 1891 – March 16, 1958) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1924. Early life Born in Chicago, Illinois, Cadore was orphaned at 13 and went to live with his uncle, Joe Jean ...

pitched 26 innings for their respective teams in a game that was eventually called a tie due to darkness. After his baseball career ended, Oeschger was a teacher for the

San Francisco Board of Education The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, and state ...

for 27 years.

Early life

Oeschger was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, one of six children of immigrants from Switzerland. In 1900 his family moved to

Ferndale, California Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 1,481 (2021 census), up from 1,371 at the 2010 census. The city contains dozens of well-preserved Victorian storefronts and homes. Ferndale is the northern ...

, where Joe's father bought of land and established a dairy ranch. Joe and his three brothers all attended Ferndale High School, where they played baseball. After high school, Joe attended and played baseball at

Saint Mary's College of California Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...

, graduating in 1914, seven years after fellow major leaguer

Harry Hooper Harry Bartholomew Hooper (August 24, 1887 – December 18, 1974) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hooper batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Hooper was born in Bell Station, C ...

MLB career

Early career

Oeschger began his MLB career with the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1914 season. He won four games, while losing eight, and posting a 3.77

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 ...

. He pitched in a handful of games during the 1915 and 1916 seasons before becoming a full-time starter in 1917. That season he had 15 wins against 14 losses and a 2.75 earned run average. Oeschger then led the league in losses during the 1918 season with 18 and had an earned run average of 3.03. One of the few highlights of his season was his

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 ...

against the Brooklyn Robins on April 22. He also tied for the league lead in saves, with three. On May 27, 1919, Oeschger was traded from the Phillies to the New York Giants for Ed Sicking and George Smith. He only pitched in five games for the Giants before being included in a trade to the Braves for

Art Nehf Arthur Neukom Nehf (July 31, 1892 – December 18, 1960) was an American baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Boston Braves (1915–1919), New York Giants (1919–1926), Cincinnati Reds (1926–1927), and the C ...

Longest game

On May 1, 1920, the Braves and Robins played at Boston in front of a crowd of 4500 spectators. Oeschger started for the Braves, and Leon Cadore started for the Robins. The game was held scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when

Ernie Krueger Ernest George Krueger (December 27, 1890 – April 22, 1976) born in Chicago was a catcher for the Cleveland Naps (1913), New York Yankees (1915), New York Giants (1917), Brooklyn Robins (1917–1921) and Cincinnati Reds (1925). Biograph ...

scored on an

Ivy Olson Ivan Massie "Ivy" Olson (October 14, 1885 – September 1, 1965) was an American professional baseball shortstop. He played fourteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1911 to 1924 for the Cleveland Naps, Cincinnati Reds, and Brooklyn Ro ...

single. In the sixth inning Walton Cruise tripled, then scored on a Tony Boeckel single. The game was eventually ruled a tie after 26 innings because of darkness. Oescheger only gave up 9 hits the entire game, while Cadore allowed 15. Oeschger had one hit in nine trips to the plate, a double. If they had played one more inning the pitchers would have played the equivalent of three games. For the rest of the 1920 season Oescheger won 15 games with a 3.46 earned run average.

Later career

On September 8, 1921, Oeschger became the fourth pitcher in major league history to throw an

immaculate inning The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not defined as a ...

, striking out all three batters on a total of nine pitches in the fourth inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He had his only 20-win season that year, which was the third-best in 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 ...

. He also had a lack of control, leading the league in walks with 97, and

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provide ...

es with 10. Oeschger then collapsed the next two seasons, having a combined total of 36 losses with only 11 wins, and an earned run average over 5. On November 11, 1923, Oeschger and

Billy Southworth William Harold Southworth (March 9, 1893 – November 15, 1969) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player in and and from to for five big-league teams, Southworth took part in almost 1,200 games, fell ...

were traded from Boston to the New York Giants for

Dave Bancroft David James Bancroft (April 20, 1891 – October 9, 1972) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Robins ...

and

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...

. Oeschger played for the Giants and Phillies in 1924, and he finished his MLB career with the Robins in 1925. For his career he had 83 wins and 116 defeats and never appeared in a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

Later life

Oeschger later moved to San Francisco, where he taught

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

for the San Francisco Board of Education for 27 years. Throughout his life, Oeschger continued to receive autograph requests for pitching the 26-inning game. He had copies of the

box score A box score is a structured summary of the results from a sport competition. The box score lists the game score as well as individual and team achievements in the game. Among the sports in which box scores are common are baseball, basketball, A ...

made and sent them out with his signature. He was invited to throw out the first pitch of game three of the

1983 World Series The 1983 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1983 season. The 80th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League champion Baltimore Orioles and the Nationa ...

that pitted the Philadelphia Phillies against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. He died in

Rohnert Park, California Rohnert Park is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco. The population at the 2020 United States census was 44,390. It is an early planned city and is the sister city of Hashimoto, Waka ...

, at age 94.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oeschger, Joe 1892 births 1986 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players New York Giants (baseball) players Boston Braves players Brooklyn Robins players Providence Grays (minor league) players Mission Bells players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Mobile Bears players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players Baseball players from Chicago American people of Swiss descent People from Ferndale, California 20th-century American sportsmen