Laurance Russell Cheney (May 2, 1886 – January 6, 1969) was a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pitc ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

who played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

(1911–15),

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

(1915–19),

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

(1919) and

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

(1919). Cheney batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Belleville, Kansas Belleville is a city in and the county seat of Republic County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,007. History Belleville was founded in 1869, and incorporated as a city in 1878. It was named for A ...

. Cheney debuted with the Cubs on September 19, 1911. After two appearances as a reliever, he pitched a

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

against Brooklyn, but was hit by a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fo ...

off the bat of Zack Wheat which Cheney deflected with his throwing hand, fracturing his thumb and nose. The following season he relied heavily on a

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This ch ...

and spitter after his broken finger took some speed off his heavy fastball. Then he blossomed, tying with

Rube Marquard Richard William "Rube" Marquard (October 9, 1886 – June 1, 1980) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1910s and early 1920s. He achieved his greatest success with the New York Giants. He was inducted into the Ba ...

for 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 ...

lead in

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(26), leading with 28

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, as he finished second in

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(.722). In 1913 Cheney won 21 games (17 as a starter, four as a reliever) and led the league in saves (11) and

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), b ...

(54). On September 14, he shut out the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

while allowing 14 hits, setting a major league record for most hits given up while pitching a nine-inning shutout. He won 20 games in 1914, leading the league in starts (40) and games (50). From 1912 to 1914 he pitched 300 or more

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is ...

in each season, with a career-high 311 in 1914. Also in 1914, Cheney set a record for most wild pitches in a season opening with 4 against the Cincinnati Reds on April 14. Traded to Brooklyn in August 1915 for Joe Schultz, after an 8–9 start, Cheney won 18 games in 1916, helping his new team reach the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

. He pitched three innings of relief against the

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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

in Game Four of the Series, striking out five batters. Cheney then pitched for the Robins, Braves and Phillies in 1919, his last major league season, appearing in his final game on September 26. Over nine seasons, Cheney posted a 116–100 record with 926 strikeouts and a 2.70 ERA in 1881.1 innings. Cheney died in Daytona Beach, Florida at age of 82.

External links

Baseball AlmanacLarry Cheney
- Baseballbiography.com :
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Larry Boston Braves players Brooklyn Robins players Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Phillies players Major League Baseball pitchers National League wins champions Baseball players from Kansas 1886 births 1969 deaths Indianapolis Indians players Toledo Mud Hens players San Antonio Bears players People from Belleville, Kansas

See also

External links