Lloyd Eldon "Red" Hittle (February 21, 1924 – March 3, 2012) was an American 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 ...

player. The

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

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, ...

appeared in 47

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

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 – 50 Washington Senators."Lloyd Hittle Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved January 19, 2012. Born in

Lodi, California Lodi ( ) is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States, in the center portion of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 66,348 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History When a gro ...

, Hittle stood tall and weighed . Hittle served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and began his professional career in 1946 pitching for the unaffiliated

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 ...

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 ...

and lower-classification teams on the West Coast. The Oaks controlled his rights until May 24, 1949, when they traded him to Washington for pitcher

Milo Candini Mario Cain "Milo" Candini (August 3, 1917 – March 17, 1998) was an American professional baseball pitcher. A , right-hander, he played all or part of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators (1943–44; 1946� ...

. During his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season, Hittle made nine starts among his 36 appearances, and notched three

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 and two

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 ...

s. The whitewashings occurred August 7 and 30 against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. In the latter game, Hittle went ten

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). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

and allowed only three

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

as the Senators won, 1–0. As a rookie, he won five of 12 decisions with a 4.21

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 ...

Hittle spent the early weeks of the 1950 campaign with Washington, working in 11 games with four more starts. On May 9, he tamed the White Sox again, allowing two runs but registering his final MLB complete game in a 3–2 victory.Retrosheet box score: 1950-05-09
/ref> After his final appearance with Washington, a starting assignment against the

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 ...

on June 11, he returned to

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, pitching through 1954—largely in the Pacific Coast League. In the big leagues, Hittle allowed 183 hits and 74

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

in 152 innings of work. He

struck out 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 safel ...

41.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hittle, Lloyd 1924 births 2012 deaths Bremerton Bluejackets players Chattanooga Lookouts players Hollywood Stars players Major League Baseball pitchers Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Sportspeople from Lodi, California Baseball players from San Joaquin County, California Stockton Ports players United States Army personnel of World War II Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen