Marlin Henry Stuart (August 8, 1918 – June 16, 1994) was an American professional

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. The right-hander from

Paragould, Arkansas Paragould is a city in and the county seat of Greene County, Arkansas, Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anom ...

, appeared in 196

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(165 in

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) in

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for three

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teams. He batted left-handed and was listed as tall and .

Baseball career

Minor leagues

Stuart played for Greene County Tech, Paragould High School and local

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teams while working as a farmer and picking cotton. He signed as a free agent with the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

' system in 1940 and began his

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 ...

career at the Class D level with the Mayfield Browns of the KITTY League. Before his 40th and last appearance of the season, Stuart asked his

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if he could pitch barefoot, which was his custom as a boy. Given the green light, Stuart went to the mound on September 7 without socks or spikes and defeated the Fulton Tigers, throwing a seven-inning

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 ...

and striking out 11. After three years in the lower minors, Stuart missed the 1943–1945 seasons while performing

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military duty. He returned to baseball in 1946 and was acquired by 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 ...

' organization during the 1948 minor-league campaign. On June 27, 1950, Stuart pitched a perfect game 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 ...

of the Triple-A American Association, defeating the Indianapolis Indians, 1-0.

Major leagues

Stuart first appeared in the major leagues the Tigers in as a 30-year-old

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. He got into 33 games for Detroit in 1949 and , with some return visits to the minor leagues, then spent the full season with the Tigers, working in 29 contests. In —a nightmarish season for the Tigers, who would lose 104 games and finish last—he fashioned a winning record (3–2) in 30 games with Detroit through August 14, when he was traded back to the Browns in an eight-player waiver deal. In , the last year the Browns would spend in

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before transferring to

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, he led the pitching staff with eight victories; his 8–2 won–lost record was notable, for the Browns posted a poor 54–100 mark all season. He was second in the American League with 60 appearances, after finishing fifth in the Junior Circuit the previous year with 42 games pitched.Information
at

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His last

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season was , when he pitched in 22 games for the relocated

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 ...

and ten games for the

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. He retired from professional baseball in 1956. Despite pitching for several struggling teams, Stuart compiled a career won–lost mark of 23–17 ( .575), along with 12 saves. As a starting pitcher, he threw seven

s, although none was a

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 ...

. He allowed 544

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and 256

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 ...

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

, with 185

strikeout 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 safe ...

s. His lifetime MLB

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 ...

was 4.65. Stuart died in Paragould at age 75 in June of 1994.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Marlin 1918 births 1994 deaths Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Arkansas Detroit Tigers players Elmira Pioneers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitchers Mayfield Browns players Montgomery Rebels players New York Yankees players Paragould Browns players People from Paragould, Arkansas St. Joseph Autos players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen San Antonio Missions players Springfield Browns players Toledo Mud Hens players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players