Paul Vernon Zahniser (September 6, 1896 – September 26, 1964) 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 ...

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, ...

. He played for three different teams over his five-season

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 ...

career, which spanned from 1923 to 1929.

Career

Born in

Sac City, Iowa Sac City is a city in and the county seat of Sac County, Iowa, United States, located just southwest of the eastern intersection of U.S. Routes 20 and 71 in the rolling hills along the valley of the North Raccoon River. The city is one of 45 ...

, Zahniser started his professional career in 1918 with the Toledo Iron Men, and later he consistently won 20 or more games while pitching in the

Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...

, including 15 straight during one stretch. He made his major league debut with the Washington Senators in 1923, and pitched as both 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 pit ...

and in

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

. He had a 9–10

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

that first season in 33

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. The statistic is also referred to as appearances, especially to refer to the number of ...

, with ten

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 in 21

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games pitched, games that a pitcher has starting pitcher, started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opp ...

. The following season, Zahniser's numbers were not nearly as good, but the Senators went on to claim the

1924 World Series The 1924 World Series was the World Series, championship series of the 1924 Major League Baseball season. A best-of-seven playoff, the series was played between the American League (AL) pennant winner 1924 Washington Senators season, Washington ...

title. He did not play in the World Series, and was traded before the 1925 season, along with Roy Carlyle, to 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

for Joe Harris. Over the next two seasons for the Red Sox, his effectiveness consistently worsened. His ERA's were 5.15 and 4.97, and he led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in losses with 18 in 1926. An explanation of his inneffectiveness was offered by

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

in his book ''Babe Ruth's Own Book of Baseball''. Ruth explained that Zahniser unknowingly altered his delivery, depending on which pitch he was going to throw, so the hitters knew which one was he was going to throw. Zahniser made a one-game re-appearance in the majors with 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 ...

, pitched one inning, and gave up three earned runs. He finished the season with 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 ...

Post-career

Zahniser died at the age of 68 of a self-inflicted gunshot in

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city ...

, and is interred at Oakland Cemetery in his hometown of Sac City.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahniser, Paul Major League Baseball pitchers Boston Red Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Toledo Iron Men players Columbus Senators players Bloomington Bloomers players Memphis Chickasaws players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Toledo Mud Hens players Seattle Indians players Mission Reds players Portland Beavers players Rock Island Islanders players Baseball players from Iowa People from Sac City, Iowa Suicides by firearm in Oregon 1896 births 1964 suicides 1964 deaths