Ralph Lief Erickson (June 25, 1902 – June 27, 2002) 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 ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

who played from through in

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 ...

. Listed at , 175 lb, Erickson batted and threw left-handed. A native of

Dubois, Idaho Dubois (, ) is a city in Clark County, Idaho, United States. The population was 511 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Clark County. The city was named in 1892 for Fred Dubois (1851−1930), a prominent politician in Idaho's ...

, he attended

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations ...

. Erickson entered the majors in 1929 with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, playing for them through the 1930 midseason. He posted a 1–0 record with an 8.40

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 ...

in eight pitching appearances, allowing 15 runs (14 earned) on 23 hits while

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an " inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults o ...

12 batters and

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two in 128 innings of work. He also spent eight seasons in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

with the Pocatello Bannocks (1927), Boise Senators (1928), Columbia Comers (1929–30), Wichita Aviators (1930),

Shreveport Sports The Shreveport Sports were a professional Minor League Baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the United States. The Sports fielded a team from 1925 to 1935, 1938 to 1942, 1946 to 1957, and 1959 to 1961. They were affiliated with the C ...

(1931),

Dallas Steers The Dallas Rangers were a high-level minor league baseball team located in Dallas, Texas, from 1958 to 1964. The team was known by the Dallas Rangers name in 1958, 1959, and 1964 and as the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers from 1960 to 1963. It played i ...

(1931–34) and

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previ ...

(1934), registering a mark of 82–80 with a 3.40 ERA in 229 games, 54 of them as a starter.Baseball Reference – Ralph Erickson minor league statistics
/ref> Erickson was a longtime resident of

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in Arizona ...

, where he died two days after his 100th birthday. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former major league player.

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* Major League Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Pirates players Boise Senators players Columbia Comers players Dallas Steers players Pocatello Bannocks players Shreveport Sports players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Wichita Aviators players Idaho State Bengals baseball players Baseball players from Idaho American men centenarians 1902 births 2002 deaths People from Clark County, Idaho 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub

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