Reuben Alexander "Rick" Adams (December 24, 1878 – March 10, 1955) 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 whose career spanned over 13 seasons, including one 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 ...

with the Washington Senators (1905). In his one major league season, Adams went 2–5 with a 3.59

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 ...

(ERA), 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, one

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 ...

and 25

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 in 11 games, six starts. Adams also played 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 Spokane Blue Stockings (1901),

Tacoma Tigers Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mou ...

(1901), Paris Eisenfelder's Homeseekers (1902),

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

(1902–1903),

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club ( Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

(1904),

Temple Boll Weevils The Temple Boll Weevils were a minor league baseball team which played their home games at the Cotton Yards (now Baker Field) in Temple, Texas as a member of the Texas League from 1905 to 1907. Local newspapers took to calling them the "Cotton Bug ...

(1905),

Cleburne Railroaders The Cleburne Railroaders are a professional baseball team based in Cleburne, Texas, that plays in the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. The team, which began play in 2017, plays i ...

(1906),

Denver Grizzlies Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

(1907–1910),

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

(1911),

Denison Blue Sox The city of Denison, Texas, hosted a franchise in minor league baseball that competed in the Texas–Oklahoma League for three seasons, under the names Denison Katydids, Denison Blue Sox and Denison Champions. They competed as the Katydids in 1912 ...

(1913) and

Denison Champions Denison may refer to: People *Denison (name) Places *Denison, Iowa *Denison, Kansas *Denison, Texas, birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower *Denison, Washington *Denison University, in Granville, Ohio * the English name for Kosinj, a valley and r ...

. Over his minor league career, Adams went 169–125 in 280 games. He batted and threw left-handed.

Professional career

Early career

Adams began his professional career in the Class-D

Pacific Northwest League The Pacific Northwest League was a professional Minor League Baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first professional baseball league ever in the region. History Founding The Pacific Northwest League was founded in 1890. In ...

in 1901. That season, he played for the Spokane Blue Stockings and the

. Between the two teams, Adams went 18–16. In 1902, Adams started the season with the Class-D Paris Eisenfelder's Homeseekers of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. With Paris, he went 18–11 in 31 games, 28 starts. Amongst Texas League pitchers, Adams was fifth in wins. Later that season, Adams joined the Class-A

where he went 6–1 in nine games, all starts. In 1903, Adams continued playing with the Pelicans. On the season, he went 14–11 in 29 games. Adams joined the Class-A

and went 13–10. After the season, Adams returned to his home in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. On March 16, 1905, Adams re-signed with the Montreal Royals. However, Adams did not play with the Royals in 1905, instead playing with the Class-C Temple Boll Weevils of the

. In 16 games, Adams went 13–3.

Washington Senators

During the 1905 season, while playing with the

, Adams joined the Washington Senators

franchise. Adams made his major league debut on July 13, 1905. On the season, Adams went 2–5 with a 3.59 ERA, three

complete games 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 ...

, one

and 25 strikeouts in 11 games, six starts. His last appearance in Major League Baseball was on September 29, 1905.

Later career

In 1906, Adams joined the Class-D

. On the season, he went 25–13 in 40 games. Amongst Texas League pitchers, Adams was tied for first in wins. Adams joined the Class-A Denver Grizzlies of the Western League in 1907. With the Bears that season, Adams played 27 games. In 1908, still with the Bears, Adams went 16–17. Adams continued playing with the Bears in 1909 and went 15–13 in 25 games. During the 1910 season, Adams' last with the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

, he went 9–5. In 1911, Adams joined the Class-B

of the Texas League. He went 2–11 that season. Adams was absent from the professional baseball circuit in 1912, however, he returned in 1913 to play with the Class-D

. In 20 games with the Blue Sox, Adams went 6–7. In his final season in professional baseball, 1913, Adams played for the Class-D

where he went 14–7.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Rick 1878 births 1955 deaths Baseball players from Lamar County, Texas Sportspeople from Paris, Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Spokane Blue Stockings players Tacoma Tigers players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Paris Eisenfelder's Homeseekers players Montreal Royals players Temple Boll Weevils players Cleburne Railroaders players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Houston Buffaloes players Denison Blue Sox players Denison Champions players