Rufus Rivers Meadows (August 25, 1907 – May 10, 1970) was a left-handed

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, ...

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

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 ...

in 1926. He appeared in just one game, an 18-1 loss to the

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

. Meadows faced the Cubs' final batter of the game, inducing an out to finish off the blowout loss by his Reds. He is the only pitcher to face only one batter in his only MLB game. Meadows was only 18 when he had his brief moment as a major leaguer, and he was the second-youngest player to play in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

that season, trailing only future Hall of Famer

Mel Ott Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through . He batted left-handed ...

. Meadows died May 10, 1970, in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

References

1907 births 1970 deaths Baseball players from Virginia Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Chase City, Virginia Nashville Vols players 20th-century American sportsmen Monroe Drillers players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub