Hollis John "Sloppy" Thurston (June 2, 1899 – September 14, 1973) 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 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 ...

(MLB) for 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 ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, Washington Senators, and Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers between 1923 and 1933. He batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Thurston was born in

Fremont, Nebraska Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Dodge County, Nebraska, Dodge County in the eastern portion of the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 27,141 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it t ...

, and graduated from

John H. Francis Polytechnic High School John H. Francis Polytechnic High School is a secondary school located in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Despite its n ...

."Sloppy Thurston Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021. Thurston was a

screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known ...

pitcher. He played professional baseball from 1920 to 1938, spending time in the minor leagues when not in the majors. He played his first MLB game on April 19, 1923, with the

On August 22, 1923, Thurston became the fifth pitcher in major-league history to pitch an

immaculate inning The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not defined as a ...

, striking out all three batters on nine total pitches in the 12th inning of a game against the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

; he was also the first pitcher to achieve the feat in

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

and the only White Sox pitcher to do so for 101 years until Michael Kopech did so in 2024. In 1924, Thurston led the American League with 28 complete games, posting a 20–14 record in 36 starts, while also leading the league in hits allowed (330), earned runs allowed (123), and home runs allowed (17) in 291 innings pitched. Thurston played his last MLB game on October 1, 1933. He finished his nine-year MLB career with a

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 ...

of 89–86, a 4.24

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 ...

, and 306

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. As a hitter, he posted a .270

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(175-for-648) with 5

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 79

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. Thurston died on September 14, 1973, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

References

External links

Baseball Almanac: Sloppy Thurston stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, Sloppy 1899 births 1973 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Nebraska Brooklyn Dodgers players Brooklyn Robins players Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Chicago White Sox players Chicago White Sox scouts Cleveland Indians scouts John H. Francis Polytechnic High School alumni Minor league baseball managers Mission Reds players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Fremont, Nebraska Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Salt Lake City Bees players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Seattle Indians players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Tacoma Tigers players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players