Tom Zachary
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Jonathan Thompson Walton Zachary (c. May 7, 1896 – January 24, 1969) was an American
professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...
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 19 seasons. A left-handed pitcher, he spent most of his early career playing for the Washington Senators, with whom he won 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 ...
. He is well known for surrendering
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 ...
's historic 60th home run in 1927, and he would become Ruth's teammate the following season. Over the course of his career, he also played for the Philadelphia A's,
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 ...
,
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
,
Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...
,
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
, and
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
. Zachary has the most wins in an undefeated season by a pitcher in MLB history, going 12–0 with the Yankees in 1929. The only player in any Major League to have more wins in an undefeated season is Hall of Famer Ray Brown, who went 14–0 with the
Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cum ...
in the 1938 Negro National League II season.


Early life

Tom Zachary was born on May 7, 1896, in the village of Saxapahaw, near
Graham, North Carolina Graham is a city and the county seat of Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 17,153. History Graham was laid ou ...
. He was born into a family of
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
farmers, the seventh of eleven children born to Alfred L. Zachary and Mary Elvira Guthrie Zachary. He attended
Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for ...
, where he was a pitcher and outfielder on the baseball team, and served as team captain. Zachary's most notable collegiate game was on April 16, 1918, when he was matched against North Carolina State College's ace and future major leaguer George Murray. The game was called at 0–0 after sixteen innings; Murray struck out 20 batters to Zachary's 14. In the summer of 1918, Zachary joined the
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
, and was assigned to duty in Europe during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. While preparing to ship out, he tried out for 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 ...
under
Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and ga ...
, pitching in and winning two games under the name Zachary Walton, a pseudonym he used to preserve his amateur status. After spending a year in Europe, Zachary attempted to rejoin the Athletics, but was not offered a contract.


Career

Zachary contacted and tried out for Clark Griffith, manager of the Washington Senators, in the summer of 1919. He was signed to a major league contract, and never played in the minor leagues. In his first season with the Senators, he appeared in 17 games (starting 7), and went 1-5 with a 2.92 ERA. In 1924, Zachary went 15-9 with a 2.75 ERA in 202.2 innings pitched. He helped pitch the Senators to the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
, where they faced
John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...
's
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
. As the Senators' number-two starter (behind
Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...
), Zachary started Games 2 and 6 of the Series, winning both. His performance in Game 6 was crucial in forcing a Game 7, which the Senators won behind Walter Johnson to take the Series. In February 1926, Zachary was traded to 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 ...
. He remained with the Browns until midway through the 1927 season, when he was traded back to the Senators. On September 30, 1927, Zachary gave up
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 ...
's record-setting 60th
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 ( ...
. Ruth's shot barely cleared the right field foul pole, leading Zachary to suspect it was foul. There was no enmity between the two men, however, as Zachary and Ruth would become teammates and friends when the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
claimed Zachary off waivers the following season. Pitching for the Yankees, Zachary won Game 3 of the 1928 World Series, defeating the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
. The Yankees would sweep the Series in four games, earning Zachary his second World Series. In 1929, Zachary went 12–0 with a 2.48 ERA, which led to ''
The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
'' declaring him "A.L. Pitcher of the Year" thanks to his low ERA, although
Lefty Grove Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove (March 6, 1900 – May 22, 1975) was an American professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's ...
is currently recognized as the 1929 ERA champion since Zachary did not pitch enough innings by modern standards to qualify. Zachary was claimed off waivers by the
Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...
in May 1930, and spent three full seasons with the team before he was signed by the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
in 1934. He appeared in 48 games for the Dodgers under
Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...
, posting a 12-18 record. He retired in 1936 after a stint with the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
.


Pitching style

Zachary was known to be a control pitcher, relying on accuracy and deception rather than velocity. He primarily threw a fastball, curveball, and knuckleball, and used a variety of other offspeed pitches. He would often change paces and "slop" the ball at low speeds towards opposing batters to tempt them into swinging away. In addition, he was known for his composure on the mound, rarely showing any signs of agitation in jams. He was a very good hitting pitcher, posting a .226
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 ...
(254-for-1122) with 79 runs, 6
home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...
, 112 RBI and drawing 62
bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...
. He had a career high 14 RBI in 1926 and batted a career high .306 (22-for-72) in 1928.


Later life

Zachary returned to North Carolina after retirement, and began farming
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
. He was present at
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...
when Babe Ruth's number 3 was retired on June 13, 1948. Zachary died on January 24, 1969, aged 72, after a series of strokes. He was survived by his wife, Etta (m. 1931), and two children.


See also

*
List of baseball players who went directly to Major League Baseball This is a list of baseball players who went directly to the major leagues. They are distinguished as a group by having made their North American professional baseball debut with a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise without having previously pla ...


References


External links

* Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Athletics players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players St. Louis Browns players New York Yankees players Brooklyn Dodgers players Boston Braves players Philadelphia Phillies players Guilford Quakers baseball players Baseball players from North Carolina 1896 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub