Forest Charles Pressnell (August 8, 1906 – January 6, 2001), was a professional baseball player in the Major Leagues from 1938 to 1942. He pitched for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. Pressnell had to wait until age 31 to make his Major League debut, but it was an impressive one. In the third game of the 1938 season for Brooklyn, he pitched a complete-game shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies, scattering nine hits as the Dodgers won 9–0 in a snappy 1 hour, 53 minutes. On June 15 of that year, Pressnell participated in a history-making game. He pitched in relief on that date for Brooklyn in the first night game of

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...

's history, while

Johnny Vander Meer John Samuel Vander Meer (November 2, 1914 – October 6, 1997) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds where he became the onl ...

of the visiting

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

that night pitched his second consecutive

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

, a feat that has not been duplicated in Major League Baseball. Pressnell went on to a record of 11–14, the most victories he would have in a single season. In his nine previous minor-league seasons, Pressnell won 111 games, including one season split between the

Wichita Falls Spudders The Wichita Falls Spudders were a minor league baseball team that formed in 1920 and played its last game in 1957. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas. The first Spudders team ran from 1920–1932 and played in the Texas League as an affiliat ...

and

Longview Cannibals The Longview Cannibals were a semi-pro and minor league baseball team based in Longview, Texas, USA that existed on-and-off from 1895 to 1939. In 1912, they officially joined the professional South Central League. From 1923 to 1926, in 1931 and fro ...

. Pressnell married Ruth Herge (died 1956) in 1931 and Helen Freese Cramer (died 1997) in 1959. After retirement he worked for Ohio Oil, the precessor to

Marathon Oil Marathon Oil Corporation is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration incorporated in Ohio and headquartered in the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston, Texas. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, it also runs international gas operati ...

. He died in the city of his birth,

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo. The population was 40,313 at the 2020 census. It is home to ...

, on January 6, 2001, aged 94.

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1906 births 2001 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Ohio Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago Cubs players People from Findlay, Ohio Topeka Senators players Wichita Falls Spudders players Longview Cannibals players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Findlay High School alumni {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub