Sunday, July 21, 2024

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASE BALL CHAMPIONS" CHARLES RADBOURN

The next card from my early WTHBALLS custom set, "19th Century Base Ball Stars" is of HOF pitcher Charles Radbourn, he of the STILL record 60 win season in 1884:





The man won 310 games over just eleven seasons of Major League ball, not only winning those 60 games in 1884 when Providence found themselves with only one pitcher down the stretch, giving Radbourne the opportunity of pitching every day, but 48 wins the year prior, as well as seven other 20+ win campaigns between 1881 and 1891.
Of course, his 1884 season is the stuff of legends, as his 60-12 record still rings ludicrous, while also starting 73 games, COMPLETING ALL OF THEM, tossing eleven shutouts, tossing 678.2 innings and striking out 441 batters.
Oh, and his earned run average? That was a microscopic 1.38!!
How are those numbers even real!?
By the time he left the game after a year with Cincinnati in 1891, he finished with 310 wins over 527 appearances, with 502 starts, 488 of them completed, 35 shutouts, a 2.68 ERA over 4527.1 innings, and 1830 strikeouts.
Just amazing.
If you haven't read his biography "59 in '84", I suggest you give it a whirl. Some funny anecdotes in there as well as serious baseball history for fans of the early game.

 

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