Urban Shocker
Encyclopedia
Urban James Shocker born Urbain Jacques Shockor in Cleveland, Ohio
, was a Major League Baseball
pitcher
for the New York Yankees
and St. Louis Browns
from to .
As a prelude to his major league career, Shocker spent the bulk of the 1916 season demoted by the Yankees to Toronto of the International League for seasoning and to prove himself. Notably, in 1916 the Yankees had yet to garner a single World Series crown while the Red Sox had two under their belt and would win their third that season. Shocker posted a marvelous 15-3 and strung together 54 consecutive scoreless innings. His scoreless inning streak and 1.31 ERA for the campaign both still stand as International League records. He was called up by the Yankees and played with them through the 1917 season. That winter Miller Huggins engineered a trade to the Browns that he came to regret. Shocker rejoined Huggins and the Yankees in 1925.
The right-handed hurler had four consecutive 20-win seasons with the Browns in the early 1920s, during which he was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Urban was the last Yankee pitcher to legally throw a spitball
, as he and a handful of other pitchers were grandfathered into the practice after it was banned by baseball in 1920.
After his release from the Yankees in 1928, Shocker entered an exhibition tournament in Denver
. He pitched in one game on August 6 against a team from Cheyenne, Wyoming
and fared poorly in that outing. Around this time, he contracted pneumonia
and was hospitalized shortly thereafter. He died in Denver as the result of a weakened heart caused by the disease.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, was a Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
for the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
from to .
As a prelude to his major league career, Shocker spent the bulk of the 1916 season demoted by the Yankees to Toronto of the International League for seasoning and to prove himself. Notably, in 1916 the Yankees had yet to garner a single World Series crown while the Red Sox had two under their belt and would win their third that season. Shocker posted a marvelous 15-3 and strung together 54 consecutive scoreless innings. His scoreless inning streak and 1.31 ERA for the campaign both still stand as International League records. He was called up by the Yankees and played with them through the 1917 season. That winter Miller Huggins engineered a trade to the Browns that he came to regret. Shocker rejoined Huggins and the Yankees in 1925.
The right-handed hurler had four consecutive 20-win seasons with the Browns in the early 1920s, during which he was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Urban was the last Yankee pitcher to legally throw a spitball
Spitball
A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of saliva, petroleum jelly, or some other foreign substance....
, as he and a handful of other pitchers were grandfathered into the practice after it was banned by baseball in 1920.
After his release from the Yankees in 1928, Shocker entered an exhibition tournament in Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. He pitched in one game on August 6 against a team from Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
and fared poorly in that outing. Around this time, he contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and was hospitalized shortly thereafter. He died in Denver as the result of a weakened heart caused by the disease.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball saves champions
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
External links
- Urban Shocker at Find a GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
- Tribute to the forgotten spitballer
- The Deadball Era