Rube Marquard

Rube Marquard
Pitcher
Born: (1886-10-09)October 9, 1886 Cleveland, Ohio
Died: June 1, 1980(1980-06-01) (aged 93) Baltimore, Maryland
Batted: Switch	Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 25, 1908 for the New York Giants
Last MLB appearance
September 18, 1925 for the Boston Braves
Career statistics
Win–loss record	201–177
Earned run average	3.08
Strikeouts	1,593
Teams
New York Giants (1908–1915) Brooklyn Robins (1915–1920) Cincinnati Reds (1921) Boston Braves (1922–1925)
Career highlights and awards
National League pennant: 1911, 1912, 1913, 1916, 1920 National League wins champion: 1912 National League strikeout champion: 1911 Three 20-win seasons Pitched a no-hitter on April 15, 1915
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1971
Election Method	Veteran's Committee

Richard William "Rube" Marquard (October 9, 1886 – June 1, 1980) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1910s and early 1920s. He achieved his greatest success with the New York Giants.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, his playing rights were acquired for $13,000 – a then unheard-of sum to pay for a baseball player's contract – and his lack of success early on led to his being tagged "the $13,000 lemon". According to both Marquard himself in The Glory of Their Times and the Baseball Hall of Fame's entry on him, the price paid for his contract was actually $11,000, not $13,000. Later, however, he was to make baseball history by winning 19 decisions in a row. He allegedly celebrated by buying an opal stickpin to reward himself. Upon being told by a friend that opals were a jinx, he threw the pin into a river; but apparently the curse had already done its work, as he lost his next decision.

Despite his nickname, he was a city kid. As he told it in The Glory of the Their Times, a writer in his minor league days compared him favorably with Rube Waddell, and very soon Marquard was being called "Rube" also. He retired in 1925 with a record of 201–177 and a 3.08 ERA; his 1,593 strikeouts, at the time, ranked third in major league history among left-handers (behind Rube Waddell and Eddie Plank), and stood as the NL record for southpaws until his total was surpassed by Carl Hubbell in 1942.

Marquard was a performer in vaudeville, appearing with Blossom Seeley and later marrying her. He died in Baltimore, Maryland at age 93. Marquard is interred in Baltimore Hebrew Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. His selection has often been criticized by the sabermetrics community, since Marquard's career adjusted ERA+ was only slightly better than league average. Bill James described Marquard as "probably the worst starting pitcher in the Hall of Fame."^[1]

Marquard had been interviewed for the popular baseball book, The Glory of Their Times, in the early 1960s, and his chapter is thought to be one of the primary reasons for his election. However, most of the stories that he "recounted" were later found to be false.^[2]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References

External links

• Rube Marquard at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Marquard's Glide – Rube's 1912 Winning Streak
• Bio at BaseballLibrary.com
• The Glory of Their Times photographs

Preceded by Earl Moore	National League Strikeout Champion 1911	Succeeded by Pete Alexander
Preceded by Grover Cleveland Alexander	National League Wins Champion 1912 (with Larry Cheney)	Succeeded by Tom Seaton
Preceded by Ed Lafitte	No-hitter pitcher April 15, 1915	Succeeded by Frank Allen
Preceded by Wheezer Dell	Brooklyn Robins Opening Day Starting pitcher 1918	Succeeded by Leon Cadore

v t e Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1971 BBWAA Vote none Veterans Committee Dave Bancroft Jake Beckley Chick Hafey Harry Hooper Joe Kelley Rube Marquard George Weiss Negro League Committee Satchel Paige J. G. Taylor Spink Award Heywood C. Broun

v t e Pitchers inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Alexander Bender Blyleven M. Brown R. Brown Bunning Carlton Chesbro Clarkson Cooper Coveleski Cummings Day Dean Dihigo Drysdale Eckersley Faber Feller Fingers Ford B. Foster R. Foster Galvin Gibson Gomez Gossage Grimes Grove Haines Hoyt Hubbell Hunter Jenkins Johnson Joss Keefe Koufax Lemon Lyons Marichal Marquard Mathewson McGinnity Méndez Newhouser Nichols Niekro Paige Palmer Pennock Perry Plank Radbourn Rixey Roberts Rogan Ruffing Rusie Ryan Seaver Smith Spahn Sutter Sutton Vance Waddell Walsh Welch Wilhelm Williams Willis Wynn Young

v t e New York / San Francisco Giants Opening Day starting pitchers Red Ames Fred Anderson Johnny Antonelli Jesse Barnes Virgil Barnes Jim Barr Larry Benton Vida Blue Tom Bradley John Burkett Mark Davis Phil Douglas Dave Dravecky Shawn Estes Freddie Fitzsimmons Mark Gardner Rubén Gómez Harry Gumbert Atlee Hammaker Liván Hernández Al Holland Carl Hubbell Larry Jansen Bob Knepper Mike Krukow Mark Leiter Tim Lincecum Bill Lohrman Sal Maglie Juan Marichal Rube Marquard Christy Mathewson Joe McGinnity Hugh McQuillan Cliff Melton John Montefusco Terry Mulholland Art Nehf Gaylord Perry Rick Reuschel Kirk Rueter Rosy Ryan Jack Sanford Jason Schmidt Hal Schumacher Bill Swift Dummy Taylor Jeff Tesreau Bill Voiselle Bill Walker Barry Zito

v t e Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers Cy Barger Rex Barney Tim Belcher Kevin Brown Leon Cadore Bob Caruthers Larry Cheney Watty Clark Curt Davis Wheezer Dell Bill Donovan Don Drysdale George Earnshaw Carl Erskine Red Evans Hal Gregg John Harkins Joe Hatten Ed Head George Hemming Orel Hershiser Burt Hooton Waite Hoyt Mickey Hughes Oscar Jones Brickyard Kennedy Clayton Kershaw Sam Kimber Sandy Koufax Hiroki Kuroda Derek Lowe Rube Marquard Ramón Martínez Harry McIntire Bob Miller Van Mungo Don Newcombe Hideo Nomo Claude Osteen Vicente Padilla Chan-Ho Park Harley Payne Brad Penny Jesse Petty Jeff Pfeffer Henry Porter Jack Quinn Ed Reulbach Jerry Reuss Preacher Roe Nap Rucker Dutch Ruether Henry Schmidt Bill Singer Don Sutton Ed Stein Elmer Stricklett Fernando Valenzuela Dazzy Vance Kaiser Wilhelm Whit Wyatt

Persondata
Name	Marquard, Rube
Alternative names	Marquard, Richard William
Short description	Major League Baseball pitcher
Date of birth	October 9, 1886
Place of birth	Cleveland, Ohio
Date of death	June 1, 1980
Place of death	Baltimore, Maryland