| Bob Shawkey | |
|---|---|
 Shawkey pitching for the New York Yankees in 1922 | |
| Pitcher /Manager | |
| Born:(1890-12-04)December 4, 1890 Sigel, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| Died: December 31, 1980(1980-12-31) (aged 90) Syracuse, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 16, 1913, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 1927, for the New York Yankees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 195–150 |
| Earned run average | 3.09 |
| Strikeouts | 1,360 |
| Managerial record | 86–68 |
| Winning % | .558 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
James Robert Shawkey (December 4, 1890 – December 31, 1980) was an Americanbaseballpitcher who played fifteen seasons inMajor League Baseball (MLB). He played for thePhiladelphia Athletics andNew York Yankees from 1915 to 1927. He batted and threw right-handed and served primarily as astarting pitcher.
Shawkey was born to John William Shawkey (descended from German immigrants named Schaake) and Sarah Catherine Anthony, inSigel, Pennsylvania.[1]
He moved fromSlippery Rock State College to an independent league in 1911, then to the American League in 1912 as a pitcher forConnie Mack'sPhiladelphia Athletics. In 1915, Mack sold him to theNew York Yankees where he remained (except for a brief service with the U.S. Navy during World War I when he served on the battleshipArkansas for eight months) until 1931. While facing his former team in1919, he struck out 15 A's batters in a game, setting the Yankees team record for most strikeouts in a game; this record lasted for fifty-nine years.[2]
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At the start of the1923 season, Shawkey was chosen to be the Yankees'Opening Day starting pitcher.[3] Because the team's first game was at home, this also meant that he was the first player to pitch at the newly builtYankee Stadium.[2] The Yankees won 4–1 behindBabe Ruth's three-runhome run, with Shawkey pitching acomplete game to become the firstwinning pitcher at the stadium.[4]
Shawkey also served as the Yankees'manager in the1930 season—following the sudden death ofMiller Huggins—and guided the Yankees to a third-place finish.[2]
Shawkey won 195 games in his career, and won 20 or more games in four of his seasons (his high was 24). Shawkey is noted as the starting pitcher in the first game played inYankee Stadium on April 18, 1923, and set the franchise record for 15 strikeouts in a single game, which stood untilRon Guidry broke it in 1978.[5] Bob credited his success to a super fastball and an outstanding curve ball. He later served as the baseball coach forDartmouth College.
An adept batsman during his 15 year career, Shawkey compiled a .214batting average (225-for-1049) with 90runs, 3home runs and 95RBI. From 1920-1924, he drove in 59 runs for the New York Yankees. In 8 World Series games, he hit .267 (4-for-15) with 2 RBI.[6]
In 1970, Shawkey was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame inBrookville, Pennsylvania. During the 1976 opening day festivities for the renovated Yankee Stadium, Shawkey threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He died at age 90 inSyracuse, New York, on New Year's Eve 1980.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NYY | 1930 | 154 | 86 | 68 | .558 | 3rd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 154 | 86 | 68 | .558 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
· Baseball Almanac