Originally published on Aug. 27, 2023
By Zane Miller
Over the course of the 120-year history of the
Cincinnati Reds in the MLB, the team has had several notable starting pitchers
take the mound. However, out of all of them, only one has been elected into the
Baseball Hall of Fame by pitching most of their career with the Reds, with that
being 266-game winner Eppa Rixey, who pitched in Cincinnati from 1921 to 1933.
Born on May 3rd, 1891, Rixey grew up in
Charlottesville, Virginia and remained in the city as he attended college,
enrolling in the University of Virginia and eventually graduating with a
master’s degrees in both Latin and chemistry in 1914. On top of his academic
achievements, Rixey also became a standout athlete, representing the school in both
men’s basketball and, as you’ve probably already guessed, baseball. While the baseball
team reportedly struggled during Rixey’s time at Virginia, he would still play
well enough to attract the attention of the team’s assistant coach, Cy Rigler.
However, Rigler’s word carried more weight than most, as he wore many hats in
the baseball world at the time.
Rigler is best known for his lengthy career as an
umpire for the MLB, serving in the role from 1906 to 1935, officiating in 10
World Series along the way and is also believed to be the first umpire to use
hand signals to convey on-field calls. On top of that, Rigler also did scouting
work for the Philadelphia Phillies organization, despite the pretty obvious
conflict of interest for an umpire to do so. However, with no rules preventing
this at the time (though there would be shortly after this situation took
place), Rigler was able to convince the Phillies to take a chance on Eppa Rixey
and bring him up for the 1912 campaign.
Rixey picked up his first career win in dominating
fashion on July 5th, 1912, as the Phillies defeated the Boston (now
Atlanta) Braves 10-0 with Rixey going all nine innings with seven hits, two
walks and five strikeouts in the complete game shutout. The remainder of his
rookie year would be mostly successful as well, picking up a 10-10 record, with
an ERA of 2.50 in 162 innings pitched, claiming 59 strikeouts in the process.
However, the Phillies would still be left searching for their first World
Series appearance in franchise history with a season record of 73-79.
Rixey’s sophomore season saw him carry on his progress
with a 9-5 record, getting a 3.12 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 155 and two-thirds
innings pitched, helping the Phillies to an 88-63 season, though they would
come up just one spot short of a World Series berth to the 101-win New York
(now San Francisco) Giants. Despite keeping the sophomore slump at bay temporarily,
it would catch up with him in 1914. In what would be one of the worst seasons
of his career, Rixey pitched just 103 innings, yet finished with an abysmal
2-11 record in 24 games, ballooning his ERA to 4.37 with 41 strikeouts as the
team struggled to a 74-80 showing. Undaunted by the off year, both Rixey and
the Phillies would bounce back in a major way in 1915.
While Rixey posted a record of 11-12, this is one of
those cases where the win-loss record isn’t indicative of how the season went
as a whole, as he contributed 176 and two-thirds innings with a 2.39 ERA and 88
strikeouts as the Phillies went 90-62 to claim the National League pennant and
face the Boston Red Sox in the 1915 World Series. Rixey first appeared in game
five of the series on October 13th, with the Phillies facing elimination as the
Red Sox held a lead of three games to one. Coming into the contest in relief of
starter Erskine Mayer, who had given up two runs in two and a third innings, he
held Boston scoreless through the next four and two-thirds innings with just
one hit and a pair of walks, allowing the Philadelphia offense to do the rest
to keep their championship hopes alive, as they hung onto a 4-2 advantage going
into the eighth. In that inning, however, the situation for the Phillies began
to go awry.
As Rixey gave up a leadoff single to Red Sox first
baseman Del Gainer, left fielder Duffy Lewis took advantage of the narrow
window of opportunity with a home run to the deep center field of
Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl, tying the game at four apiece. Though Rixey got out
of the inning without further incident, Boston’s offense would not be silenced
in the ninth.
With the score still knotted up, Rixey claimed his
first strikeout of the day with a punchout of his pitching counterpart Rube
Foster. However, veteran right fielder Harry Hooper, who had already hit one
home run off of Mayer back in the third inning, smashed his second of the game to
center field as well, putting the Red Sox out in front for the first time on
the afternoon. Though he ended the inning with a strikeout of center fielder
Tris Speaker, the Phillies would be unable to force a game six as the offense
went down in order in the bottom of the inning as the Red Sox claimed their third
World Series title. Unfortunately for Rixey, this would be the only World
Series appearance of his career.
In 1916, Rixey had the best season of his time in
Philadelphia, scoring a 22-10 record with an ERA of 1.85, with this being the
only year he would have a sub-2 ERA. In addition, he would also post a
career-high 134 strikeouts, though perhaps the most eye-popping stat of the
season is the 287 innings pitched, more than 100 more than his previous highest
total. Despite his best efforts, the Phillies would narrowly miss making
back-to-back World Series visits, losing the NL title to the Brooklyn Robins
(now Los Angeles Dodgers). The 1917 season saw Rixey provide a comparable
output to the previous year despite what a 16-21 record would suggest, as he
had a 2.27 ERA in 281 and a third innings pitched and crossed the 100-strikeout
mark for a second time with 121, though the Phillies again were runners-up in
the NL as the Giants took the World Series spot. Although Rixey had established
himself by this point as a mainstay of the Phillies’ rotation, his career was
about to hit a sudden turning point.
With the United States being engaged in World War I throughout
the 1918 MLB season, many players temporarily left the league to enlist in the
military, with Rixey being no exception as he sat out the full season to join the
Chemical Warfare Division overseas in Europe. Once he returned after the war
for the 1919 season, however, he did not post anywhere near the numbers he had in
his two most recent years, getting a 6-12 finish with a 3.97 ERA in 154
innings, while striking out 63. His 1920 stats were mixed, as he took an ERA of
3.48 to an 11-22 record, though he somewhat returned to form with 284 innings pitched,
as well as getting 109 strikeouts to reach triple-digit strikeout numbers for
the third and final time of his career.
By this point, Rixey had reportedly become disgruntled
with manager Gavvy Cravath. Though I couldn’t find specific reasons as to why
he felt this way, it’s safe to assume that finishing last in the National
League for two straight seasons did not help smooth out the relationship. With his
underwhelming performance since returning from military service, the Phillies
were ready to move on from Rixey, and he was traded to the Reds on November 22nd,
1920. Though Rixey’s time in the City of Brotherly Love had its fair share of
highlights, he was about to find another level in Cincinnati.
Rixey’s debut in the Queen City saw him pass 300
innings pitched for the first time in a season, throwing 301 on the way to a
19-18 record with a 2.78 ERA and 76 strikeouts, further cementing his
reputation as one of the most durable pitchers in MLB history. In addition, he
also collected the 100th win of his career on July 31st,
1921 in a 12-inning game against the Giants, which the Reds won 8-7
as Rixey appropriately pitched a complete game.
In 1922, Rixey dug even deeper to silence any doubt of
his dependability, going a career-high 313 and a third innings with another
career-high 25 wins, packaged with a 3.53 ERA and 80 strikeouts as the Reds scored
an 86-68 record, coming up one spot shy of making it to their second World
Series in franchise history. Although the Cy Young Award and NL MVP award
didn’t exist at this point in MLB history, there’s certainly a strong chance
that Rixey would have gotten serious consideration. The 1923 campaign saw Rixey
get another 20-win season, with an ERA of 2.80 and 97 strikeouts while going
309 innings. The Reds would have yet another strong season, finishing at 91-63,
though they would be runners-up behind the Giants for a second year in a row.
Despite a somewhat modest 15-14 record in 1924 to
follow up two straight 20-win seasons, Rixey’s 2.78 ERA was on par with his
prime years despite his innings pitched and strikeouts dropping to 238 and a
third and 57 respectively. The most special of those K’s came on September 18th
against the Giants, earning his 1,000th career strikeout against rookie
left fielder Hack Wilson, who would go on to set the single-season RBI record
of 191 in 1930, a record which still stands to this day. Interestingly, 1924
would be the only year in which Rixey received any MVP votes, as the NL reinstated
the award for the first time since 1914, though he did not come close to
surpassing the eventual winner in Robins pitcher Dazzy Vance. While the Reds
scored another winning season, their 83-70 finish put them at midpack amongst
the other NL teams.
1925 would mark a turning point for Rixey’s career, as
this would be the final season in which he would surpass 20 wins, going 21-11 on
the way to a 2.88 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 287 innings, with the Reds again
missing the postseason despite a winning record at 80-73. The 1926 and 1927 seasons
would not be much to write home about for Rixey, as he only had 14 and 12 wins
respectively as his ERA jumped to 3.40 and 3.48 as well. However, his main
highlight from these two years occurred on September 13th, 1926, as
he and the Reds defeated the Robins 4-0 for his 200th career win in
a complete game shutout. While the team secured their fifth consecutive winning
record in 1926 at 87-67, this streak would come to an end in 1927 with a 75-78
run.
1928 would be somewhat of a return to form for Rixey, going
19-18 while pitching 291 and a third innings and getting 58 strikeouts, although
his ERA remained below standard at 3.43. While Cincinnati fought back to a
winning record of 78-74, this would be the final season of relevance for the
team for quite some time, as they would not see another season above .500 until
1938.
By the end of 1929, it became pretty clear that
Rixey’s career was beginning to wind down, as he went 10-13 for his first
losing record since the 1920 season, as well as pitching to a 4.16 ERA with 37
strikeouts in 201 innings. 1930 would be even worse for both Rixey and the
team, as he picked up just nine wins as his ERA ballooned to a career-worst
5.10 while going just 164 innings, his lowest output since 1919. Consequently,
the Reds fell from 66-88 in 1929 to an abysmal 59-95 in 1930, the lowest win
total in the team’s 27-year existence in the MLB. However, there would be a ray
of sunshine for Rixey during this disastrous campaign, as he took down the
Robins 5-1 in the second game of a doubleheader on August 23rd for
career win #250.
In 1931, Rixey’s role became even more diminished with
just 126 innings and two-thirds innings pitched, as he took a 4-7 record with a
3.91 ERA and 22 strikeouts, with the Reds sinking further in the standings with
a 58-96 finish. However, 1932 would bring with it a little bit a little bit of
history for the team, as this was the first season that the Reds would use
official uniform numbers. Rixey claimed #18, obviously becoming the first Reds
player to use this number. While it would eventually be retired in Cincinnati midway
through the 1998 season, its retirement would be for longtime first baseman Ted
Kluszewski, who used the number from 1948 to 1957.
Rixey had an improved 1932 season being used primarily
out of the bullpen, claiming a 2.66 ERA, his first sub-3 ERA since 1925, while taking
a 5-5 record in 111 and two-thirds innings with the Reds finishing at 60-94. In
what would be his swan song season in 1933, Rixey captured a final winning
record and first since 1928 at 6-3, while pitching to a 3.15 ERA in 94 and a
third inning, while capturing 10 strikeouts. Despite this, the Reds would have
another miserable year, finishing at 58-94. With his final game, and final
career win, coming on August 5th in a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis
Cardinals in a complete game effort, Rixey finished his MLB career with 266
wins, 692 games played, 4,494 and two-thirds innings pitched, 1,350 strikeouts
and a career ERA of 3.15.
After announcing his retirement, Rixey joined an
insurance business in Cincinnati owned by his father-in-law, where he would
eventually be selected to serve as president. After being voted into the
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1959 in just its second year of operation, he
would then be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963. Upon
hearing the news that he would soon be officially entered into the Hall of
Fame, Rixey joked, “I guess they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel,
aren’t they?”
Tragically, before Rixey could officially accept his
induction, he passed away from a heart attack on February 27th, 1963, at age 71.
His daughter, Ann, attended the enshrinement ceremony on his behalf that
August. Longtime teammate and Reds catcher Bubbles Hargrave said of Rixey, “Eppa
was just great. He was great as a pitcher, fielder, and competitor. I look on
him as the most outstanding player I came in contact with in my entire career.”
List of sources:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rixeyep01.shtml
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