Jonathan, Chicago, IL Subj: Baseball stats
Has anyone ever pitched a double header?
You bet Jonathan. The feat was relatively common during the early 1900’s when pitching staffs were small, bullpens were undeveloped and hurlers didn’t have the sense to come out when their arms were hanging on by a single tendon. Believe it or not, from 1876 until 1926 there were 45 occasions in which a single pitcher posted two complete game victories on the same day. The most prolific of these double duty specialists was New York Giants ace Joe McGinnity, who accomplished the task three times in August of 1903. For the record, “Iron Man Joseph” finished the season with a record of 31 wins and 20 losses in a mind boggling 434.0 innings pitched. To put that into proper perspective, that’s 100 innings more than Carl Pavano has pitched in the last four years combined. By the way, that sound you just heard is George Steinbrenner trying to get in touch with McGinnity’s agent.
