Al Orth
| Al Orth | |||
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: September 5, 1872 Tipton, Indiana |
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Died: October 8, 1948 (aged 76) Lynchburg, Virginia |
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| MLB debut | |||
| August 15, 1895, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 20, 1909, for the New York Highlanders | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 204–189 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.37 | ||
| Strikeouts | 948 | ||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Albert Lewis Orth (September 5, 1872 – October 8, 1948) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He later served as a major league umpire and college baseball coach.
Orth was born in Tipton, Indiana and attended DePauw University.
As a young pitcher with the Lynchburg minor league team in the Virginia League in 1895, Orth won 28 games. He was called up to the Philadelphia Phillies and won his first eight starts for them. Before the 1902 season, Orth and several other Phillies left for the American League; Orth joined the Washington Senators. When Orth was traded to the New York Highlanders in 1904 after struggling the year before, he picked up the spitball from Jack Chesbro and had his best year in 1906, going 27–17 and leading the American League in wins. During that season, Orth threw 36 complete games in 39 starts.
Known as The Curveless Wonder, Orth never relied on the breaking ball. Instead, his pitching success centered on his control and his ability to change pitch speeds. Orth twice finished with the fewest walks in his league. He is one of a handful of pitchers to earn 100 wins in both the National League and the American League. After Orth earned his 199th win in 1907, it took nine attempts to earn number 200; this still represents the greatest difficulty any pitcher has had in reaching the milestone.
Orth was also known for his hitting skills, finishing seventh all-time among pitchers in hits, with .389. Orth would frequently hit above .300. The left-handed hitter was used as a pinch hitter 78 times and even played the field on a few occasions, including fifty-five games as an outfielder and eight at shortstop during his time with the Washington Senators.
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