Firpo Marberry
| Firpo Marberry | |||
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Marberry with the Washington Senators in 1924
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: November 30, 1898 Streetman, Texas |
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Died: June 30, 1976 (aged 77) Mexia, Texas |
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| MLB debut | |||
| August 11, 1923, for the Washington Senators | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| June 10, 1936, for the Washington Senators | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 148–88 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.63 | ||
| Strikeouts | 822 | ||
| Saves | 101 | ||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Frederick "Firpo" Marberry (November 30, 1898 – June 30, 1976) was an American right-handed starting and relief pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1923 to 1936, most notably with the Washington Senators. The sport's first prominent reliever, he has been retroactively credited as having been the first pitcher to record 20 saves in a season, the first to make 50 relief appearances in a season or 300 in a career, and the only pitcher to lead the major leagues in saves six times. Since relief pitching was still seen as a lesser calling in a time when starters were only removed when clearly ineffective, Marberry also started 187 games in his career, posting a 94–52 record as a starter for a .644 winning percentage. He pitched in later years for the Detroit Tigers (1933–1935) and New York Giants (1936) before ending his career in Washington.
Born in Streetman, Texas, he became well-known around the majors for the scowl he seemed to constantly have on his face that sometimes frightened batters; his appearance and demeanor reminded observers of boxer Luis Firpo, earning Marberry the nickname for which he often expressed disdain.
Like many players, right-handed Marberry started and ended his career with the same ballclub, the Senators. When he first came up in August 1923, Marberry was effective in 44 2⁄3 innings pitched for the remainder of the season. He went 4–0 that year, proving himself ready for the pros. An 11–12 season with a 3.09 ERA came the year after, which might have seemed fairly average in that era were it not for his relief work, which saw him save 15 games – a new major league record, although it was not realized at the time. Marberry's role was crucial in helping the Senators reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
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