Allen Sothoron
| Allen Sothoron | |||
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: April 27, 1893 Bradford, Ohio | |||
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Died: June 17, 1939 (aged 46) St. Louis, Missouri | |||
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 17, 1914, for the St. Louis Browns | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 6, 1926, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 91–99 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.31 | ||
| Strikeouts | 576 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Allen[1] Sutton Sothoron (April 27, 1893 – June 17, 1939) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. As a player, he was a spitball pitcher who spent 11 years in the Major Leagues playing for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Cardinals. Born in Bradford, Ohio, Sothoron threw -handed5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 182 pounds (83 kg). He attended Albright College and Juniata College.
Career
Sothoron broke into the Major Leagues when the spitball was still legal. His best season came in 1919, when he posted a 20–13 record with a 2.20 earned run average for the Browns, finishing fifth in the American League in wins and ERA. After the spitball was outlawed following the 1919 campaign, Sothoron at first was not permitted to throw the spitter, then in mid-1920 he was added to a list of 17 spitballers in the Majors who were allowed to continue using the banned pitch.[1] But he was never able to match his 1919 numbers. His pitching career ended in St. Louis with the National League Cardinals, where he played for his first MLB manager, Branch Rickey, and led the NL in shutouts with four in 1924, despite a medicocre 10–16 (3.57) record. During his MLB career, he appeared in 264 games pitched, and allowed 1,583 hits and 596 bases on balls in 1,582⅓ innings pitched. He struck out 576 and hurled 102 complete games.
In 1921, sportswriter Bugs Baer came up with this immortal quip: "Allen S. Sothoron pitched his initials off yesterday."[2]
After his playing days, he managed in minor league baseball, coached for the Cardinals (1927), Boston Braves (1928), and Browns (1932–1933), and with the 1933 Browns he served a brief, eight-game managerial stint after the dismissal of Bill Killefer. He was replaced with hometown favorite Rogers Hornsby.
Sothoron (whose first name is sometimes spelled "Allan" but whose personal documents show his preference for "Allen")[1] died in St. Louis at age 46 in the middle of the 1939 season after a series of illnesses.
References
- 1 2 3 Faber, Charles, Allan Sothoron. SABR Biography Project
- ↑ http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/64816a9a
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)