| Dupee Shaw | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: May 31, 1859 Charlestown, Massachusetts | |
| Died: January 12, 1938 (aged 78) Wakefield, Massachusetts | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 18, 1883, for the Detroit Wolverines | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 17, 1888, for the Washington Nationals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 83–121 |
| Earned run average | 3.10 |
| Strikeouts | 950 |
| Teams | |
There have been long-fought and dangerous disputes about the exact number of motions through which Shaw puts himself before delivering the ball. One man claimed thirty-two, holding that he had counted them. An attempt to give all of them would be foolish. A few will be enough. When Shaw first lays his hands on the sphere he looks at it. Then he rolls it around a few times. Then he sticks out one leg; pulls it back and shoves the other behind him. Now he makes three or four rapid steps in the box. While he does all this he holds the ball in his left hand. After he has swapped it to his right he wipes his left on his breeches, changes the ball to the left again and pumps the air with both arms. Then he gets down to work and digs up the ground with his right foot. Then you think he is going to pitch. But he isn't. He starts in and reverses the programme and does it over again three or four times, and just as the audience sits back in the seats with a sigh, the ball flies out like a streak. Nobody knows how it left his hand, but it did.
St. Louis Post Dispatch, June 19, 1886[1]
Frederick Lander "Dupee" Shaw (May 31, 1859 – January 12, 1938), also sometimes known as "Wizard,"[2][3] was a professional baseball player from 1883 to 1896. The left-handed pitcher played Major League Baseball for six seasons with the Detroit Wolverines (1883–1884), Boston Reds (1884), Providence Grays (1885) and Washington Nationals (1886–1888). Shaw won 30 games in 1884 and 23 in 1885, but never won more than 13 games in any other season. He lost 33 games in 1884 and 31 in 1886. He had a career mark of 83–121 with a 3.10 earned run average (ERA).
Shaw claimed to have been the first pitcher to use a wind-up before throwing the ball. Some attributed his ability to strikeout batters to his unusual windmill delivery. He once struck out the great slugger, Orator Shafer, five times in a single game, and in 1884, he struck out 451 batters, a total that remains the fourth highest total in major league history.[4] He held the major league record for the most strikeouts in a game by a losing pitcher (18), until Steve Carlton struck out 19 New York Mets in a losing effort on September 15, 1969.[5] He also pitched a no-hitter on October 7, 1885, though the game has not qualified as an official no-hitter since 1991 because it lasted only five innings.[6]
- ^ Morris, Peter (2006), "Windups", A Game of Inches, Rowman & Littlefield, p. 78, ISBN 9781566636773
- ^ "Beaten By Detroit". Washington Evening Star. 1887.("Dupee Shaw, alias the 'Wizard,' seemed to have no effect whatever and was given an unmerciful pounding ...")
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
SL86was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Single-Season Leaders & Records for Strikeouts". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "New York Mets 4, St. Louis Cardinals 3". Baseball-Reference.com. September 15, 1969.
- ^ "MLB Miscellany: Rules, Regulations & Statistics". Major League Baseball.