1909
Born April 19, 1909
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Bucky Walters Marquee
b. April 19, 1909 · Boston Braves 1931–1932, 1950, Boston Red Sox 1933–1934, Philadelphia Phillies 1934–1938, Cincinnati Reds 1938–1948
He came up as a third baseman and played the position for six seasons, batting .243. Philadelphia converted him to pitching in 1935 because the arm was better than the bat. In 1939, for Cincinnati, he won 27 games, led the National League in wins, strikeouts and earned run average — the pitching Triple Crown — and was the league's Most Valuable Player.
Nineteen seasons gave him 198 wins against 160 with a 3.30 earned run average, 242 complete games and 42 shutouts, and he led the league in wins three times. He also kept hitting: 477 hits and 23 home runs, and he was used as a pinch-hitter throughout.
Cincinnati won the pennant in 1939 and the World Series in 1940, in which he won two games and threw a shutout. He was on fifteen writers' ballots between 1950 and 1970, peaking at 24 percent, and eight committees have considered him since.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 6 | 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 3 | 1939, 1940, 1944 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 2 | 1939, 1940 |
| Most Valuable Player | 1 | 1939 |
| Triple Crown (pitching) | 1 | 1939 |
| The Sporting News Guide Most Valuable Player | 1 | 1939 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | BSN | 9 | 38 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .211 |
| 1932 | BSN | 22 | 75 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 0 | .187 |
| 1933 | BOS | 52 | 195 | 27 | 50 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 19 | 24 | 1 | .256 |
| 1934 | BOS/PHI | 106 | 388 | 46 | 97 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 56 | 22 | 66 | 1 | .250 |
| 1935 | PHI | 49 | 96 | 14 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 0 | .250 |
| 1936 | PHI | 64 | 121 | 12 | 29 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 0 | .240 |
| 1937 | PHI | 56 | 137 | 15 | 38 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 16 | 1 | .277 |
| 1938 | CIN/PHI | 51 | 99 | 16 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 1 | .192 |
| 1939 | CIN | 40 | 120 | 16 | 39 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 1 | .325 |
| 1940 | CIN | 37 | 117 | 11 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 2 | .205 |
| 1941 | CIN | 39 | 106 | 6 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 0 | .189 |
| 1942 | CIN | 40 | 99 | 13 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 13 | 0 | .242 |
| 1943 | CIN | 37 | 90 | 11 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 15 | 1 | .267 |
| 1944 | CIN | 37 | 107 | 9 | 30 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 18 | 0 | .280 |
| 1945 | CIN | 24 | 61 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 14 | 2 | .230 |
| 1946 | CIN | 24 | 55 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 2 | .127 |
| 1947 | CIN | 20 | 45 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 0 | .267 |
| 1948 | CIN | 7 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .267 |
| 1950 | BSN | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 715 | 1966 | 227 | 477 | 99 | 16 | 23 | 234 | 114 | 303 | 12 | .243 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1.29 |
| 1935 | PHI | 9 | 9 | 24 | 22 | 0 | 151.0 | 168 | 70 | 68 | 40 | 4.17 |
| 1936 | PHI | 11 | 21 | 40 | 33 | 0 | 258.0 | 284 | 122 | 115 | 66 | 4.26 |
| 1937 | PHI | 14 | 15 | 37 | 34 | 0 | 246.1 | 292 | 130 | 86 | 87 | 4.75 |
| 1938 | CIN/PHI | 15 | 14 | 39 | 34 | 1 | 251.0 | 259 | 117 | 108 | 93 | 4.20 |
| 1939 | CIN | 27 | 11 | 39 | 36 | 0 | 319.0 | 250 | 81 | 109 | 137 | 2.29 |
| 1940 | CIN | 22 | 10 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 305.0 | 241 | 84 | 92 | 115 | 2.48 |
| 1941 | CIN | 19 | 15 | 37 | 35 | 2 | 302.0 | 292 | 95 | 88 | 129 | 2.83 |
| 1942 | CIN | 15 | 14 | 34 | 32 | 0 | 253.2 | 223 | 75 | 73 | 109 | 2.66 |
| 1943 | CIN | 15 | 15 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 246.1 | 244 | 97 | 109 | 80 | 3.54 |
| 1944 | CIN | 23 | 8 | 34 | 32 | 1 | 285.0 | 233 | 76 | 87 | 77 | 2.40 |
| 1945 | CIN | 10 | 10 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 168.0 | 166 | 50 | 51 | 45 | 2.68 |
| 1946 | CIN | 10 | 7 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 151.1 | 146 | 43 | 64 | 60 | 2.56 |
| 1947 | CIN | 8 | 8 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 122.0 | 137 | 78 | 49 | 43 | 5.75 |
| 1948 | CIN | 0 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 35.0 | 42 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 4.63 |
| 1950 | BSN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Career | — | 198 | 160 | 428 | 398 | 4 | 3104.2 | 2990 | 1139 | 1121 | 1107 | 3.30 |
On this day & linked events
1991
Died April 20, 1991
1931
Major-league debut: Bucky Walters
Bucky Walters made a major-league debut on September 17, 1931.
1950
Final major-league game: Bucky Walters
Bucky Walters played a final major-league game on July 23, 1950.
Image: Play Ball cards, published by Bowman Gum, public domain