Dave Danforth Marquee

b. March 7, 1890 · Philadelphia Athletics 1911–1912, Chicago White Sox 1916–1919, St. Louis Browns 1922–1925

He scuffed the ball with a piece of emery paper sewn into his glove until an umpire found it during a 1916 game and the league confiscated the glove. He led the American League with nine saves in 1917 for the White Sox club that won the World Series, and pitched in that Series too.

When the American League banned trick pitches after the 1920 season, it let each club name pitchers who could keep throwing what they already threw for the rest of their careers; Danforth, by then relying on a legal spitball, was one of seventeen men named across both leagues.

Ten seasons gave him 71 wins against 66, a 3.89 earned run average, 1,186 innings, 43 complete games and 23 saves. St. Louis had him for his last four years, and he was still winning games in 1925 at thirty-five on pitches half the league could no longer legally throw. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him. He died in 1970, at eighty.

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1911	PHA	14	6	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.167
1912	PHA	3	8	0	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	.250
1916	CHW	28	23	3	2	0	0	0	4	12	0	.087
1917	CHW	50	46	3	6	2	1	5	6	19	1	.130
1918	CHW	39	42	3	6	0	0	0	2	11	0	.143
1919	CHW	15	9	0	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	.111
1922	SLB	20	23	1	2	0	0	0	1	6	0	.087
1923	SLB	38	71	5	15	5	1	11	9	7	0	.211
1924	SLB	41	76	3	13	3	2	9	4	15	1	.171
1925	SLB	38	46	3	8	0	0	2	4	8	0	.174
Career	—	286	350	23	56	11	4	27	33	84	2	.160

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1911	PHA	4	1	14	2	1	33.2	29	14	17	21	3.74
1912	PHA	0	0	3	0	0	20.1	26	9	12	8	3.98
1916	CHW	6	5	28	8	2	93.2	87	34	37	49	3.27
1917	CHW	11	6	50	9	9	173.0	155	51	74	79	2.65
1918	CHW	6	15	39	11	2	139.0	148	53	40	48	3.43
1919	CHW	1	2	15	1	1	41.2	58	36	20	17	7.78
1922	SLB	5	2	20	10	1	79.2	93	29	38	48	3.28
1923	SLB	16	14	38	26	1	226.1	221	99	87	96	3.94
1924	SLB	15	12	41	27	4	219.2	246	110	69	65	4.51
1925	SLB	7	9	38	15	2	159.0	172	77	61	53	4.36
Career	—	71	66	286	109	23	1186.0	1235	512	455	484	3.89

On this day & linked events

1890

Born March 7, 1890

Granger, TX, USA

1970

Died September 19, 1970

1911

Major-league debut: Dave Danforth

Dave Danforth made a major-league debut on August 1, 1911.

1925

Final major-league game: Dave Danforth

Dave Danforth played a final major-league game on October 1, 1925.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain