1895
Born November 25, 1895
Youngsville, NC, USA
Jakie May Marquee
b. November 25, 1895 · St. Louis Cardinals 1917–1921, Cincinnati Reds 1924–1930, Chicago Cubs 1931–1932
He was a left-hander with a curve and no control who spent five years with the Cardinals before the Cardinals were any good, went back to the minor leagues for two, and came up again with Cincinnati at twenty-eight. He led the National League with six saves in 1924, in a year when the statistic did not exist.
Fourteen seasons gave him 72 wins against 95, a 3.88 earned run average, 1,562 innings, 70 complete games and 19 saves across 410 appearances. He started and relieved in about equal measure, which was what a club did with a pitcher it did not entirely trust.
Chicago got him for 1931 and he pitched in the 1932 World Series against the Yankees, in the game in which Babe Ruth is said to have called his shot. He was from Youngsville, North Carolina, and went back there. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him. He died in 1970, at seventy-four.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | STL | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1918 | STL | 29 | 45 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 0 | .067 |
| 1919 | STL | 28 | 37 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .162 |
| 1920 | STL | 16 | 22 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .227 |
| 1921 | STL | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| 1924 | CIN | 38 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | .111 |
| 1925 | CIN | 36 | 43 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .186 |
| 1926 | CIN | 45 | 48 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .146 |
| 1927 | CIN | 44 | 76 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 0 | .184 |
| 1928 | CIN | 21 | 27 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .296 |
| 1929 | CIN | 41 | 64 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 0 | .203 |
| 1930 | CIN | 26 | 39 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .128 |
| 1931 | CHC | 31 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .227 |
| 1932 | CHC | 35 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .125 |
| Career | — | 410 | 468 | 33 | 80 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 28 | 120 | 0 | .171 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | STL | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 29.1 | 29 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 3.38 |
| 1918 | STL | 5 | 6 | 29 | 15 | 0 | 152.2 | 149 | 65 | 69 | 61 | 3.83 |
| 1919 | STL | 3 | 12 | 28 | 19 | 0 | 125.2 | 99 | 45 | 87 | 58 | 3.22 |
| 1920 | STL | 1 | 4 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 70.2 | 65 | 24 | 37 | 33 | 3.06 |
| 1921 | STL | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 21.0 | 29 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 4.71 |
| 1924 | CIN | 3 | 3 | 38 | 4 | 6 | 99.0 | 104 | 33 | 29 | 59 | 3.00 |
| 1925 | CIN | 8 | 9 | 36 | 12 | 2 | 137.1 | 146 | 59 | 45 | 74 | 3.87 |
| 1926 | CIN | 13 | 9 | 45 | 15 | 3 | 167.2 | 175 | 60 | 44 | 103 | 3.22 |
| 1927 | CIN | 15 | 12 | 44 | 28 | 1 | 235.2 | 242 | 92 | 70 | 121 | 3.51 |
| 1928 | CIN | 3 | 5 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 79.1 | 99 | 39 | 35 | 39 | 4.42 |
| 1929 | CIN | 10 | 14 | 41 | 24 | 3 | 199.0 | 219 | 102 | 75 | 92 | 4.61 |
| 1930 | CIN | 3 | 11 | 26 | 18 | 0 | 112.1 | 147 | 72 | 41 | 44 | 5.77 |
| 1931 | CHC | 5 | 5 | 31 | 4 | 2 | 79.0 | 81 | 34 | 43 | 38 | 3.87 |
| 1932 | CHC | 2 | 2 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 53.2 | 61 | 26 | 19 | 20 | 4.36 |
| Career | — | 72 | 95 | 410 | 161 | 19 | 1562.1 | 1645 | 673 | 617 | 765 | 3.88 |
On this day & linked events
1970
Died June 3, 1970
1917
Major-league debut: Jakie May
Jakie May made a major-league debut on June 26, 1917.
1919
Hod Eller's No-Hitter
Hod Eller threw a no-hitter for the Cincinnati Reds against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 11, 1919, winning 6–0.
1932
Final major-league game: Jakie May
Jakie May played a final major-league game on September 25, 1932.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain