1906
Born October 17, 1906
Springfield, KY, USA
Paul Derringer Marquee
b. October 17, 1906 · St. Louis Cardinals 1931–1933, Cincinnati Reds 1933–1942, Chicago Cubs 1943–1945
He won 223 games and lost 212 across fifteen seasons, with 251 complete games and 3,645 innings. In 1933 he went 7-27, one of the worst won-lost records anyone has posted, having been traded from a St. Louis club that won the pennant to a Cincinnati club that lost 94 games.
Six years later the same club and the same pitcher won 97 games and the pennant, and he went 25-7 in 1939 — a swing of eighteen games in the same column. Cincinnati won the World Series the following year and he won two games in it.
Six All-Star selections. He was on seven writers' ballots between 1948 and 1960 and never got above 15 votes, and three Veterans Committees have looked at him since. The 7-27 is the line people remember, and the answer to it is the 25-7.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 6 | 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 5 | 1931, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1940 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | STL | 35 | 72 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 0 | .097 |
| 1932 | STL | 39 | 73 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .178 |
| 1933 | CIN/STL | 36 | 81 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .173 |
| 1934 | CIN | 47 | 92 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 0 | .196 |
| 1935 | CIN | 45 | 93 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | .140 |
| 1936 | CIN | 51 | 90 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 0 | .200 |
| 1937 | CIN | 43 | 80 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 20 | 0 | .200 |
| 1938 | CIN | 41 | 119 | 8 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 24 | 0 | .176 |
| 1939 | CIN | 38 | 110 | 10 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .209 |
| 1940 | CIN | 37 | 108 | 4 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 0 | .167 |
| 1941 | CIN | 29 | 84 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 0 | .155 |
| 1942 | CIN | 29 | 68 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .132 |
| 1943 | CHC | 32 | 58 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .224 |
| 1944 | CHC | 42 | 57 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .158 |
| 1945 | CHC | 35 | 75 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 | .200 |
| Career | — | 579 | 1260 | 70 | 220 | 30 | 3 | 2 | 102 | 16 | 219 | 0 | .175 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | STL | 18 | 8 | 35 | 23 | 2 | 211.2 | 225 | 79 | 65 | 134 | 3.36 |
| 1932 | STL | 11 | 14 | 39 | 30 | 0 | 233.1 | 296 | 105 | 67 | 78 | 4.05 |
| 1933 | CIN/STL | 7 | 27 | 36 | 33 | 1 | 248.0 | 264 | 91 | 60 | 89 | 3.30 |
| 1934 | CIN | 15 | 21 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 261.0 | 297 | 104 | 59 | 122 | 3.59 |
| 1935 | CIN | 22 | 13 | 45 | 33 | 2 | 276.2 | 295 | 108 | 49 | 120 | 3.51 |
| 1936 | CIN | 19 | 19 | 51 | 37 | 5 | 282.1 | 331 | 126 | 42 | 121 | 4.02 |
| 1937 | CIN | 10 | 14 | 43 | 26 | 1 | 222.2 | 240 | 100 | 55 | 94 | 4.04 |
| 1938 | CIN | 21 | 14 | 41 | 37 | 3 | 307.0 | 315 | 100 | 49 | 132 | 2.93 |
| 1939 | CIN | 25 | 7 | 38 | 35 | 0 | 301.0 | 321 | 98 | 35 | 128 | 2.93 |
| 1940 | CIN | 20 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 296.2 | 280 | 101 | 48 | 115 | 3.06 |
| 1941 | CIN | 12 | 14 | 29 | 28 | 1 | 228.1 | 233 | 84 | 54 | 76 | 3.31 |
| 1942 | CIN | 10 | 11 | 29 | 27 | 0 | 208.2 | 203 | 71 | 49 | 68 | 3.06 |
| 1943 | CHC | 10 | 14 | 32 | 22 | 3 | 174.0 | 184 | 69 | 39 | 75 | 3.57 |
| 1944 | CHC | 7 | 13 | 42 | 16 | 3 | 180.0 | 205 | 83 | 39 | 69 | 4.15 |
| 1945 | CHC | 16 | 11 | 35 | 30 | 4 | 213.2 | 223 | 82 | 51 | 86 | 3.45 |
| Career | — | 223 | 212 | 579 | 445 | 29 | 3645.0 | 3912 | 1401 | 761 | 1507 | 3.46 |
On this day & linked events
1987
Died November 17, 1987
1931
Major-league debut: Paul Derringer
Paul Derringer made a major-league debut on April 16, 1931.
1945
Final major-league game: Paul Derringer
Paul Derringer played a final major-league game on September 27, 1945.
Image: Cincinnati Reds - 1940 Team Issue, public domain