1879
Born September 17, 1879
La Grange, TX, USA
Rube Foster Marquee Hall of Fame 1981
b. September 17, 1879 · Cuban X Giants 1903, Philadelphia Giants 1904–1906, Chicago Leland Giants 1907–1910, Chicago American Giants 1911–1917
He was a pitcher first, and a good one: 49-17 across 82 recorded games from 1903 to 1917, with 354 strikeouts, and 131 hits at .298 when he batted. None of it appears in this archive's career totals, because those count the seven leagues Major League Baseball recognized in 2020 and the earliest of them is the one he started. He organized himself out of his own record.
He built the Chicago American Giants and then, in 1920, the league they played in, having argued for years that Black baseball needed a structure of its own rather than a series of bookings. He ran it until his health failed in 1926.
He died in 1930 at fifty-one. The Veterans Committee elected him in 1981. Everything the archive can say about him with a number is about the pitcher; everything he is actually remembered for is the part no table here holds.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903* | CXG | 5 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .353 |
| 1904* | PG | 7 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .375 |
| 1905* | PG | 10 | 43 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .349 |
| 1906* | PG | 19 | 72 | 10 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .319 |
| 1907* | LEL | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .143 |
| 1908* | LEL | 13 | 41 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .341 |
| 1909* | LEL | 5 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .357 |
| 1910* | LEL | 7 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .111 |
| 1911* | CAG | 9 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
| 1912* | CAG | 18 | 47 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .277 |
| 1913* | CAG | 12 | 36 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| 1914* | CAG | 13 | 45 | 9 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .422 |
| 1915* | CAG | 12 | 34 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .265 |
| 1916* | CAG | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1917* | CAG | 4 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .071 |
| Major leagues | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| All seasons | — | 139 | 440 | 52 | 131 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 61 | 20 | 0 | 10 | .298 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903* | CXG | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 0.75 |
| 1904* | PG | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 41 | 1.50 |
| 1905* | PG | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 32.0 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 1.13 |
| 1906* | PG | 4 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 72.0 | 62 | 16 | 21 | 39 | 2.00 |
| 1907* | LEL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.00 |
| 1908* | LEL | 5 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 54.0 | 46 | 12 | 18 | 26 | 2.00 |
| 1909* | LEL | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18.0 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0.00 |
| 1910* | LEL | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 40.0 | 29 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 1.13 |
| 1911* | CAG | 4 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 56.2 | 46 | 13 | 12 | 33 | 2.06 |
| 1912* | CAG | 6 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 74.1 | 66 | 17 | 17 | 31 | 2.06 |
| 1913* | CAG | 4 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 63.1 | 75 | 33 | 21 | 38 | 4.69 |
| 1914* | CAG | 5 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 72.2 | 57 | 20 | 25 | 32 | 2.48 |
| 1915* | CAG | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 53.1 | 48 | 24 | 13 | 20 | 4.05 |
| 1916* | CAG | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18.0 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1.00 |
| 1917* | CAG | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 27.0 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 3.33 |
| Major leagues | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| All seasons | — | 49 | 17 | 82 | 73 | 1 | 662.1 | 546 | 165 | 176 | 354 | 2.24 |
Seasons outside MLB's recognized major leagues appear in All seasons, but not in Major leagues or the leaderboards. For Rube Foster, that is 1903–1917. Why totals can differ.
On this day & linked events
1930