1899
Born September 17, 1899
Ansted, WV, USA
Sheriff Blake Marquee
b. September 17, 1899 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1920, Chicago Cubs 1924–1931, Philadelphia Phillies 1931, St. Louis Browns 1937, St. Louis Cardinals 1937
Sheriff Blake pitched eight seasons for the Chicago Cubs and is remembered for one inning of one of them. In Game 4 of the 1929 World Series, with Chicago leading Philadelphia 8-0 in the seventh, the Athletics scored ten runs; Blake was one of four Cubs pitchers used, and he was charged with the runs that put Philadelphia ahead.
The rest was a competent career on poor run support: 87 wins across seventeen calendar years, 81 complete games, and a seventeen-win season in 1928 for a Cubs club that finished third.
Born in Ansted, West Virginia in 1899, Blake finished 87-102 with 621 strikeouts, made a brief return in 1937 after five years away, and was eighty-three when he died in October 1982.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | PIT | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| 1924 | CHC | 29 | 31 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .290 |
| 1925 | CHC | 36 | 79 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 0 | .152 |
| 1926 | CHC | 39 | 65 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 0 | .215 |
| 1927 | CHC | 32 | 83 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .193 |
| 1928 | CHC | 35 | 88 | 10 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 0 | .216 |
| 1929 | CHC | 38 | 81 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .173 |
| 1930 | CHC | 36 | 66 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 0 | .227 |
| 1931 | CHC/PHI | 30 | 41 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .341 |
| 1937 | SLB/STL | 29 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .200 |
| Career | — | 310 | 558 | 46 | 118 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 14 | 91 | 0 | .211 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | PIT | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 8.10 |
| 1924 | CHC | 6 | 6 | 29 | 11 | 1 | 106.1 | 123 | 54 | 44 | 42 | 4.57 |
| 1925 | CHC | 10 | 18 | 36 | 31 | 2 | 231.1 | 260 | 125 | 114 | 93 | 4.86 |
| 1926 | CHC | 11 | 12 | 39 | 27 | 1 | 197.2 | 204 | 79 | 92 | 95 | 3.60 |
| 1927 | CHC | 13 | 14 | 32 | 27 | 0 | 224.1 | 238 | 82 | 82 | 64 | 3.29 |
| 1928 | CHC | 17 | 11 | 34 | 29 | 1 | 240.2 | 209 | 66 | 101 | 78 | 2.47 |
| 1929 | CHC | 14 | 13 | 35 | 30 | 1 | 218.1 | 244 | 104 | 103 | 70 | 4.29 |
| 1930 | CHC | 10 | 14 | 34 | 24 | 0 | 186.2 | 213 | 100 | 99 | 80 | 4.82 |
| 1931 | CHC/PHI | 4 | 9 | 30 | 14 | 1 | 121.0 | 154 | 73 | 61 | 60 | 5.43 |
| 1937 | SLB/STL | 2 | 5 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 80.1 | 100 | 49 | 38 | 32 | 5.49 |
| Career | — | 87 | 102 | 304 | 196 | 8 | 1620.0 | 1766 | 744 | 740 | 621 | 4.13 |
On this day & linked events
1982
Died October 31, 1982
1920
Major-league debut: Sheriff Blake
Sheriff Blake made a major-league debut on June 29, 1920.
1937
Final major-league game: Sheriff Blake
Sheriff Blake played a final major-league game on September 26, 1937.
Image: Zeenut, public domain