Si Johnson Marquee

b. October 5, 1906 · Cincinnati Reds 1928–1936, St. Louis Cardinals 1936–1938, Philadelphia Phillies 1940–1942, 1946, Philadelphia Blue Jays 1943, Boston Braves 1946–1947

He lost 22 games in 1934, 19 in 1931 and 19 more in 1942, and finished 101-165. His earned run average across seventeen seasons was 4.09, which in his era was ordinary; the record was made by the clubs behind him. The Cincinnati teams he pitched for from 1931 to 1935 finished last four times.

He threw 2,281 innings with 108 complete games and 13 shutouts. The 1932 season is the argument for him: 13-15 with a 3.27 earned run average for a club that lost 94 games, which nobody has ever called a good year and which was one.

St. Louis had him for three seasons, Philadelphia for four, and Boston at the end, where he went 6-5 with a 2.76 earned run average in 1946 at thirty-nine. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him. He died in 1994, at eighty-seven.

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1928	CIN	3	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.250
1929	CIN	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1930	CIN	35	17	1	4	0	0	1	1	1	.235
1931	CIN	42	87	3	13	1	0	3	2	25	.149
1932	CIN	42	80	3	10	0	0	3	3	15	.125
1933	CIN	34	72	1	3	1	0	0	1	24	.042
1934	CIN	46	72	3	10	0	1	1	2	24	.139
1935	CIN	30	41	1	1	0	0	0	3	20	.024
1936	CIN/STL	14	21	1	4	1	0	2	0	8	.190
1937	STL	38	65	5	9	1	0	1	2	20	.138
1938	STL	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
1940	PHI	37	43	2	6	0	0	1	0	13	.140
1941	PHI	39	47	1	7	0	0	0	1	11	.149
1942	PHI	39	58	3	6	0	0	0	0	16	.103
1943	PHI	21	33	3	6	0	0	2	3	8	.182
1946	BSN/PHI	29	38	0	6	0	0	5	1	14	.158
1947	BSN	36	30	1	1	0	0	1	1	11	.033
Career	—	492	709	29	87	4	1	20	20	213	.123

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1928	CIN	0	0	3	0	0	10.1	9	5	5	1	4.35
1929	CIN	0	0	1	0	0	2.0	2	1	1	0	4.50
1930	CIN	3	1	35	3	0	78.1	86	43	31	47	4.94
1931	CIN	11	19	42	33	0	262.1	273	110	74	95	3.77
1932	CIN	13	15	42	27	2	245.0	246	89	57	94	3.27
1933	CIN	7	18	34	28	1	211.1	212	82	54	51	3.49
1934	CIN	7	22	46	31	3	215.2	264	125	84	89	5.22
1935	CIN	5	11	30	20	0	130.0	155	90	59	40	6.23
1936	CIN/STL	5	3	14	9	0	65.2	89	36	11	23	4.93
1937	STL	12	12	38	21	1	192.1	222	71	43	64	3.32
1938	STL	0	3	6	3	0	15.2	27	13	6	4	7.47
1940	PHI	5	14	37	14	1	138.1	145	75	42	58	4.88
1941	PHI	5	12	39	21	2	163.1	207	82	54	80	4.52
1942	PHI	8	19	39	26	0	195.1	198	80	72	78	3.69
1943	PHI	8	3	21	14	2	113.0	110	41	25	46	3.27
1946	BSN/PHI	6	5	29	12	1	130.0	141	40	35	43	2.77
1947	BSN	6	8	36	10	2	112.2	124	53	34	27	4.23
Career	—	101	165	492	272	15	2281.1	2510	1036	687	840	4.09

On this day & linked events

1906

Born October 5, 1906

Danway, IL, USA

1994

Died May 12, 1994

1928

Major-league debut: Si Johnson

Si Johnson made a major-league debut on September 11, 1928.

1947

Final major-league game: Si Johnson

Si Johnson played a final major-league game on September 25, 1947.

Image: Batter-Up (R318), public domain