1933
Born March 6, 1933
Stanley, NC, USA
Ted Abernathy Marquee
b. March 6, 1933 · Washington Senators 1955–1957, 1960, Cleveland Indians 1963–1964, Chicago Cubs 1965–1966, 1969–1970, Atlanta Braves 1966, Cincinnati Reds 1967–1968, St. Louis Cardinals 1970, Kansas City Royals 1970–1972
He tore his shoulder in the minor leagues in the 1950s and came back throwing from below his knee, the knuckles of his pitching hand scraping the mound. In 1965, for the Cubs, he appeared in 84 games and saved 31, which was more than any pitcher had saved in a season, and he led the National League again in 1967 with 28 saves and a 1.27 earned run average.
Fourteen seasons gave him 148 saves and a 3.46 earned run average across 1,147 innings and 681 games, spread over seven clubs and eighteen calendar years, with five in the minor leagues in the middle.
He was never chosen for an All-Star team. He worked in a textile mill in North Carolina in the offseasons and went back to it afterward. No Hall of Fame ballot listed him. He died in 2004, at seventy-one.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| The Sporting News Fireman of the Year | 2 | 1965, 1967 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | WSH | 40 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .154 |
| 1956 | WSH | 5 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .182 |
| 1957 | WSH | 26 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 |
| 1960 | WSH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1963 | CLE | 43 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .400 |
| 1964 | CLE | 53 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1965 | CHC | 84 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .167 |
| 1966 | ATL/CHC | 58 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .167 |
| 1967 | CIN | 70 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .059 |
| 1968 | CIN | 78 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .000 |
| 1969 | CHC | 56 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .250 |
| 1970 | CHC/KCR/STL | 58 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .176 |
| 1971 | KCR | 63 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .077 |
| 1972 | KCR | 45 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 681 | 181 | 12 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 74 | 0 | .138 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | WSH | 5 | 9 | 40 | 14 | 0 | 119.1 | 136 | 79 | 67 | 79 | 5.96 |
| 1956 | WSH | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 30.1 | 35 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 4.15 |
| 1957 | WSH | 2 | 10 | 26 | 16 | 0 | 85.0 | 100 | 64 | 65 | 50 | 6.78 |
| 1960 | WSH | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 12.00 |
| 1963 | CLE | 7 | 2 | 43 | 0 | 12 | 59.1 | 54 | 19 | 29 | 47 | 2.88 |
| 1964 | CLE | 2 | 6 | 53 | 0 | 11 | 72.2 | 66 | 35 | 46 | 57 | 4.33 |
| 1965 | CHC | 4 | 6 | 84 | 0 | 31 | 136.1 | 113 | 39 | 56 | 104 | 2.57 |
| 1966 | ATL/CHC | 5 | 7 | 58 | 0 | 8 | 93.0 | 84 | 47 | 53 | 60 | 4.55 |
| 1967 | CIN | 6 | 3 | 70 | 0 | 28 | 106.1 | 63 | 15 | 41 | 88 | 1.27 |
| 1968 | CIN | 10 | 7 | 78 | 0 | 13 | 134.2 | 111 | 37 | 55 | 64 | 2.47 |
| 1969 | CHC | 4 | 3 | 56 | 0 | 3 | 85.1 | 75 | 30 | 42 | 55 | 3.16 |
| 1970 | CHC/KCR/STL | 10 | 3 | 58 | 0 | 14 | 83.0 | 65 | 24 | 55 | 59 | 2.60 |
| 1971 | KCR | 4 | 6 | 63 | 0 | 23 | 81.0 | 60 | 23 | 50 | 55 | 2.56 |
| 1972 | KCR | 3 | 4 | 45 | 0 | 5 | 58.1 | 44 | 11 | 19 | 28 | 1.70 |
| Career | — | 63 | 69 | 681 | 34 | 148 | 1147.2 | 1010 | 441 | 592 | 765 | 3.46 |
On this day & linked events
2004
Died December 16, 2004
1955
Major-league debut: Ted Abernathy
Ted Abernathy made a major-league debut on April 13, 1955.
1972
Final major-league game: Ted Abernathy
Ted Abernathy played a final major-league game on September 30, 1972.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain