The Washington herald., 1916-07-09
Rube Marquard's Pitching
Record An Eccentric One

New York. July s.-The pitching per-
formances OF Rube Marquard form one of
the strangest chapters in the history OF
baseball AS long as the game lasts
Marquard will be remembered, because
Of his eccentric work during the years
that he was a big Lacquer.
The port-wheeler has risen to great
er heights than most pitchers and
dropped to depths lower. Upon occa-
siOns he has been the idol Of fandom;
at others he has been the most abused
hurler the frolic has ever known. His
pitching has been the most inconsist-
ent of any man that ever Tipped a fin
on the greensward.
Marquard was a sensation with the
Indianapolis team in the American As
sociation circuit in 1908, jumping into
national prominence in the fall when
the Giants secured him for the then
huge price of $1,000.
Much was expected of Rube as a
Giant-but for nearly three years he
was useless. He had great speed and
wonderful curves, but he didn't have
control. nor did he have the noodle"
Gotham fans despaired of his ever
blossoming forth as a major league
flower. He became the $1,000 lemon"
His name was scored at whenever
mentioned; he became the target for
Jeers.
Heroized In IL and 'I2.
And then in 1911 he came from under
cover Of Wilbert Robertson's wing and
flashed his biggest year. He won "a out
Of 81 games, for an average of IA, prac-
tically pitched the Giants into a pennant.
and was worshipped by the fans OF New
York. In 1872 Marquard started off at a
whirlwtnd clip and. to the amazement of
baseball won nineteen straight games,
tying the modern record for consecutive
wins. His praises were sung from one
end Of the land to the other; he was
called a world beater; the most remark
able pitcher of the age His face peered
out from every sporting page in the
land; his name cluttered up the columns.
He was basebalPs ionized performer
And from these dizzy heights Marquard
has fallen-and the descent was fast and
sheer. Jimmy Lavender, of the Cubs,
beat him when he tried to win his twen-
tieth straight game. and that defeat
seemed to take the heart out of Rube.
He Immediately began to skid and the
skidding was an awful sight to see His
pitching from that time on until the end
OF the season was weird. Aided by a
start OF nineteen straight victories, he
was able to finish the season with a
showing Of only 26 games won and II
lost, for an average Of .7O3. After Laven-
der ended his string, Marquard won only
I out of IS games-and many of these
seven victories were of the fukey va
riety.
Failed Miserably in IA.
In 1913 the Rube continued to pitch-a
Ia star. He won twenty-three out of
thirty-three battles, for an average of
.6s6. He finished strong and It looked like
a great year for him in 1914. 1t was fig
ured that the greater experience he had
with the backing of a powerful team,
would enable him to zip through to a new
winning mark in 1914
But the eccentric Rube pitched the most
putrid game Of his career in 1914. It
was his failure-and his alone-that lost
the 1914 pennant for the Giants. Had
Rube delivered even half of his games
to the winning side of the ledger, the
Giants, without a doubt, would have
beaten the Braves to the October wire.
But the lefthander, upon whom McGraw
and the other Giant players had placed
30 much dependence. was batted from