Hugh Bedient
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Hugh Carpenter Bedient (October 23, 1889 - July 21, 1965) was a starting pitcher who played in the American League for the Boston Red Sox (1912-1914) and with the Buffalo Blues of the Federal League (1915). Bedient batted and threw right handed. He was born in Gerry, New York.
In 1908 Bedient gained notoriety when he stroke out 42 batters in a 23-inning complete game while piching for a semi-pro baseball team. Signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1910, he made his majors debut in 1912. He won 20 games as a Red Sox rookie and outdueled legend Christy Mathewson, defeating the New York Giants, 2–1, in Game Five of the 1912 World Series. He also pitched the first seven innings of the final game, won by the Red Sox in the tenth, 2–1.
In three seasons with the Red Sox, Bedient had a mark of 43 wins and 35 losses with 314 strikeouts and a 3.05 earned run average in 667-1/3 innings pitched.He later became a member of the outlaw Federal League. Pitching for the Buffalo Blues, he went 16-18 with 106 strikeouts and a 3.12 ERA in 269-1/3 innings, leading the league with 10 saves.
In a four-season career, Bedient posted a 59-53 record with 420 strikeouts and a 3.08 ERA in 936.2/3 innings.
Bedient died in Jamestown, New York, at the age of 75.
[edit] Bedient's feat
- Pitching for a semi-pro Falconer, New York team, Bedient struck out 42 batters in a 23-inning, 3–1 victory against a Corry, Pennsylvania team, on July 25, 1908. Two days later, the Jamestown Evening Journal ran the headline: Broke all records. Bedient of Falconer struck out 42 men, and the Corry Journal stated Corry and Falconer make World’s record. Twenty-three years later, Robert LeRoy Ripley, in his syndicated Believe It Or Not! of September 5, 1931, informed the world of Bedient's feat, giving the first national recognition of this event.
