Ernie Shore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ernie Shore
Ernie Shore
Ernie Shore (left) with Grover Cleveland Alexander during the 1915 World Series.
Pitcher
Born: March 24, 1891
Died: September 24, 1980 (aged 89)
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 20, 1912
for the New York Giants
Final game
August 22, 1920
for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Win-Loss     65-43
ERA     2.47
Strikeouts     309
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • 3rd in the AL in ERA in 1915 with 1.64

Ernest Grady Shore (born near East Bend, North Carolina March 24, 1891 - September 24, 1980) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox during some of their best years in the 1910s. Along with Babe Ruth, he was sold by the Baltimore Orioles to the Red Sox, and like Ruth after him, he was dispatched to the New York Yankees by the Red Sox's cash-poor owner, Harry Frazee, where he closed out his career.

Shore's best year with the Red Sox was 1915, when he won 18, lost 8, and compiled a 1.64 earned run average. He was 3-1 in World Series action in 1915 and 1916. He missed the 1918 Red Sox World Championship season, having enlisted in the military in that war year.

His most famous game occurred on June 23, 1917, against the Washington Senators in the first game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park. Ruth started the game, walking the first batter, Ray Morgan. As newspaper accounts of the time tell it, the short-fused Ruth then engaged in a heated argument with apparently equally short-fused home plate umpire Brick Owens. Owens tossed Ruth out of the game, and the even-more-enraged Ruth then slugged the ump a glancing blow before being taken off the field; the catcher was also ejected. Shore was recruited to pitch, and came in with very few warmup pitches. With a new pitcher and catcher, runner Morgan tried to steal but was thrown out. Shore then proceeded to retire the remaining 26 Senators without surrendering a hit, earning a 4-0 Red Sox win. The game is sometimes erroneously referred to as a "perfect game in relief," and some baseball historians have argued that it should count as a no-hitter. Following the game, Ruth paid a $100 fine, was suspended for 10 games, and issued a public apology for his behavior.

Shore was Sheriff of Forsyth County, North Carolina for many years, and led the 1950s effort to build a minor league baseball park in Winston-Salem, a park that was ultimately named for him and still serves as the home field of the Winston-Salem Warthogs of the Carolina League.

Shore graduated from Guilford College in 1913.

[edit] External links