Jesse Haines

Jesse Joseph "Pop" Haines, (July 22, 1893 – August 5, 1978) was a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher and knuckleballer. He played briefly in 1918, then from 1920 to 1937.

Career

Haines was born in Clayton, Ohio. He saw brief Major League action in 1918 with the Cincinnati Reds,but became a fixture in the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation in 1920. Despite a 13-20 record, he pitched 301 2/3 innings, the highest output of his career, and recorded a 2.98 ERA.

Haines's luck changed over subsequent seasons. Playing until 1937, at the age of 43, he won 20 games or more three times for the Cardinals and won three World Series championships (in 1926,1931 and 1934). He retired with a 210-158 record, 3.64 ERA and 3208 2/3 innings pitched.

Haines threw a no-hitter on July 17, 1924 against the Boston Braves.

Hall of Fame induction

After failing to gain more than 8.3% of the votes for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame over a 12-year period, Haines was voted in by the Veterans Committee (VC) in 1970. Frankie Frisch, a member of the VC, also shepherded the selections of teammates Dave Bancroft and Chick Hafey in 1971, Ross Youngs in 1972, George Kelly in 1973, and Jim Bottomley in 1974.^[1] Alex Remington of Yahoo! Sports has postulated that Haines may be "the worst player in the Hall of Fame."^[2]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References

External links

• Jesse Haines at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube