Books and articles about Howard Ehmke

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Ehmke broke in with the Federal League but was grabbed by Detroit when the Feds folded and twice won 17 games for them. Traded to the Red Sox in 1923, he pitched a no-hitter that would have been a one-hitter had not an Athletics' runner failed to touch first base on an apparent double. Four days later he pitched a one-hitter against the Yankees, the only hit being a ground ball that bounced off the third baseman's chest. Ehmke won 20 games for the Red Sox in '23 and 19 the next season. By 1929, he seemed nearly washed up, having won only seven games for the pennant-winning Athletics. It came as a shock when Connie Mack started him in the World Series opener against the Cubs. Mack reasoned that the sidearming Ehmke had the perfect mix of control and slow stuff to keep the predominantly righthand-hitting Cubs off balance, and gave Ehmke time off near the end of the season to personally scout the Cubs. Ehmke struck out a then-record 13 in pitching an P\ x x eight-hit, 3-1 victory. (NLM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 25, 1922: In a 5–3 win over Detroit, Ken Williams smashes his 6th home run in four days, off Howard Ehmke, tying Babe Ruth's 1921 feat. On the 29th he'll pole two more. » October 18, 1922: The Tigers trade pitchers Carl Holling and Howard Ehmke, along with infielder Danny Clark, outfielder Babe Herman, and $25,000 to Boston for 2B Del Pratt and P Rip Collins. Pratt has two more .300 seasons left; Collins and Ehmke provide long-term benefits to their clubs. Herman, 19, won’t make it to the big leagues until 1926, and then it will be with Brooklyn. » April 18, 1923: The debut of Yankee Stadium is a huge success with an announced attendance of 74,217. Bob Shawkey, aided by Babe Ruth's 3-run HR, beats Howard Ehmke and the Red Sox 4-1. » May 18, 1923: At Detroit, former Tiger pitcher, Howard Ehmke pitches his Boston Red Sox team to a 6-2 victory in 10 innings. Ty Cobb is 0-for-3 and caps the day with a heated argument (under the grandstand), reportedly because Ehmke hit him with a pitch. » September 7, 1923: The A's are hit with a no-hitter for the 2nd time in four days as Boston's Howard Ehmke strikes out one while pitching a 4–0 no-hitter against them. "Ehmke's zippy crossfire came out of the shortstop's chest like bad news from a gatling gun" (Philadelphia Public Ledger). Preserving the no-hitter is rival pitcher Slim Harriss, who hits the ball to the wall in the 7th and winds up on 2B, but he is called out for failing to touch 1B. An 8th inning liner by Frank Welch is fumbled in LF and he reaches 1B. The liner is initially ruled a single but changed before the inning is over. Ehmke has now won six straight over the A's this season. For Ehmke's batterymate, Val Picinich, it is his 3rd no-hitter, each with a different team. » September 11, 1923: After Yankee leadoff hitter Whitey Witt reaches first base on a controversial infield hit that is ruled a single, Boston P Howard Ehmke retires the next 27 batters for a 3–0 win, his 20th of the year. The Yankee crowd exhorts the scorer Fred Lieb to reverse his call on the hard grounder that 3B Howard Shanks booted, but the one hit stood. Ehmke has now given up just one hit in his last two games. » September 28, 1923: Three weeks after both pitchers have thrown no-hitters versus the A's, Sam Jones of the Yankees and Howard Ehmke (20–17) of the Red Sox clash. It is not Ehmke's day; he is routed after facing a record 16 batters in an 11-run 6th inning, as manager Frank Chance declines to relieve his ace in mid-inning. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 24–4 with 30 hits in 55 at bats, both American League records. Ruth is 5-for-6 in the game with two doubles and his 28th home run, Wally Schang adds five hits, and Lou Gehrig four hits, including three doubles. » August 13, 1924: Red Sox righthander Howard Ehmke has the White Sox popping up all day in his 6-0 win. Only one assist is made by Boston. » September 30, 1924: In the only game scheduled, the Series-bound Senators lose a laugher 13–1 to the Red Sox. Coach Nick Altrock, 48, pitches the last two innings for the Nats and gives up a run, while driving in the lone tally with a triple. With the Red Sox outfielders making little attempt to run the ball down, Altrock is the oldest player in ML history to hit a triple. Howard Ehmke is the winning pitcher but still leads the American League in losses with 17, the same number of losses he's had the previous two years. » June 15, 1926: After sending OF Bing Miller to St. Louis for OF Baby Doll Jacobson, the A's trade P Slim Harriss, P Fred Heimach, and Jacobson to the Red Sox for OF Tom Jenkins and P Howard Ehmke, 32. Ehmke, 3-10 at Boston, will be 12-4 for the rest of the year at Philadelphia. » May 13, 1927: With a bunt in the 3rd inning, Ty Cobb stretches his hit streak to 14 games as the A's pound the Tigers, 10–3. Howard Ehmke holds Detroit to six hits. Eddie Collins is 1-for-2 with four walks, and Al Simmons has a homer, double and single for the A's. » May 23, 1929: In Philadelphia, the A's win a pair from the Senators by 9–8 scores In game 1, they spot the Senators eight runs in the 1st two innings and then come back to win. The win goes to Howard Ehmke, the A's 4th pitcher. Rube Walberg goes all the way to win the nitecap. Ossie Bluege has a home run in each game for the Nationals. The first-place A's will sweep the series with the Nats » October 8, 1929: Howard Ehmke (7-2), who has been scouting the Cubs for a week, is the Athletics' surprise starter in Game One of the World Series at Chicago. A crowd of 50,740 Cubs fans watches Ehmke strike out a World Series-record 13 that will stand until Brooklyn's Carl Erskine fans 14 Yankees in 1953. He holds the Cubs scoreless until the 9th for a 3–1 win. Charlie Root (19-6) yields just three hits, but one is a home run by Jimmie Foxx in the 7th. » October 14, 1929: After a Sunday off, a special train from Washington brings President and Mrs. Hoover to Shibe Park to see if Howard Ehmke can wind up the Series against Pat Malone. They match zeroes for 3, but with two outs in the 4th, a walk and three hits give the Cubs a 2–0 lead. Malone stifles the A's with two hits and the 2–0 lead holds up into the 9th. The Athletics rally and come up with three runs, the winning run scoring on a Bing Miller double, and take the series four games to one. There won't be another winning rally by a team down two runs in the 9th of game seven this century; the Diamondbacks, in 2001, will do it next. National League MVP Rogers Hornsby, hobbled with a heel spur, manages just five hits in the Series. » October 7, 1931: Connie Mack, who surprised everyone in 1929 by starting veteran Howard Ehmke in the WS opener, tries the ploy with Waite Hoyt. Pitching in his 7th WS, Hoyt falls victim to Pepper Martin, who homers and drives in 4 runs with 3 hits. Hallahan wins for the Cards 5-1.