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Oscar Graham

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American baseball player (1878-1931)

Baseball player
Oscar Graham
Pitcher
Born: (1878-07-20)July 20, 1878
Plattsmouth, Nebraska
Died: October 15, 1931(1931-10-15) (aged 53)
Moline, Illinois
Batted: LeftThrew: Left
MLB debut
April 13, 1907, for the Washington Senators
Last MLB appearance
August 5, 1907, for the Washington Senators
MLB statistics
Win–loss record4-9
Earned run average3.98
Strikeouts44
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Oscar Marion Graham (July 20, 1878 – October 15, 1931) was a professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year career, he won four games in Major League Baseball and 272 games in the minor leagues. Graham was 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds.

Professional career

Graham was born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska in 1878. He started his professional baseball career in 1901. In 1902, he won 16 games in the class A Western League. Graham then went to the Pacific Coast League's Oakland Oaks, and he put up some big numbers in the long PCL seasons. In 1903, he went 28-29 with a 3.44 earned run average, pitching 504.2 innings in 61 games. He led the league in games pitched, innings pitched, losses, and earned runs (193). His 234 walks and 49 hit batters during that season are PCL records that have never been broken. Graham was also a good hitter, as he had a batting average of .323 to finish sixth in the league in that category.

In 1904, Graham had a slightly lesser workload, as he pitched 392.1 innings and went 19-23 with a 2.89 ERA. Again, he hit well and finished ninth in the batting race at .305. Graham had one of his better seasons in 1905. He pitched over 500 innings for the second time and tied his career-high in wins with 28. His ERA dropped to 2.37, and he led the league with 56 games started. The following year, he tossed another 432 innings for Oakland and went 25-23. He was purchased by the American League's Washington Senators in August of that year.

Graham made his major league debut with the Senators on April 16, 1907. He ended up appearing in 20 games for them, including 14 starts, and he went 4-9 with a 3.98 ERA. His last MLB game was on August 5, and he then finished the season with the American Association's Minneapolis Millers.

Graham started 1908 with Minneapolis. He had a win–loss record of 8-5 before leaving to play for another team in the Virginia, Minnesota based Virginia Ore Diggers, where he was paid a "whopping" $350 each month. Graham returned to the American Association in 1909, this time with the Indianapolis Indians. In 40 games, he went 15-15. He started off 1910 with them, as well, but was released in July for "failure to keep in winning condition."

For the next few years, Graham bounced around the minor leagues. He had his fifth, and final, 20-win season in 1916, when he went 23-12 with a 2.31 ERA in the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. He tied for the league-lead in victories.

After retirement

Graham retired from professional baseball after the 1917 season. He pitched a total of 17 years and won 276 games – 272 in the minor leagues and 4 in the major leagues.

Graham lived in Rising Sun, Iowa, in the winters, and he worked as a corn husker and rabbit hunter during that time. He died in Moline, Illinois, in 1931.

Death

Graham died on October 15, 1931, in Moline, Illinois. He is interred at Riverside Cemetery in Moline.

References

  1. ^ "Oscar Graham Statistics and History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  2. "Oscar Graham". Baseball-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  3. ^ "Oscar Graham Minor League Statistics & History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  4. "1903 Pacific Coast League Pitching Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  5. Zingg, Paul J. and Medeiros, Mark D. (1994). Runs, Hits, and an Era: The Pacific Coast League, 1903-58. University of Illinois Press. pp. 20-21.
  6. "1903 Pacific Coast League Batting Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  7. "1904 Pacific Coast League Batting Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  8. "1905 Pacific Coast League Pitching Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  9. Peterson, Todd (2010). Early Black Baseball in Minnesota. McFarland. p. 83.
  10. "News Notes". Sporting Life. July 30, 1910. p. 17.
  11. "1916 Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League Pitching Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  12. Thornley, Stew (2006). Baseball in Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 48.
  13. "Oscar Graham". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 19, 2012.

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