Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #104D: Frederick "Firpo" Marberry. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1923-1932. 148 wins and 99 saves in 14 MLB seasons. First prominent reliever; used as a closer. Important piece of the Washington team that won back-to-back AL pennants in 1924-1925. 1924 World Series champion. His most productive season was 1929 with Washington as he posted a 19-12 record with a 3.06 ERA in 250.1 innings pitched. He ended his career with Washington in 1936.

After the 1928 season, Walter Johnson, who had retired as a pitcher a year earlier, replaced Bucky Harris as manager. Johnson used Marberry both to start and to relieve, and Marberry responded with a 19-12 record (16-8 as a starter) and 11 saves (the most in the league), starting 26 of his 49 games. He logged 250 innings, and his 3.06 ERA was second in the league to Lefty Grove.

Marberry had become enamored of a starting role: “Relief pitching is a job for a young pitcher. His arm can stand the wear and tear of uncertain work. … In my own case, I feel that I have earned the right to a change.” He was used in this dual role for the next two years, resulting in records of 15-5 (15-2 as a starter) and 16-4 (13-3 when starting), yet still hurling 34 games in relief over the two seasons.

Although he still had a good fastball, Marberry began using a curveball and changeup in midcareer, which made him all the more effective. In 1932 Johnson used him mainly out of the bullpen again (15 starts and 39 relief outings), and Marberry responded with another excellent season: 8-4 and a league-leading 13 saves.

After the 1932 season, Johnson was fired, and the 34-year-old Marberry was traded with Carl Fischer to the Tigers for pitcher Earl Whitehill. The Tigers skipper, old friend Bucky Harris, used Marberry almost completely as a starter (32 starts and 5 relief appearances), and he finished 16-11 with a 3.29 ERA (fifth best in the league). In 1934 Mickey Cochrane replaced Harris and moved Marberry back to his dual role. He again finished with a solid record: 15-5 in 38 games . Detroit won the American League pennant, but Marberry was hit hard in his only appearance (1⅔ innings, five hits, four runs) in the Series, which the Tigers lost.

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