Tuesday Trivia: Most shutouts in a single season

[Peter_Spaeth]

Well the first part of it has to be George Washington.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Well the first part of it has to be George Washington.

George Washington "Grins" Bradley threw 16 shutouts in 1876 for the St. Louis Browns.

He was later matched by Grover Cleveland Alexander (love those presidential names) in 1915.

On July 15, 1876, less than two weeks after the Centennial observance took place in Philadelphia and less than three weeks after George Armstrong Custer met his doom at Little Bighorn, Bradley became the first pitcher in National League history to throw a no-hitter. As the box score shows, his team committed 8 errors, but still managed a 2-0 shutout.

The following game, Bradley took another no-hitter into the 9th before Charley “Baby” Jones broke it up with a two-out double, extending a scoreless streak to 37 innings. This record stood until Christy Mathewson hurled 39 consecutive scoreless innings in 1901.

Bradley lead the League in ERA in 1876 with 1.23, just his 2nd year in MLB.

"Along with Bradley’s range of pitches, pinpoint control, having the best catcher in the league (John Clapp), and having a withering grin, an unseemly side to his success in 1876 involved gamesmanship (or cheating, depending upon one’s view). According to Bradley’s former manager Frank Bancroft, Bradley learned from teammate Mike McGeary how to steam open the sealed box containing the new ball to be used for the game, put the ball in a vise to crush it, and then reseal the box, creating a new mushy ball.32Aside from the process enhancing Bradley’s curve, the ball usually lost its shape over the course of the game, allowing a crafty pitcher like Bradley to alter its plateward course with more trickery." (Source)

Bradley never reached the same heights again as he did in 1876 and he retired in 1884.

He did, however, manage to play every single position in the League except Catcher. He particularly excelled at third base, where he was a fine fielder.

After he retired, Bradley first worked as a night watchman and then joined the Philadelphia police force where he worked until retirement in 1930. He died a year later of liver cancer.