Ralph Head

Ralph Head (August 30, 1893 – October 8, 1962) was a professional baseball pitcher who played for the 1923 Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Listed at 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and 175 pounds (79 kg), he threw and batted right-handed.

Ralph Head
Pitcher
Born: (1893-08-30)August 30, 1893
Tallapoosa, Georgia
Died: October 8, 1962(1962-10-08) (aged 69)
Muscadine, Alabama
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 18, 1923, for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
October 6, 1923, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
Win–loss record2–9
Earned run average6.66
Strikeouts24
Teams

Biography

Head played minor league baseball during 1913–1917 and 1919–1931;[1] he did not play professionally in 1918 due to military service.[2] He pitched in over 400 minor league games, with a 153–137 win–loss record for seasons with records available.[1]

Head spent the 1923 season with the Philadelphia Phillies, his only major league season.[3] In 35 games (13 starts) he compiled a 2–9 record with a 6.66 earned run average, while striking out 24 batters in ​132 1⁄3 innings pitched.[4] The Phillies finished last in the National League in 1923, with a 50–104 record.[5] Two games that Head pitched in are historically notable:

  • Head's start against the New York Giants on June 1, 1923, became the first game in baseball's modern era (since 1900) that a team scored in all nine innings; accomplished by the Giants, in a 22–8 victory.[6][7] Head allowed six runs on six hits, facing 14 batters in ​1 2⁄3 innings of work, and was the losing pitcher of the game.[8]
  • Head's final game in the major leagues, played on October 6, 1923, featured shortstop Ernie Padgett of the Boston Braves executing an unassisted triple play.[9] The Phillies lost to the Braves, 4–1, with Head scoring the Phillies' only run.[10]

Head was born in 1893 in Tallapoosa, Georgia.[4] He served in the United States Army during World War I,[2] as a private first class in Company A of the 328th Infantry Regiment; he was wounded in action in October 1918 in Sommerance, France.[11] He died in 1962 in Muscadine, Alabama, and was interred in his hometown.[4]

References
  1. "Ralph Head Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  2. "Pittsfield Tackles Hartford Today". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. June 3, 1919. p. 10. Retrieved August 11, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  3. "Ralph Head Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  4. "Ralph Head". Retrosheet. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  5. "The 1923 Season". Retrosheet. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  6. Jones, Robert E. "Scoring Every Inning". SABR. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  7. Harris, Bruce. "June 1, 1923: New York Giants score in every inning to blast Phillies, 22-8". SABR. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  8. "New York Giants 22, Philadelphia Phillies 8". Retrosheet. June 1, 1923. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  9. Pestana, Mark (2015). "October 6, 1923: Ernie Padgett's unassisted triple play". SABR. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  10. "Boston Braves 4, Philadelphia Phillies 1 (2)". Retrosheet. October 6, 1923. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  11. History of the Three Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Regiment of Infantry, Eighty-Second Division, American Expeditionary Forces, United States Army (PDF). Atlanta: Foote and Davies Co. 1920. p. 173. Retrieved August 11, 2020 – via rareflags.com.
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