Ernie Shore
Shore with the Boston Red Sox in 1915
Pitcher
Born: (1891-03-24)March 24, 1891
East Bend, North Carolina, U.S.
Died: September 24, 1980(1980-09-24) (aged 89)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 20, 1912, for the New York Giants
Last MLB appearance
August 22, 1920, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
Win–loss record65–43
Earned run average2.47
Strikeouts309
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Ernest Grady Shore (March 24, 1891 – September 24, 1980) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox during some of their best years in the 1910s.

Early life

He was born near East Bend, North Carolina.

Shore graduated from Guilford College in 1914 and continued to return to Guilford during baseball offseasons to serve as a math professor.[1]

Baseball career

Along with Babe Ruth, he was sold by the Baltimore Orioles to the Red Sox.

Shore's best year with the Red Sox was 1915, when he won 18, lost 8 and compiled a 1.64 earned run average. He was 3–1 in World Series action in 1915 and 1916, with a 1.82 earned run average in 34.2 innings pitched.

On June 23, 1917, against the Washington Senators, Ruth started the game, walking the first batter, Ray Morgan. As newspaper accounts of the time relate, the short-fused Ruth then engaged in a heated argument with apparently equally short-fused home plate umpire Brick Owens. Owens tossed Ruth out of the game, and the even more enraged Ruth then slugged the umpire a glancing blow before being escorted off the field by a policeman; the catcher, Pinch Thomas, was also ejected. Shore was brought in to pitch, coming in with very few warmup pitches. With a new pitcher and catcher, runner Morgan tried to steal and was thrown out, after which Shore then proceeded to retire the remaining 26 Senators without allowing a baserunner, earning a 4–0 Red Sox win. For many years the game was listed in record books as a "perfect game", though now, officially, it is scored as a combined no-hitter, the first time this had happened in MLB history. Shore's nine innings of no-hit ball in a combined no-hitter is still an MLB record, with it being matched only by Francisco Cordova (who started his game) on July 12, 1997.[2] Following the game, Ruth paid a $100 fine, was suspended for ten games, and issued a public apology for his behavior.

He missed the 1918 Red Sox World Championship season, having enlisted in the military in that war year. After that season, Shore was sold to the New York Yankees by Red Sox owner Harry Frazee, where he closed out his career in 1920.

Later life

Shore was sheriff of Forsyth County, North Carolina for many years, and led the 1950s effort to build a minor league baseball park in Winston-Salem, a park that was ultimately named for him and is the home of the Wake Forest University baseball team.

Shore was married. His wife, Lucille taught fourth grade at Summit School in the 1960s.

He died on September 24, 1980, aged 89, the last surviving member of the 1915 and 1916 World Champion Boston Red Sox.

References

  1. ↑ Cox, Joe (1 February 2017). Almost Perfect: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching's Holy Grail. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4930-1951-9. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Looking at MLB's 18 combined no-hitters". MLB.com.
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