Ernie Shore
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.
| Ernie Shore | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Ernie Shore (left) with Grover Cleveland Alexander during the 1915 World Series. | |||
| Pitcher | |||
| Born: March 24, 1891 East Bend, North Carolina | |||
| Died: September 24, 1980 (aged 89) Winston-Salem, North Carolina | |||
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| 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 record | 65–43 | ||
| Earned run average | 2.47 | ||
| Strikeouts | 309 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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He was born near East Bend, North Carolina. Shore graduated from Guilford College in 1913. 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. He missed the 1918 Red Sox World Championship season, having enlisted in the military in that war year.
His most famous game occurred on June 23, 1917, against the Washington Senators in the first game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park. George Herman "Babe" 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. Following the game, Ruth paid a $100 fine, was suspended for ten games, and issued a public apology for his behavior.
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.
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.
He died on September 24, 1980, aged 89, the last surviving member of the 1915 and 1916 World Champion Boston Red Sox.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Box score of Ernie Shore's combined no-hitter with Babe Ruth
- Interview with Ernie Shore (sound recording) by Dr. Eugene Murdock on Mar. 13, 1978, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (1 hr., 10 min. + additional comments by Dr. Murdock): Part 1 of 2, Park 2 of 2. Available on Cleveland Public Library's Digital Gallery.
- Ernie Shore at Find a Grave
| Preceded by Bob Groom |
No-hit game June 23, 1917 w/Babe Ruth |
Succeeded by Dutch Leonard |