Grimes, Burleigh A.
Baseball
b. Aug. 18, 1893, Emerald, WI
d. Dec. 6, 1985
The last major league pitcher to throw the spitball legally, the right-handed Grimes joined the NL's Pittsburgh Pirates in 1916 and spent parts of two seasons there before being traded to the Brooklyn Robins in 1918.
Grimes led the league in winning percentage at .676 on a 23-11 record in 1920, and he led in victories with a 22-13 mark and in strikeouts with 136 the following season. Brooklyn traded him to the New York Giants in 1927 and after one season there, he went back to Pittsburgh.
His best year was 1928, when he led in victories with a 25-14 record, complete games with 28, shutouts with 4, and innings pitched with 330 2/3. He spent the 1930 season with the Boston Braves and St. Louis Cardinals, went to the Chicago Cubs in 1932, returned to the Cardinals during the 1933 season, and had a combined 4-5 record with the Cardinals, Pittsburgh, and the New York Yankees in 1934 before retiring.
When the spitball and other such pitches were made illegal in 1920, exceptions were made for 17 established major-leaguers who used the pitch extensively. Grimes was unusual in that he held the ball tightly, and he may have been the first to use slippery elm.
Known as "Old Stubblebeard" because he never shaved on a day he was pitching, managed extensively in the minor leagues and also scouted for major league teams until leaving baseball in 1971. He managed the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1937 and 1938.
Grimes had a 270-212 record, with 35 shutouts and a 3.53 ERA, in 19 seasons. He struck out 1,512 hitters and walked 1,295 in 4179 2/3 innings.