Rixey, Eppa
Baseball
b. May 3, 1891, Culpeper, VA
d. Feb. 28, 1963
When he retired after the 1933 season, Rixey had won more games than any other left-handed pitcher in history. But he was virtually forgotten until 1959, when his record was broken by Warren Spahn. Spahn's accomplishment revived memories of Rixey, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame four years later.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Rixey entered the major leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1912. He had just one good season in eight years with Philadelphia, compiling a 22-10 record in 1916, and he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 1920.
Rixey led the league in victories with a 25-13 record and in innings pitched with 313 1/3 in 1922. After a 20-15 record in 1923, he had a league-leading 4 shutouts the following season, though he was only 15-14.
His last 20-win season was 1925, when he was 21-11, but Rixey had three more winning years, going 14-8 in 1926, 12-10 in 1927, and 19-18 in 1928. After a 10-13 record in 1928, he was used less frequently, and he appeared in only 16 games in 1933, when he was 6-3. He retired after that season.
Despite his size, Rixey didn't have a good fast ball and liked to outsmart hitters. He once said he couldn't understand why hitters always looked for the fast ball when they were ahead on the count, and were always surprised when they got a different pitch--as they usually did from him.
In 21 seasons, Rixey had a 266-251 record with mediocre teams, recording 37 shutouts and a 3.15 ERA. He struck out 1,350 hitters and walked 2,082 in 4,494 2/3 innings.