Rube Marquard

Baseball Player

• Born: October 9, 1889
• Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
• Died: June 1, 1980
• Place of death: Baltimore, Maryland

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Richard William Marquard was born on October 9, 1889, in Cleveland, Ohio. Ever since he was a child, all that he thought about was baseball. He was always tall for his age, so he generally played ball with a group of older boys. The shortest of Richard’s four siblings was his sister. She grew to be 6 feet 2 inches tall. Richard finally stopped growing at 6 feet 3 inches.

In his early teens, Richard was a batboy for Cleveland of the American League. At the time, Cleveland was known as the Blues or Bronchos, and later as the Naps; the team later became the Indians. Working beside heroes such as Nap Lajoie, Elmer Flick, and Addie Joss, Richard decided that he was going to be a professional baseball player.

The Road to Excellence

Richard’s father, chief engineer of Cleveland, was against his son’s becoming a ballplayer. He felt that the only way Richard could get a good job was to finish high school and then go to college. Richard argued that he wanted to be a ballplayer and that he could earn good money doing so, but his father did not believe him.

In the summer of 1906, Richard gained a tryout with the minor-league baseball club in Waterloo, Iowa. The club was in desperate need of a left-handed pitcher, so Waterloo’s catcher, Howard Wakefield, suggested that his friend Richard Marquard be given a try. Richard, knowing that his father would never loan him money for the long trip, hitchhiked his way from Cleveland to Waterloo. Although he pitched well for Waterloo and even won a game, Richard was not offered a contract. Disappointed, he returned to Cleveland.

The next summer, Richard got a job with a local ice-cream company. On Sundays, he was the star pitcher for the company’s semiprofessional baseball team. The Cleveland Naps were impressed with Richard’s pitching and offered him $100 a month to sign with their organization, but Richard turned them down. He was already making that much money with the ice-cream company and wanted more. Eventually, he signed for $200 a month with the Indianapolis Indians of the minor-league American Association.

Richard told his father about his new job as a professional baseball player. His father told Richard not to come back home; he never wanted to see his son again. Richard vowed to make his father proud of him.

The Emerging Champion

Indianapolis optioned Richard to Canton, Ohio, of the Central League. His 1907 season with Canton was excellent. He led the league with twenty-three wins and held opposing batters to a cumulative batting average of .119.

The next year, Richard played for Indianapolis and led the Indians to the AA pennant. An Indianapolis newspaper noted that his pitching resembled that of star major leaguer Rube Waddell. From then on, Richard was known as “Rube.”

In 1908, Rube led the AA with 28 wins and 250 strikeouts. That July, it was announced that the National League New York Giants had purchased Rube from Indianapolis for $11,000. At the time, that was the greatest amount of money ever paid for a minor-league baseball player.

Rube finished the AA season with the Indians and then went to New York. The Giants were in the middle of one of the tightest pennant races of all time. Every game was important and manager John McGraw was wary of starting the rookie pitcher. McGraw felt that if Rube lost his first game, he might easily lose his confidence and not be effective for a long time afterward. Nevertheless, pressured by Giants owner John Brush, McGraw started the highly touted Rube against Cincinnati on September 25. Rube was hit hard and lasted only 5 innings, giving up five runs and earning the loss. He did not pitch again that season.

Over the next two years, Rube fulfilled McGraw’s prophecy by struggling to a 9-17 record with the Giants. With the aid of pitching coach Wilbert Robinson, Rube regained his confidence and bounced back in 1911 with a record of 24-7 and a league-leading 237 strikeouts.

The following year, Rube won his first nineteen decisions, tying the record for most consecutive games won in a season set by Tim Keefe in 1888. Under today’s scoring rules, Rube actually would be credited with twenty consecutive wins. Rube finished the 1912 season leading the league in victories with twenty-six.

Rube’s final twenty-win season came in 1913, when he finished at 23-10. Over the previous three years, he had a cumulative record of 73-28 and his earned run average was consistently around 2.50.

During these years, Rube starred in vaudeville during the off-seasons. In 1913, he married actress Blossom Seeley, although their conflicting careers eventually brought about a divorce in 1920. Rube remarried twice.

Continuing the Story

In 1914, Rube had an off-year. Struggling again the following year, he was sold to the National League (NL) Brooklyn Dodgers, managed by Rube’s former pitching coach, Wilbert Robinson. Ironically, Rube’s best game in 1914 was against the Dodgers on April 15, when he pitched a no-hitter.

In 1916, Rube helped the Dodgers win their first pennant since 1890. Four years later, coming back from a broken leg the previous season, Rube again pitched on a pennant winner in Brooklyn. Although Rube pitched for five NL champion teams, he was never on a World Series winner. Rube was traded to the NL Cincinnati Reds for 1921 and won seventeen games. He was traded again the following winter, and pitched four years with the Boston Braves.

Rube followed his major-league career with ten years of playing, managing, coaching, and even umpiring in the minor leagues. At forty-three years of age, Rube retired from baseball for good. He settled in Baltimore and worked at mutuel windows at nearby racetracks. On June 1, 1980, Rube died of cancer.

Summary

The popular Rube Marquard never drank alcohol or smoked. Although he often experienced times when his performance was mediocre, he always seemed to bounce back with periods of exceptional pitching. Once, after pitching a game for Brooklyn, Rube was told that his father had come from Cleveland to see him. Rube was sure that there was some mistake. “My father wouldn’t go across the street to see me,” he said. However, it was his father, and he was proud of his son after all.

Bibliography

Hynd, Noel. Marquard and Seeley. Hyannis, Mass.: Parnassus Imprints, 1996.

Mansch, Larry D. Rube Marquard: The Life and Times of a Baseball Hall of Famer. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1998.

Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It. New York: Perennial Currents, 2002.