Highlighted Year: Al Orth, 1906

Pitcher, New York Highlanders

Age:  34 (Sept. 5)

3^rd season with Highlanders (2^nd complete)

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 200 

Prior to 1906:

Born in Missouri and raised in Danville, Indiana, Orth pitched for DePauw University and then went on to play professionally for the Lynchburg Hill Climbers of the Virginia League in 1895 where he posted a 24-7 record with a 2.51 ERA and 130 strikeouts over 269 innings pitched. The Hill Climbers sold his contract to the Philadelphia Phillies for $1000. He pitched in 11 games (10 of them starts) in the remainder of the 1895 NL season with the Phillies and had an 8-1 tally and 3.89 ERA with 25 strikeouts over 88 innings. With the eighth place Phillies in 1896, his record was 15-10 with a 4.41 ERA, 19 complete games, and 23 strikeouts over 196 innings. With a deceptively easy delivery and excellent control, Orth’s pitches appeared to be slow and hittable, but his ability to change speeds managed to get hitters out with regularity. He was called “the Curveless Wonder” due to his lack of a breaking pitch and was a very good hitting pitcher who was occasionally used in the outfield between starts to keep his bat in the lineup. The Phillies remained a losing team again in 1897 and Orth’s record slipped to 14-19 and a 4.62 ERA with 64 strikeouts over 282.1 innings. The club improved to register a winning record in 1898 and Orth went 15-13 with a 3.02 ERA and 52 strikeouts with 53 walks over 250 innings. Along the way he pitched and won both games in a doubleheader against Brooklyn. In 1899 the Phillies finished in third place and Orth produced a 14-3 tally and 2.49 ERA with a mere 35 strikeouts and 19 walks across 144.2 innings. In 1900 he went 14-14 with a 3.78 ERA and 68 strikeouts over 262 innings. Orth posted a 20-12 tally in 1901 along with a 2.27 ERA and led the league by averaging 1.0 walks per nine innings with his total of 32 over 281.2 innings. He also tied for the NL lead in shutouts with 6. In the offseason he jumped to the new American League and signed with the Washington Senators. He had a disappointing season with Washington in 1902, producing a 19-18 record with a 3.97 ERA and 76 strikeouts over 324 innings pitched. He also led the league by surrendering 18 home runs, a huge number by “Dead Ball Era” standards. He still kept his walks to a minimum by averaging 1.1 bases on balls per nine innings with his total of 40. In 1903 Orth compiled a 10-22 tally and 4.34 ERA with 30 complete games and 88 strikeouts over 279.2 innings while walking 88 batters. Off to a 3-4 start in 1904, he was traded to the Highlanders in July and went a solid 11-6 the rest of the way for a combined record of 14-10 with a 3.41 ERA, 18 complete games, 70 strikeouts and 34 walks over 211.1 innings. He also learned to throw a spitball (a legal pitch at the time) and proved to be adept at using it, since it tended to break sideways rather than down. A contending team in 1904, the Highlanders dropped to sixth in 1905 but Orth, relying on his new pitch more, had a solid 18-16 tally with a 2.86 ERA, 26 complete games, 6 shutouts, and 121 strikeouts over 305.1 innings.  

1906 Season Summary

Appeared in 47 games

P – 45, RF – 1, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 45 [2]

Games Started – 39 [3]

Complete Games – 36 [1]

Wins – 27 [1]

Losses – 17 [7, tied with four others]

PCT - .614 [8]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 3 [16, tied with five others]

Innings Pitched – 338.2 [1]

Hits – 317 [1]

Runs – 115 [8]

Earned Runs – 88 [7]

Home Runs – 2

Bases on Balls – 66 [15]

Strikeouts – 133 [9]

ERA – 2.34 [14]

Hit Batters – 1

Balks – 1 [1, tied with ten others]

Wild Pitches – 7 [8, tied with Jack Chesbro]

League-leading complete games were +1 ahead of runner-up George Mullin

League-leading wins were +4 ahead of runner-up Jack Chesbro

League-leading innings pitched were +5 ahead of runner-up Otto Hess

League-leading hits allowed were +2 ahead of runner-up George Mullin

Midseason Snapshot: 13-8, ERA – N/A, SO – 71 in 160.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 9 (in 9 IP) at Bos. Americans 9/4

10+ strikeout games – 0

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 8 IP) at Chi. White Sox 6/10

Batting

PA – 144, AB – 135, R – 12, H – 37, 2B – 2, 3B – 2, HR – 1, RBI – 17, BB – 6, SO – 8, SB – 2, CS – N/A, AVG - .274, GDP – N/A, HBP – 0, SH – 3, SF – N/A

Fielding

Chances – 122

Put Outs – 13

Assists – 101

Errors – 8

DP – 1

Pct. - .934

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The Highlanders went 90-61 to finish second in the AL, 3 games behind the pennant-winning Chicago White Sox. The Highlanders got off to a 3-0 start before going 2-8 for the remainder of April to drop into the league cellar. An 18-win May in which Orth went 6-1 pulled them into contention. Entering August at 54-34 and 1.5 games out of first, by mid-month they were locked in a tight battle with the White Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Naps, but they slumped, most notably in losing four straight games at home to the White Sox while suffering from several key defensive lapses. A 15-game winning streak carried the club into September and that 20-win month’s surge included winning three of four games in a series in Chicago which could not keep them from ultimately losing out to the White Sox.

Aftermath of 1906:

The Highlanders dropped to 70-78 in 1907 and Orth posted a 14-21 record to lead the league in losses a year after topping the circuit in wins. His ERA was a respectable 2.61 and he pitched 21 complete games with 78 strikeouts over 248.2 innings. Orth was 2-13 with a 3.42 ERA in 1908 when the Highlanders released him in August. Returning to his home in Lynchburg, Virginia he became a part-owner and player/manager for the team. He returned to the Highlanders in 1909 as a second baseman and pinch-hitter who made only one ineffectual pitching appearance. Making 40 plate appearances he batted .265 with a .359 OBP in his final major league season. For his major league career Orth compiled a 204-189 record and 3.37 ERA with 324 complete games, 31 shutouts, 6 saves, and 948 strikeouts over 3354.2 innings. He issued only 661 walks to average 1.8 per nine innings. With the Highlanders he went 72-73 with a 2.72 ERA, 102 complete games, 14 shutouts, and 402 strikeouts over 1172.2 innings. He walked 230 batters for an average of 1.8 per nine innings. The good-hitting pitcher batted .273 with 61 doubles, 30 triples, 12 home runs, 184 RBIs, and a .289 on-base percentage. Following his playing career, he was a National League umpire for several seasons and was a coach at Washington & Lee University and VMI. He also served as a YMCA athletic director for troops stationed in France during World War I. Orth died in 1948 at the age of 76.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.