Slim Love
Encyclopedia
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
who played 6 seasons in the Major Leagues for the Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
(1913), the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
(1916-1918), and Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
(1919-1920). Born in Love, Mississippi, Slim's nickname arose from his large, lean frame, at 6' 7" and 195 pounds.
Love began his career in 1913 with the Washington Senators. He played in 5 games for the Senators and had a 1-0 record. Love did not play in the Major Leagues again until 1916, when he pitched in 20 games for the New York Yankees. Love spent three seasons with the Yankees for a record of 21-17. Slim's best year was 1918 when he had a 13-12 record for the Yankees (including 13 complete games) and was among the American League leaders in multiple pitching categories. In 1918, he struck out an average of 3.74 batters for every nine innings pitched, 5th best in the American League. His total of 95 strikeouts was 7th best in the League. While among the leaders in strikeouts in 1918, he was also No. 1 in the American League in bases on balls allowed with 116, No. 3 in hit batsmen with 10, and No. 5 in earned runs allowed with 78.
On December 18, 1918, the Yankees traded Slim Love to the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
with 3 other players for Ernie Shore
Ernie Shore
Ernest Grady Shore was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox during some of their best years in the 1910s....
and Duffy Lewis
Duffy Lewis
George Edward "Duffy" Lewis , born in San Francisco, California, was a left fielder and left-handed batter who played Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees and Washington Senators...
. Slim never played a game for the Red Sox, as he was traded with Chick Shorten
Chick Shorten
Charles Henry "Chick" Shorten , born and died in Scranton, Pennsylvania.-Playing career:Shorten played eight seasons of Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox , Detroit Tigers , St. Louis Browns , and Cincinnati Reds . He played in 527 games, including 352 as an outfielder and the rest as a...
and Eddie Ainsmith
Eddie Ainsmith
Edward Wilbur Ainsmith , nicknamed "Dorf," was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played fifteen seasons with the Washington Senators , Detroit Tigers , St. Louis Cardinals , Brooklyn Robins , and New York Giants . Born in Concord, MA, he batted and threw right-handed...
to the Detroit Tigers in January 1919 for Ossie Vitt
Ossie Vitt
Oscar Joseph "Ossie" Vitt , was a Major League Baseball third baseman in the American League for the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox . Vitt later became manager of the Cleveland Indians , where he sometimes clashed with his players.-Playing career:Ossie Vitt was a product of the sandlots of...
.
Pitching for the Detroit Tigers in 1919, Slim Love had a 6-4 win-loss record in 22 games with a 3.01 earned run average. On August 24, 1919, Slim gave Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
his 42nd career home run in Detroit, 6th inning.
Over six seasons, Slim Love won 28 games and lost 21 with a career earned run average of 3.04.
After his baseball career was over, Love worked as a steamfitter in a Navy Yard. Love died in 1942 at age 52 in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
when he was hit by an automobile while on a walk.
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