Rube Marquard
| Birthdate | 10/9/1886 |
| Death Date | 6/1/1980 |
| Debut Year | 1908 |
| Year of Induction | 1971 |
| Teams | Braves, Dodgers, Giants, Reds |
| Position | Pitcher |
From 1911-1913 Rube Marquard totaled 73 victories to lead the New York Giants to three consecutive National League championships.
Leave a commentIn the collection:
Rube Marquard won 19 consecutive games to open the 1912 season
Rube Marquard won 19 consecutive games to open the 1912 season
A three-time 20-game winner and five-time National League champion, Rube Marquard made quite an impression over the course of his 18-year career.
From 1911-1913, Marquard was simply dominant. The pitcher averaged 24 wins per season in that span, going 73-28 with a 2.52 ERA.
In ’11 Marquard tallied 24 victories against just 7 losses. The left-hander led the league in strikeouts and placed fourth in ERA. Marquard began the next season with 19 straight wins en route to a career-high 26 victories. In 1913 he again topped the 20-win plateau and placed third among NL pitcher in strikeouts and 8th in ERA.
Each of the three seasons saw Marquard’s Giants reign as National League champs.
Marquard’s overall record stands at 201-177 with a 3.08 ERA and a 32.4 WAR.
In the collection is a letter from Rube Marquard to Larry Ritter, author of the iconic The Glory of Their Times. The book relies on interviews from aging stars from the turn of the century and the ensuing decade. Marquard has a chapter all to himself.
"The Glory of Their Times" renewed interest in Marquard and ultimately got him into the Hall
"The Glory of Their Times" renewed interest in Marquard and ultimately got him into the Hall
Rube Marquard appeared on the writers’ ballot 13 times and never received more than 13.9% of the vote. The knock on his career is that he had just three Hall-worthy seasons. Outside of his terrific run from 1911-1913, Marquard’s record was 21 games below .500 at 128-149.
By the 1960s, Marquard was largely forgotten.
When Tigers great Ty Cobb passed away in 1961, author Larry Ritter realized players from the early 20th century were now old men. For the next five years Ritter crisscrossed the United States, logging more than 75,000 miles to interview the players of yesteryear.
His work is written in first-person with the players telling their stories in their own words. When Ritter’s book was published, it renewed interest in Marquard and his career. In 1971 the Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame.
Shown here is a bookmark from The Glory of Their Times neatly signed by Ritter. The author’s work put a spotlight on Marquard’s career and got him elected to Cooperstown.
Just finished reading about Rube in the book “The Glory of Their Times”. He was an interesting character! Would love to see a guy like that in the game today.