George Hemming

George Earl Hemming
(Old Wax Figger)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut April 21, 1890
• Final Game June 12, 1897
• Born December 15, 1868 in Carrollton, OH USA
• Died June 3, 1930 in Springfield, MA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

George Hemming pitched eight years in the big leagues, beginning in the Players League at age 21 in 1890. In his best year, he went 20-13 for the Baltimore Orioles (NL) in 1895, a season in which they won the National League pennant. The next year, in 1896, he was 15-6 as the Orioles again won the pennant.

The Players League only lasted one year, and after that George spent the rest of his major league career in the National League. He was with four teams, starting with the Brooklyn Grooms in 1891, for whom he was 8-15. He pitched one game for the Cincinnati Reds in 1892 before getting released and picked up by the Louisville Colonels, who gave him the ball for four games before releasing him as well. In spite of that, he came back to pitch for Louisville in 1893, going 18-17 for a team that finished well under .500.

George pitched most of 1894 for Louisville before getting traded at the end of August to the Orioles, for whom he went 4-0 as they won the pennant. He then spent 1895 and 1896 with the Orioles, as noted above, posting winning records, before finishing his major league career back with Louisville, for whom he pitched 9 games in 1897. Thereafter he was in the minors through 1902.

Hemming could hit a bit. In the majors, his batting line was .223/.260/.330, which wasn't terrible for a pitcher. In 1894 he hit 8 triples in 42 games. His hitting might explain why he occasionally played in the field - six games in right field, three at first base and one in left field during his big league career, something that was relatively common at the time.

In addition to his playing career, George Hemming umpired two National League games, in 1895 and 1896.

" Frank Ward had now reached base safely in 17 consecutive plate appearances in a stretch spanning three games, two cities, and even two different teams. He was finally stopped by Louisville's George Hemming in the first inning of the June 20 game vs. Louisville." - from an article mentioning Hemming in 1893 stopping a famous hitting streak [1]

Notable Achievements

• PL Saves Leader (1890)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1895)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 4 (1893-1896)
• 300 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1893 & 1894)