Pat Caraway

Cecil Bradford Patrick Caraway

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut April 19, 1930
• Final Game July 17, 1932
• Born September 26, 1905 in Erath County, TX USA
• Died June 9, 1974 in El Paso, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

“[Caraway has] one of the most elaborate, complete and amusing windups ever seen in the majors... The lanky human slingshot twists himself into an intricate knot before suddenly hurling the ball with about all the variations of speed known to the game.” - Hardin Burnley, Brainard [MN] Daily Dispatch, August 5, 1931

Pat Caraway was the last of a dying/extinct breed as one of the only submarine knuckleball pitchers in MLB history. He finished his career 22-40 in the majors and 39-46 in the minors, with one big year in each stage of the game.

Caraway debuted with the 1927 Rock Island Islanders, going 7-8. The next year, he was 9-10 for the Amarillo Texans. In 1929, he made his mark. With the Topeka Jayhawks, he had a 19-17 record, leading the Western League with 159 strikeouts (28 better than the runner up) and 305 innings pitched while finishing fifth in losses and tying for fourth in wins.

The big Texan made a prominent debut with the Chicago White Sox in April 1930. In his rookie season, he demonstrated a potential that he had trouble living up to in subsequent seasons. He posted a 3.86 ERA (9th in the American League), 1.298 WHIP (3rd) and won 10 games. Additionally, the best individual pitching performance in the AL that year was Caraway's. On August 29th, he hurled a 3-hit, 13-inning shutout against the Cleveland Indians, knocking in the go-ahead run with a 13th inning double and ultimately winning 3-0. No other pitcher in 1930 (an extreme hitter's year) hurled an extra inning shutout. Also impressive, on May 26th, he struck out the notoriously difficult to fan Joe Sewell twice; Sewell would go down on strikes only one other time that year.

Caraway's sophomore season of 1931 was a real sophomore slump, he finished 10-24 with a 6.22 ERA. Control seemed to be his bugaboo as he walked 101 batters in 220 innings. The ensuing season, 1932, was Caraway's last as a big leaguer, pitching his final game on July 17th and finishing the season at a 2-7 record with a 6.82 ERA. Pat returned to the minors with the Buffalo Bisons, going 2-5 with a 3.89 ERA in 1932. In 1933, he ran into trouble with Buffalo, posting an 0-5, 8.40 record in 11 outings and 15 innings. He concluded his career in the 1934 Texas League with a 2-1 record split between the Dallas Steers and San Antonio Missions.

Caraway passed away in 1974 in El Paso, Texas.

Sources include Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database, The International League: Year-by-Year Statistics by Marshall Wright and The Western League by W.C. Madden

Notable Achievements

• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (1931)

Related Sites

• Pat Caraway at the SABR Bio Project