Chick Fraser

Charles Carrolton Fraser (August 26, 1873 – May 8, 1940) was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched for numerous teams between 1896 and 1909. He ranks second all time among major-league pitchers in the category of hit batsmen, with 219. He lost 20 games five times, but he threw a no-hitter in 1903 and played on World Series championship teams for two years.

Chick Fraser
Pitcher
Born: (1873-08-26)August 26, 1873
Chicago, Illinois
Died: May 8, 1940(1940-05-08) (aged 66)
Wendell, Idaho
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 19, 1896, for the Louisville Colonels
Last MLB appearance
May 3, 1909, for the Chicago Cubs
MLB statistics
Win–loss record175–212
Earned run average3.67
Strikeouts1,098
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Career

Fraser made his major-league debut with the Louisville Colonels on April 19, 1896. He often struggled with control. In his rookie season, he finished with a 12–27 record and he led the league in both bases on balls and wild pitches. In 1897, he went 15–19 and led the league in wild pitches again. He was sold to the Cleveland Spiders late in the 1898 season. He pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies for two seasons and then went to the Philadelphia Athletics for the 1901 season.[1]

While a member of the Philadelphia Phillies for a second time between 1902 and 1904, Fraser threw a no-hitter on September 18, 1903. The Phillies committed four errors in that game, but they beat the Chicago Cubs 10–0.[2] Fraser was a member of the 1907 and 1908 Chicago Cubs teams that won the World Series.

He appeared in his final game on May 3, 1909. In an era in which complete games were the rule, Fraser had large numbers of decisions in each season. He lost 20 or more games five times in the major leagues, but in each of those seasons there were at least two major-league pitchers with more losses. Since Fraser's retirement, he has been in second place among all major-league pitchers in hit batsmen.[1]

Personal life

Before the 1897 season, Fraser married Mina Gray; she was the daughter of a successful glassmaker in Chicago. Mina Gray's sister, Annette Gray, had been a bridesmaid in the wedding. Baseball player and manager Fred Clarke fell in love with Annette Gray and they later married.[3][4] Mina Gray died in 1937.[5]

Later life

Late in his life, Fraser ran an alfalfa farm, was a minor-league manager, and scouted for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. Fraser died in 1940 and Annette was at his bedside at the time. He had been suffering from an infection that had required the amputation of one of his legs.[5][6]

See also

References
  1. "Chick Fraser Stats". baseball-reference.com. sports-reference.com. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  2. Stark, Jayson (July 3, 1990). "Not the no-hitter Hawkins had dreamed of". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 55.
  3. Waldo, Ronald T. (2010). Fred Clarke: A Biography of the Baseball Hall of Fame Player-Manager. McFarland. pp. 29–30. ISBN 9780786460168.
  4. Lynch, Mike. "Chick Fraser". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  5. "Fraser's obit in The Sporting News". TheDeadballEra.com. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  6. "Fraser Seriously Ill After Amputation". The Pittsburgh Press. May 3, 1940. p. 46. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
Preceded by
Nixey Callahan		 No-hitter pitcher
September 18, 1903		 Succeeded by
Cy Young
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