Bernie Boland
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...
for the 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...
(1915–20) and St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
(1921). Boland was a reliable pitcher for five years before suffering a broken arm. Using his sharp breaking curve, Boland once struck out 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...
three times in one game.
Born in Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Boland made his major league debut in 1915 with the 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...
. Boland was 13-7 with a 3.11 ERA in his rookie season and came within one batter of throwing a no hitter. On August 16, 1915, Boland retired the first 26 Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
batters he faced, only to give up a hit to Ben Paschal
Ben Paschal
Benjamin Edwin "Ben" Paschal was an American baseball outfielder who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929, mostly for the New York Yankees...
. Paschal's hit off Boland was his only hit of the 1915 season. Boland and the Tigers went on to win the game 3-1. The Tigers won 100 games but finished second in the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
in 1915, finishing 2½ games behind 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"...
.
In 1916, Boland had another good year. His .769 win percentage (10 wins, 3 losses) was the best in the American League.
The 1917 season may have been Boland's best. Boland started 28 games for the Tigers, had 13 complete games, 3 shutouts, and went 16-11 on the season with a 2.68 ERA.
Boland broke his arm in 1919 and was never the same. In 1920, Boland was 0-2 in only 4 games. The 1921 season was Boland's last, as he went 1-4 for the St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
. Boland finished his career with a record of 68-53 and a 3.25 ERA.
Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
was Boland's teammate for six years with the Tigers. According to some accounts from players and family, Boland and Cobb were often at odds, as they came from different background and carried very different beliefs.
In 1926, Boland returned to the news for comments he made concerning a scandal involving allegations of gambling and/or game fixing against Ty Cobb. Boland, then a paving contractor in Detroit, was the Tigers pitcher in a 1919 game against Cleveland that Cobb had reportedly agreed to fix. In December 1926, Boland was interviewed by the Detroit News and denied having anything to do with fixing the game. However, Boland surprised the public by acknowledging that there were a lot of "friendship games" at the end of a season. Boland went on to say: "The way I figure it, about one in every 300 games is crooked, and those at the tail end of the season." Boland said he was glad that "some of them are getting justice at last." (Al Stump, "Cobb: The Life and Times of the Meanest Man Who Ever Played Baseball" (1994), pp. 373–374.)
Bernie Boland died in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, on September 12, 1973.