John Mahlon Ogden was a Major League Baseball

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...

. He played five seasons in the majors, between and , for the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

, New York Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

, 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...

.

Ogden attended Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....

, where he played baseball and was a member of Phi Psi. His brother, Warren "Curly" Ogden

Curly Ogden

Warren Harvey "Curly" Ogden , was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1922-1926. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators...

, also played for Swarthmore and went on to play in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

 and the Washington Senators

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

, also as a pitcher.

Ogden was signed out of college by the Giants in 1918, but pitched just five games in relief before being sent to the minor league

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 Newark Bears

Newark Bears

The Newark Bears are an American professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 1999 season, the Bears have played their home games at Bears &...

 of the International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

. In January 1919, he was traded along with four other players—including future Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt

Waite Hoyt

Waite Charles Hoyt was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, one of the dominant pitchers of the 1920s, and the winningest pitcher for the New York Yankees during that decade...

 -- to the Rochester Hustlers for catcher Earl Smith

Earl Smith (catcher)

Earl Sutton Smith , was a professional baseball player who played catcher in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Giants, Boston Braves, and St. Louis Cardinals.-External links:...

.

After spending one season with Rochester, Ogden joined the Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles (minor league)

The city of Baltimore, Maryland has been home to two minor league baseball teams called the Baltimore Orioles.-Name history:"Orioles" is a traditional name for baseball clubs in Baltimore . It was used by major league teams from 1882 through 1899 in the American Association/National League and by...

, for whom he was a rotation mainstay for eight seasons, leading the IL in wins four times. He finally returned to the majors in 1928, ten years after his debut, with the Browns. He pitched two seasons in St. Louis, then missed the entire season before pitching two more seasons for the Reds. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 in , playing briefly for their Rochester Red Wings

Rochester Red Wings

The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...

before returning to the Orioles, finishing his playing career there in .

In 1952, Ogden was elected to the International League Hall of Fame.

External links