Joseph Benjamin Shaute was a 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...

 in 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...

. He pitched from 1922 to 1934, and during his 13-year career, he played primarily for the 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...

. He attended Juniata College

Juniata College

Juniata College is a private liberal arts college located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. It is named after the Juniata River — one of the principal tributaries of the Susquehanna River. In 1876 it became the first college founded by the Church of the Brethren and has been co-educational since...

 and Mansfield University of Pennsylvania

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is one of the fourteen state universities that are part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The University is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher...

.

He made his major league debut in September 1922, and threw his first pitch to legendary swatter 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...

. Baseball historian William C. Kashatus noted that when Shaute came to the pitching mound, "the Indians were clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and bases loaded with Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

". Shaute gained notoriety when he struck out Ruth on four pitches to end the inning. In the following inning, he faced another powerful hitter, Bob Meusel

Bob Meusel

Robert William "Bob" Meusel was an American baseball left and right fielder who played in Major League Baseball for eleven seasons from 1920 through 1930, all but the last for the New York Yankees...

, who "swung so hard on Shaute's first offering that he whirled completely around and fell to the ground". The pitcher next struck out Yankee catcher Freddie Hoffman

Freddie Hoffman

Freddie Hoffman a native of River Edge, New Jersey, has ridden his bicycle to the moon and back. More accurately, he has ridden the equivalent of more than two round-trips to the moon and hasn't stopped. He is known among bicyclists as "Million-Mile Freddie." To date he has bicycled more than 1.4...

. Kashatus observed that Shaute "continued to dominate Ruth for the next three years".

The situation changed in 1927, however, when Ruth hit 60 home runs, setting a major league record that stood for more than seven decades. Ruth hit three of those home runs—numbers 30, 40, and 52—off of Shaute. Nevertheless, during his 13-season career, Shaute struck out Ruth on more than 30 occasions.

Shaute enjoyed his best season in 1924, "when he won 20 games for the lowly Indians who finished sixth that year".

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