Common Denominator: Hod Eller

"Threw a no-hitter, nearly had an emaculate inning, fanned six straight batters in one World Series contest."

Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Hod Eller had a very short career, and is seldom remembered today, except when baseball fans talks about the 1919 World Series. Eller twice beat the Chicago White Sox in that Fall Classic, which saw eight members of the beaten team banished for life.

Eller himself had exactly 100 decisions in the regular season (60-40) and was good enough to win 19 of those in the '19 regular season. Eller used the "Shine ball" which meant he applied a foreign substance to the ball. This was forbiddon after the 1920 season. It should be noted, the "Spitball", which meant applying some throat moisturizer to the baseball, was permitted for some pitchers.

Still a teenager in 1913, Hod Eller was a pro baseball pitcher. His first year in organized professional baseball saw him go 15-10 for the Champaign Velvets of the Illinois-Missouri League ("D" level). The 18-year old allowed just 2.49 runs per nine.

The Velvets won the pennant that season, and Eller continued to pitch well in 1914. Eller added another seventeen wins to his name that year with Danville / Moline. The right-handed side-armer had advanced to "B" level with the Plowboys and posted an earned run average of just 2.25. His ERA may have climbed a bit the next season (1915) to 2.39, but so did his win total (19). He was too good for the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. When would major league baseball give him a call?

1916 was a setback for Hod. First, he went to spring training and worked out with the Chicago White Sox. Was Eller finally ready for the bigs. The White Sox didn't think so, and he did not make the team. His year ended on a bad note as, back with Moline, Eller had a disagreement over his contract home August. He left the team and played in the semipros the rest of the campaign.

But as frustrating as 1916 was, 1917 made up for it. Hod had caught the attention of the Cincinnati Reds with his efforts in the semis late in the '16 season. It was their manager, Christy Matthewson, who took notice in Hod Eller and this led to the righty being drafted by the big-league club in September. A contract was signed the next January

It was Eller's misfortune that his soon-to-be prized pitch had a limited shelf line. The American Associating had banned the shiner in 1917 and the big leagues were said to be about to. All Eller did was got 10-5 as a National League rookie with a fine 2.36 earned run average for Cincinnati. Hod proved to be durable, as his 21 complete games topped all hurlers in the Senior Circuit.

From everything I've read, this workload had nothing to do with the fact that Hod, whose given name was actually Horace, was out of organized baseball after the 1924 season. Perhaps, though, Eller ended up relying on his prized pitch too much.

But at this point, Hod was looking like a terrific pitcher. He'd learned the shiner in an August game. Plus, Eller was doing well no matter what Cincinnati asked of him. Relieve? The rookie started the season with sixteen straight appearances out of the Reds' bullpen, finishing thirteen of them. Sure, Hod Eller had some rough outings, but by his sixteenth appearance, his earned run average was very good, (2.97). He'd picked up his first save on June the ninth. And from there, it was time to start. Two days later, Hod went all nine, allowed just four hits, and beat Brooklyn, 3-2. On the nineteen of June, he started both games in a doubleheader vs. Chicago and split 'em.

The relief outings earlier in the season saw him have little impact on the fortunes of Cincinnati, but as a starter, Eller really took off. It was during the game vs. New York on August 21st that he'd not only discovered the shineball, but really wowed 'em. Back in the bullpen, fate came calling Hod's name in the last of the fourth. Starter Mike Regan could go no further than 3 2/3. The inning ended with the Giants up on the Reds 5-4. But from here, Eller had seen his advantage up close. The ball had become dirty. Deciding to do a little experimenting, Hod wiped just one side of the mud off...And kept the stuff on the other side.

The result was a 7-5 Cincinnati Reds' win. But more importantly, was Eller's performance. He went 5 1/3 innings, beat a future teammate in Slim Sallee 7-5, and was awesome in the ninth. The ball was doing some dancing. After giving up a hit to the leadoff batter (And with the tying run at the dish), Hod threw nothing but strikes from there. Three pitches later, Hod had a K. Three more pitches, another. Three more, game over. It had been a brilliant outing. Put in perspective, Regan and Sallee had combined for five strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings pitched. Eller, with his prized pitch doing amazing things, ended the day with six.

Well, Slim Sallee and his New York Giants went on to the World Series, where the Chicago White Sox beat 'em in six games. Did Eller feel like he should have been on Chicago? I'm not sure. But soon, Sallee and Eller would be on Cincinnati and quite a combo.

But not in 1918. Hod Eller would have to wait a year before the excellent Giants' pitcher was a Red. Hod won sixteen games in '18 and kept his earned run average at what it'd been the year before, 2.36. Cincinnati finished the year eight games above .500, but it was the Chicago Cubs that went to the Fall Classic. There, they lost to the Boston Red Sox.

Slim Sallee joined Cincinnati in 1919. Now, the Reds were in business. Sallee led the team with 21 victories and was second on the team in ERA (2.06). Second? Barely, believe it or not. Dutch Reuther topped everyone on the team with an earned run average of just 1.82. Dutch won nineteen games and led the National League in winning percentage, .760. He was pretty much a winner from then on until his 1927 retirement.

Eller won 19 games himself, posting an ERA of just 2.39. It was sort of easy to forget about Hod that year. Or maybe not. May 11th of that season saw him allow not one hit in beating the St. Louis Cardinals with a complete game. The no-no was a huge feather in Hod's cap. It was also the very first no-hitter at Redland Field. But the team seemed loaded with pitchers. Jimmy Ring only 10-9 but his earned run average was just 2.26. Ray Fisher was even better: 14-5 with an ERA of just 2.17!

So, in other words, this team had pitching. The Reds were on their way to the World Series. Opposing them in the 1919 October Classic were the Chicago White Sox. The Sox had some pretty good pitching, too. Ed Cicotte won 29 games. Claude "Lefty" Williams won 23. From there, though, the team had a bit of a handicap. Red Faber was hurt and would miss the entire Fall Classic. I'm not sure he would have pitched much, considering his 11-9 record with a 3.83 earned run average. Dickie Kerr was 13-7 with a 2.88 ERA.

The White Sox hitters were pretty good, too. The best was left fielder Shoeless Joe Jackson, who hit .351 that season. Eddie Collins always hit well in the Fall Classic, and had hit .319. Third basemen Buck Weaver and first basemen Chick Gandil nearly hit .300 themselves, while the forgotten man on the team was Nemo Leibold. But Leibold hit .302. Plus, off the bench were subs Fred McMullin (.294) and Eddie Murphy (.486 in just 27 games).

It was Cincinnati that took game one at home in a laugher, 9-1. The second contest, which was also played at Redland Field, was closer. The home team won it 4-2 despite getting outhit 10-4. At this point, though, it would seem unlikely that Hod Eller was going to get used at all in this World Series.

You see, the visitors had scored not a single run. Better still, game three was on the road, but Dickie Kerr would pitch. The series, it should be notes, was best-of-nine, but a win in the next game would pretty much put it out of reach of the American League team.

Ray Fisher went out and held Chicago to just seven hits and two earned runs over seven innings. Dolph Luque had a 1-2-3 bottom of the eight and fanned one. Kerr was better: A three-hit shutout!

Okay, so Jimmy Ring got a crucial road win in the important game four. He shutout the White Sox on just three hits (By Jackson, Gandil and Oscar "Happy" Felsch). The Reds got only five hits themselves off Eddie Cicotte, but came away with a 2-0 win.

Game five would also be paramount for Cincinnati. A win here, and game six would be back home with a chance to clinch. If not, the seventh contest was also at home.

Well, it was time for Hod Eller to shine. Lefty Williams gave up four hits over eight inning. Erskine Mayer relieved him and did not allow a hit in the ninth. The Reds though, got a run off Erskine, and four more off Lefty earlier. 

But how about Eller?

The White Sox went down 1-2-3 in the second frame. Hod fanned Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg and Ray Schalk in succession. The next inning, Eller would whiff his mound adversary, then Nemo Leibold and Eddie Collins in succession. Six strikeouts in a row. A World Series record (Equaled only twice since).

Hod Eller ended the game with a three-hitter of his own. A shutout. And nine K's. The White Sox, though, sort of shot themselves in the foot with a bad sixth inning. Eller himself got it all going with a leadoff double to the gap that neither Jackson nor Felsch could get to. Happy made a bad throw back to the infield and you had the pitcher ninety feet away from the dish. A single by Morrie Rath gave Hod all the offence he needed. A bunt and a walk put two on with one away. Felsch then couldn't get a clean hold on a deep drive to centre by Edd Roush . He did recover it, and fired home quickly enough that catcher Ray Schalk appeared to have gotten Heinie Groh after Rath had scored. The umpire called both runners safe to make it 3-0 for the home team. Pat Duncan flied to Jackson in left. Roush, who'd been credited with a triple on the previous play, tagged and headed to home. I've read two accounts of the play at the dish. Ray Schalk had been mad at the call on Groh and been ejected. So it was Byrd Lynn, catching for Chicago. Either the ball took a bad hop and / or Lynn didn't handle it right. The run scored in any event to make it a 4-0 game.

With the win, it appeared the Fall Classic was over and Hod Eller could rest for the winter. However, back home for game six, Cincinnati lost a heartbreaker, 5-4 in ten innings (Chicago overcame two errors by shortstop Swede Risberg and another by Happy Felsch that enabled Pat Duncan to make it to third in the bottom of the fifth). The home team been up 4-0 after four. In the next contest, it was Eddie Cicotte, posting a road win for the White Sox, who won 4-1. The Reds had fielded poorly in this contest, making four errors. Slim Sallee, who'd overcome ten hits allowed in game two, gave up nine in only 4 1/3 this time out. He'd struggled against the Chicago White Sox in the Fall Classic two years earlier as a member of the New York Giants, and it continued here. The teams would head back to Chicago for game six at Comisky Park.

So Eller got the ball. And by the time Chicago batted in the last of the first, it was 4-0 Cincinnati. Lefty Williams had retired the leadoff batter in the top of the first, but no one else. Early shower for Williams. The White Sox them put the first two men on. Actually, both Nemo Leibold and Shano Collins were in scoring positing. Hod had to bear down. He fanned Buck Weaver. Joe Jackson flied out behind third. The catch itself was a fine one by shortstop Larry Koft nearly in the stands, but the end result should have been the home team getting on the board.

Nemo Leibold, for reasons that have never been explained, held. This was crucial as it allowed Hod Eller (Who then fanned Happy Felsch on his second K of the frame and eleventh overall in the World Series) to get outta there. The Reds tacked on another run the next frame, only to see the home team appear to have still another rally going. A walk and a single (After catcher Bill Rariden made an error on Ray Schalk's pop-up behind the plate) put two on with one away. Hod Eller had to dig deep again. He got new pitcher Bill James to pop out to third. He then fanned Leibold for his third strikeout on the afternoon.

The home team got on a the board in the next inning as Shoeless Joe Jackson took Hod out of the park. There was no one on so the scored was still 5-1 for Cincy. Still, it seemed like Chicago was doing much better than the fifth contest which they'd been baffled by Eller. They were up to four hits (Plus a walk) in just three innings.

Hod took one for the team as he was hit by a Bill James pitch in the top of the fourth. He did not score and Cincinnati put a "0" on the scoreboard for the second straight frame. Hod continued to rack up the K's, getting his fourth in the bottom of the frame (A 1-2-3 one at that!) by fanning Swede Risberg.

And, offence was on the way. Cincinnati scored a run in the fifth to regain their five-run lead. With two away, Larry Koft tripled. Greasy Neale followed with a  single.

Better still for Hod Eller, he was settlin' down as he retired Chicago in order in the last of the fifth. His mound opponent, Bill James, fanned.

Hod's leadoff single in the top of the sixth eventually led to three more runs. Now, the contest looked not only over, but like a repeat of game one. The 9-1 lead would widen, however. The White Sox got their fifth hit of the game in the bottom of the sixth as Buck Weaver singled to start it. But Shoeless Joe flied to centre. So did Happy Felsch. The inning ended as Chick Gandil also flied out, but to right.

The bottom of the inning was uneventful as Eller was pitching well. Through seven, he was working a fine five-hitter and up to six strikeouts. Fifteen K's in all in only sixteen frames.

And his team reached double figures in the top of the eighth as his battery mate Bill Rairden singled home a tenth Cincinnati run. The game was really looking over. But Hod started to falter in his part of that inning.

It started innocently enough. Nemo Leibold was retired, but it was a long fly to right that Greasy Neal caught. Eddie Collins singled, his second hit of the game. Buck Weaver doubled. So did Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackson's double made it 10-3, but Cincinnati was still in control. However, the White Sox now were up to eight hits in just 7 1/3 innings of Eller. Had the game been played today, there would be no way Hod would still be pitching. Still, it looked like that'd be all Chicago would get.

Happy Felsch was retired on a pop-up to first basemen Jake Daubert. Now, the Reds' pitcher seemed to be home-free. Chick Gandil was next. He'd gotten his share of RBIs in the series (Four at this point), but they'd sort of been not legit. He'd singled home the only Chicago tally of game one. Did that matter? It tied the score early, but it was Cincinnati that scored eight runs. Gandil's two runs knocked home in game three should not have happened. A sac bunt attempt by Happy Felsch had been poorly fielded by Ray Fisher, who'd tried to nail Shoeless Joe at second for a force. Instead, the ball went into centre field. Both runners advanced into scoring position. Gandil scored them both with a single. Chick had also gotten an RBI in game six on a bouncer that made it through to centre, only because the infield wasn't playing back.

So here Gandil was, without a single extra-base hit and four runs driven home. This was also his last major league game. In what turned out to be his last big-league plate appearance, he lofted one to centre. The sun blinded right fielder Greasy Neal. So Chick ended up on third with an RBI triple. The White Sox added another, and again it should not have scored. Swede Risberg got under it and sent it to centre, where Edd Roush couldn't come up with it. The error allowed Gandil to score. The home team had four runs in an inning where they should have had only two. The good news for Eller and the Reds was it was still 10-5 for them. But the Cincinnati pitched had now allowed nine runs in just 7 2/3 innings. The inning finally ended as Ray Schalk grounded out to second.

The Reds tried to get a run or two back in the top of the ninth. Morrie Rath singled off Roy Wilkinson, the third White Sox pitcher of game eight. But Roy got Jake Daubert out on a sac bunt. Heinie Groh flied out to Felsch in centre. Edd Roush grounded out to Buck Weaver at third.

Eller needed just three more outs to open the champagne. But his stuff hadn't been his stuff from innings four to seven. It was more like innings one to three plus eight. He actually hit pinch hitter Eddie Murphy, who was batting for Roy Wilkinson to start the bottom of the ninth. Nemo Leibold gave it a ride to centre, but that's where Edd Roush redeemed himself from last inning with a dive...And a catch!

But Eddie Collins then collected his third hit to push Chicago's total to ten. Buck Weaver hit it well to right. Neale made the catch this time, but the ball was hit deep enough to get Murphy to third. With Jackson back up (2-4, 2 runs scored and 3 more driven in), Collins decided to make it easier for him by stealing second. Two more runners in scoring position for Shoeless Joe. However, Eller finally ended this game by getting Jackson to ground out to second basemen Morrie Rath.

Hod Eller ended up topping every hurler with fifteen strikeouts in the 1919 World Series. He joined White Sox Dickie Kerr with a 2-0 record. His earned run average was just 2.00, but that was third on the Reds to Jimmy Ring's incredible 0.64, and Slim Sallee's excellent 1.35. However, judging from Sallee's performance in this and the 1917 Fall Classic vs. Chicago, I'm sure the White Sox would much rather have faced him than Hod Eller. Another pitcher with a better ERA than Eller was Kerr, 1.42.

All this, plus Hod's 19 regular season wins seemed to bode well for a long career by the Cincinnati. Although only 24 years old, Eller was 45-26 with a 2.37 earned run average in just three not-quite full major league seasons. He'd started off real well.

But Hod's 1920 season was a bit of a disappointment. Sure, he'd thirteen. Sure'd Eller posted a 2.95 earned run average. But the the powers to be had banned use of the shineball prior to the star of the season. So this effected his performance. The kid from Muncie was a win one, lose one pitcher that in '20 as he was beaten a dozen times against those thirteen wins. His ERA had risen, as you can see. Plus, he went from seven shutouts in 1919 to just one the next year.

And things didn't get any better come 1921. Hod Eller was out of shape. Not long after the season got underway, Cincinnati suspended their once-great pitcher for that. Eller's season with Cincinnati didn't start until May 30th, and it wasn't good. The St. Louis Cardinals touched him up for three earned runs in only 3 1/3 innings of a relief stint. Sure, he'd start some games (Not until late June), but things just weren't the same for Hod without the shiner.

In winning back-to-back starts in July, our boy was hit hard. And with that, Eller was back where it had begun this season, or just like it had begun back in 1917 with the Reds: Bullpen duty!

And there, Hod actually pitched well. The problem was, just like in '17, he was basically used for mopping up after the starter had been knocked out. It must have been frustrating for Eller, as he did an admirable job of keeping Cincy in games. From August 21st to his sole appearance in September (On the 15th), Hod Eller pitched 7 2/3 innings of stellar relief. His earned run average during this span was 0.00 (Two unearned runs allowed, however). The opposition hit .148 against him. There appeared to be hope that his career could be saved.

Furthermore, Hod Eller was only 26, and had upped his career win total to sixty, against just forty losses. But Hod's September 15th appearance for the Reds was his last in the majors. That December, Cincinnati traded him to the Pacific Coast League's Oakland Oaks ("AA" level).

Just like in 1921, Hod's earned run average was not good (It had been 4.98 with Cincinnati, and now 4.67 with Oakland). And with a 6-10 record, there'd be no return to the bigs. Instead, Hod found himself for sale to the Mobile Bears. So now, three years after being a World Series star, Hod Eller was stuck in the Southern Association.

It was with Mobile that his form did not improve. So, four games later, the Bears released him. Hod then got a dream job. He signed on with Mount Sterling. Not only would he be pitching, but Hod would be calling the shots. He was also the team's manager. The former Red went 3-2, allowing just 2.57 runs per nine in thirteen appearances with his new team of the Blue Grass League ("D" level). For some reason, no one appeared to take any interest in Eller at this point for a potential return to the majors. He was still only 28.

Eller carried on the player-manager role with the Mount Sterling Essex for two more seasons. In 1924, he was a bit of a hard-luck (That symbolized his career, right?) pitcher. Although only 3-6, his earned run average was 3.33 in 31 appearances with . Again, Hod Eller still had it. Now in his 30s, the former Cincinnati Red was ready for a career change. Being in charge from the dugout was one thing, being in charge of the law, was another.

So Hod retired from baseball. But when one door closed, another opened. Eller became a police officer that November. Fitting since he hadn't exactly been happy with the rule changes on his great pitch, but now would be enforcing fair rules out there. Twenty-two years later, Eller was ready for more challenges. In his his mid-fifties, the former Cincy righty became a security guard and truck driver. It seemed like he could make a smooth transition from one job to the next. Alas, in 1961 (The year the Cincinnati Reds lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series), he passed away from cancer, aged 67 years.


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