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Pretzels Getzien
Charles H. "Pretzels" Getzien (surname sometimes spelled as Getzein; February 14, 1864 – June 19, 1932) was a German-born American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or parts of nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with five different National League teams from 1884 to 1892. He was the first German-born regular player in the National League.[1] Sources conflict as to whether the nickname was derived from his German ethnicity or from the belief that he was able to throw a "double curve" following "the curves of a pretzel." During his major league career, Getzien compiled a 145–139 win–loss record and a 3.46 earned run average (ERA). He threw 277 complete games, a total that ranks 58th in major league history.[2] Only three pitchers threw more complete games in major league careers shorter than Getzien's nine-year career. Getzien had his most extensive playing time with the Detroit Wolverines, compiling records of 30–11 and 29–13 in 1886 and 1887, respectively. In the 1887 World Series (which Detroit won, 10 games to 5), Getzien pitched six complete games and compiled a 4–2 record with a 2.48 ERA. He also won 23 games for the Boston Beaneaters in 1890. Early yearsGetzien was born in 1864; present-day baseball references list his place of birth as Germany,[3][4] and while an 1887 article in Sporting Life stated that he was born in Chicago,[5] his entry in the 1900 United States census lists his birth country as Germany and that he immigrated to the United States in 1865.[6] Getzien began playing baseball as a boy in Chicago.[5] He played as an amateur in the Chicago City League.[7] Professional baseballThe "Pretzel Curve"Diagrams from 1886 Scientific American article on Getzien's Curve Ball  Diagram of the Method of Grasping the Ball in Delivery  Diagram of the Method of Giving the Rotary Motion to the Ball During his career, Getzien drew acclaim for his curveball. Getzien's version of the pitch was sometimes referred to as the "pretzel curve."[5][8] Sporting Life described Getzien's unusual delivery as follows: "In delivering his 'pretzels' 'Getz' faces third base with one foot in either corner of the lower end of the box. Bending the left knee slightly, he draws his right arm well back. Then, straightening up quickly, he slides the left foot forward with a characteristic little skip, and, bringing his arm around with a swift overhand swing, drives the ball in at a lively pace."[5] After a Getzien victory over the Kansas City Cowboys in 1886, the Detroit Free Press wrote: "The Pretzel is all right. He went into the box to-day and pitched one of his finest, his curves circling around in the form of the delicious pastry from which Getz takes his sobriquet."[9] However, the editor of the Grand Rapids World opined that Getzien's "curved ball" was a fiction. He wrote:
The Scientific American magazine responded in July 1886 by publishing an article written by Henry Chadwick (accompanied by several diagrams, two of which are reproduced above) explaining the physics behind the curve ball pitch.[10] In 1891, O. P. Caylor in Outing magazine examined "The Theory and Introduction of Curve Pitching" and noted that many "ignorant ball players" had believed that Getzien was capable of throwing a "double curve."[11] Caylor deemed the "double curve" to be "an ocular delusion", but claimed that Getzien's nickname was based on the delusion: "[W]e have the nickname of 'the Pretzel Pitcher,' given to Getzein by players who imagine the curve from his hands comes at them with the curves of a pretzel."[11] Grand RapidsGetzien was listed at 5 feet, 10 inches, and 172 pounds, and he batted and threw right-handed.[3] In 1882, Getzien made his professional baseball debut with the Grand Rapids, Michigan, team in the Northwestern League.[5][7] According to an account published in The Sporting News, he "pitched his puzzling twisters and curves in the Northwestern League while that organization was in existence."[5] During the 1884 season, Getzien started and completed 30 games, and threw 11 shutouts, for Grand Rapids, compiling a 27–4 win–loss record with a 0.52 earned run average (ERA).[12] Detroit WolverinesOn August 9, 1884, the Grand Rapids team was dropped from the Northwestern League and disbanded. Jack Chapman, manager of the Detroit Wolverines, seized the opportunity to sign five former Grand Rapids players, including "what is known as the 'G' battery -- Getzein and Gastfield."[13] The Detroit Free Press reported that Getzien "has been a formidable man to face in the Northwestern League, in one instance striking out sixteen batters."[13] Getzien made his major league debut at Detroit's Recreation Park on August 13, 1884. He faced Cleveland and did not allow an earned run. The Detroit Free Press took note of Getzien's performance:
Despite Getzien's pitching performance, Detroit lost the game by a 1–0 score as Cleveland scored an unearned run.[14] Getzien went on to start (and complete) 17 games for the Wolverines during the remaining two months of the 1883 season. He posted a 5–12 record for a Detroit team that finished in last place in the National League with a 28–84 record, 56 games out of contention.[15] Getzien provided one of the few highlights for the 1884 Wolverines, pitching a six-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on October 1, 1884.[16] The Detroit Free Press reported on Getzien's no-hitter as follows:
Getzien finished the 1884 season with a 1.95 ERA, third best in the National League behind Old Hoss Radbourn (1.38) and Charlie Sweeney (1.95), both of whom played for the league champion Providence Grays.[18] Over the course of the full 1884 season, pitching for both Grand Rapids and Detroit, Getzien started and completed 47 games and pitched 423+1⁄3 innings.[3][12] In 1885, Getzien compiled a 12–25 record as his ERA jumped to 3.03.[3] His record in 1885 was again impacted by playing with a noncompetitive team. The 1885 Wolverines finished the season in sixth place with a 41–67 record.[19]  In 1886, Getzien and the Wolverines saw their fortunes rise as the Wolverines assembled one of the best hitting teams in National League history featuring, among others, Dan Brouthers, Sam Thompson, Hardy Richardson, and Jack Rowe. Despite having a 3.03 ERA (precisely the same as his 1885 performance), Getzien won a career-high 30 victories against 11 losses.[3] Getzien was not the Wolverines' leading pitcher in 1886, as teammate Lady Baldwin led the National League with 42 wins. The 1886 Wolverines finished in second place, 2½ games behind the Chicago White Stockings, with an 87–36 record and a .707 winning percentage.[20] In 1887, Getzien was the leading pitcher on a Detroit Wolverines team that won the National League pennant and then defeated the St. Louis Browns in the 1887 World Series.[21] Getzien compiled a 29–13 record and a 3.73 ERA, leading the league in winning percentage (.690) but also in home runs allowed (24).[3] In September 1887, a group of influential fans in Detroit contributed money to purchase "an elegant two hundred dollar gold watch and chain" for Getzien to express their admiration for Getzien's "magnificent work for the club."[22] In the 1887 World Series (which Detroit won, 10 games to 5), Getzien pitched six complete games and compiled a 4–2 record with a 2.48 ERA.[3] On October 17, 1887, Getzien pitched a no-hitter through the first eight innings in Game 10 of the World Series played before 10,000 spectators at the Polo Grounds in New York. The Detroit Free Press wrote: "Getzien made a remarkable showing. Up to and including the eighth inning only twenty-seven men went to the bat and not a clean hit had been scored. Not till the ninth did the world beaters succeed in getting a hit, and then they failed to score the much desired run."[23] In 1888, Getzien compiled an 18–22 record and a 3.05 ERA. He started 46 games and completed 45 of them with 404 innings pitched.[3] However, Getzien lost his role as the team's leading pitcher, as Pete Conway compiled a 30–14 record and a 2.25 ERA for the 1888 Wolverines.[24] After Getzien gave up 10 runs in an August 1888 game against Washington, the Detroit Free Press dubbed him the "Pulverized Pretzel."[25] The newspaper reported: "The Detroits were defeated again to-day ... simply because Getzein could not keep the ball away from the Senatorial bat. When he pitched high they hit it. When he delivered his famous drop, he was knocked out of the lot, and his in and out curves were as big as balloons to Ted Sullivan's men."[25] As the 1888 season progressed, relations between Getzien and the Detroit manager became strained. After a game in which Getzien gave up 21 hits against Boston, The Sporting Life reported on speculation that Getzien may have intentionally thrown the game:
Later years Getzien's career with the Wolverines ended after the 1888 season. On March 5, 1889, he was sold by Detroit to the Indianapolis Hoosiers.[3][27] During the 1889 season, he compiled an 18–22 record and a 4.54 ERA for the Hoosiers and led the National League in home runs allowed with 27.[3] After a subpar season with the Hoosiers, Getzien was acquired by the Boston Beaneaters in March 1890. He returned to good form in 1890, compiling a 23–17 record with a 3.19 ERA for the fifth-place Beaneaters.[3] While pitching for Detroit in 1887, Getzien was teamed up with catcher Charlie Ganzel, and the pair became known as the "Pretzel Battery" because of their shared German ethnicity.[28][29] When Getzien signed with Boston in 1890, he was reunited with Ganzel. The Sporting Life reported: "The signing of Getzein by the Boston League Club re-unites the famous 'Pretzel Battery,' Getzein and Ganzel, of the Detroit ex-champions."[30] Getzien began the 1891 season with Boston, but he was released by the team on July 16, 1891, after compiling a 4–5 record in nine starts. He attempted a comeback with the Cleveland Spiders in August 1891,[31] but he appeared in only one game for the Spiders, allowing nine runs in nine innings. He concluded his major league career appearing in 13 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1892.[3] In 1894, Getzien was reported to be playing first base for a Chicago City League team.[32] Career statisticsDuring nine major league seasons, Getzien compiled a 145–139 record and a 3.46 earned run average (ERA) in 296 games. He totaled 292 games started and threw 277 complete games,[3] a total that ranks 58th in major league history. Only three pitchers in major league history (Ed Morris, Mark Baldwin, and Hall of Famer Albert Spalding) threw more complete games in careers shorter than Getzien's nine-year career.[33] Getzien's record for complete games is based in part on the customs of the 1880s. In 1915, Baseball Magazine reported that managers were not allowed to freely pull the starting pitcher from a game in the bygone era. It cited an incident involving Getzien to illustrate the old practice:
Family and deathGetzien was married to Rose Dibble.[35] He died in June 1932 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Chicago.[36] He was buried at Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.[3][37] See alsoReferences
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pretzels Getzien.
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