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Rip Sewell
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Birthdate: 5/11/1907 Died: 9/3/1989
Height / Weight: 6' 1" / 180 lbs. Place of Birth: Decatur, AL, USA
Bats / Throws: L / R

Baseball Historian Biography

After pitching only 5-games, 10 2/3 innings and posting a very high 12.66 ERA, Truett Banks Sewell, better known as Rip Sewell, toiled in the minors for five full years before being brought up to the majors by the Pittsburgh Pirates at age 30 in 1938. He won 10 games in 1939 in 52 pitching appearances and the next year (1940), he posted a 16-5 record and his .280 ERA was third lowest in the NL which helped the Pittsburgh Pirates finish fourth in the NL under new manager, Frankie Frisch. However in 1941, he went 15-17 to lead the league in losses.

 In the off-season, while hunting in a forest, another hunter accidentally shot him at close range. 'I had to learn to walk all over again,' he recalled. 'Not to mention pitch.' And so, he invented a 'junk ball' or 'eephus pitch'. It became one of baseball's top news stories as 'Rip Sewell let go of the ball, which flew 25 feet in the air with a backspin like a shot-put arced high in the air.' The pitch helped him lead the National League with 21 wins and 25 complete games in 1943 and 21 more victories the following season. Rip Sewell stats 143-97, .596 pct., 3.48 ERA, in 390 G, 243 GS, 137 GC, 20 Shutouts, 2119.3 innings. baseballhistorian.com


Pitching Statistics
Year Team G GS W L SV CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO WP HBP BK ERA
1932 DET (AL) 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 10.2 19 15 15 2 8 0 2 0 0 0 12.66
1938 PIT (NL) 17 0 0 1 1 0 0 38.1 41 27 18 3 21 0 17 3 2 0 4.23
1939 PIT (NL) 52 12 10 9 2 5 1 176.1 177 93 80 10 73 0 69 1 1 0 4.08
1940 PIT (NL) 33 23 16 5 1 14 2 189.2 169 71 59 6 67 0 60 2 3 0 2.80
1941 PIT (NL) 39 32 14 17 2 18 2 249.0 225 126 103 18 84 0 76 8 3 0 3.72
1942 PIT (NL) 40 33 17 15 2 18 5 248.0 259 117 94 13 72 0 69 4 2 0 3.41
1943 PIT (NL) 35 31 21 9 3 25 2 265.1 267 94 75 6 75 0 65 2 2 1 2.54
1944 PIT (NL) 38 33 21 12 2 24 3 286.0 263 112 101 15 99 0 87 1 3 1 3.18
1945 PIT (NL) 33 24 11 9 1 9 1 188.0 212 116 85 9 91 0 60 5 2 0 4.07
1946 PIT (NL) 25 20 8 12 0 11 2 149.1 140 68 61 6 53 0 33 2 1 0 3.68
1947 PIT (NL) 24 12 6 4 0 4 1 121.0 121 58 48 11 36 0 36 1 3 0 3.57
1948 PIT (NL) 21 17 13 3 0 7 0 121.2 126 51 47 9 37 0 36 1 1 0 3.48
1949 PIT (NL) 28 6 6 1 1 2 1 76.0 82 35 33 8 32 0 26 0 0 0 3.91
13 years   390 243 143 97 15 137 20 2119.1 2101 983 819 116 748 0 636 30 23 2 3.48
Batting Statistics
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS IBB HBP SH SF AVG OBP SLG
1932 DET (AL) 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 SLG
1938 PIT (NL) 17 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .83 .83 SLG
1939 PIT (NL) 52 55 5 11 1 0 1 4 3 11 0 0 0 0 4 0 .200 .241 SLG
1940 PIT (NL) 47 73 14 14 2 1 1 4 3 19 0 0 0 0 1 0 .192 .224 SLG
1941 PIT (NL) 42 92 12 16 2 0 1 5 3 15 0 0 0 0 4 0 .174 .200 SLG
1942 PIT (NL) 41 87 9 13 3 0 0 4 3 19 2 0 0 0 1 0 .149 .178 SLG
1943 PIT (NL) 41 105 9 30 4 1 0 17 2 21 7 0 0 0 1 0 .286 .299 SLG
1944 PIT (NL) 44 112 10 25 4 1 1 12 2 19 1 0 0 0 2 0 .223 .237 SLG
1945 PIT (NL) 35 64 10 20 3 0 0 6 7 11 1 0 0 0 1 0 .313 .380 SLG
1946 PIT (NL) 26 50 4 9 2 0 0 1 4 12 1 0 0 0 2 0 .180 .241 SLG
1947 PIT (NL) 24 40 2 5 0 0 1 4 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 .146 SLG
1948 PIT (NL) 21 42 5 6 1 0 1 2 6 15 0 0 0 0 1 0 .143 .250 SLG
1949 PIT (NL) 28 16 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 1 2 0 .63 .250 SLG
13 years   423 750 81 152 22 3 6 59 37 154 12 0 0 1 19 0 .203 .241 .SLG



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