Steve Gerkin’s Pickle of a Career

You never know what can happen to a player when he’s called up to the majors. He could go on a hot streak, like Bob “Hurricane” Hazle, who hit .403 for the Milwaukee Braves in 155 plate appearances in 1957, or Duster Mails, called up to Cleveland in 1920 and proceeded to go 7-0 with a 1.85 ERA in nine games (eight starts with six complete games).

Or you could be Steve Gerkin.

In 1945, with more and more players being called into the service, a lot of ballplayers got a chance in the majors they might not have normally had. The Philadelphia Athletics weren’t very good as is and manager Connie Mack had been known to do things out of the ordinary as is (in 1922, he put a semi-pro pitcher fresh off a train up against the pennant-contending St. Louis Browns).

So in May of ’45, Gerkin got his chance.

At 32, he was no prospect. He did win 20 games for Lancaster in 1943, but then spent time in the army.

He pitched OK for the A’s, registering a 3.62 ERA, which was slightly below league average (93 ERA+). But what made Gerkin stand out was his win-loss record: 0-12.

He never got another chance in the majors after 1945 and thus had the worst career record of any pitcher until Terry Felton came along.

“He was quite an Alibi Ike,” wrote Charlie Metro in his book Safe by a Mile , “always had an excuse why he lost a game. But he was very sincere. When he was going to pitch, he’d go up and down the bench and plead with all the ballplayers to help him win one ball game. He never did.”

Gerkin certainly had the opportunity to win one. Of course, playing on a bad team didn’t help.

Here’s the rundown of his 21-game stint with Philadelphia:

May 13: Made his debut against the Browns in the first game of a doubleheader and, after the A’s got a run in the top of the seventh, he held a 2-1 lead. St. Louis would score seven times in its half of the seventh. Gerkin wouldn’t retire a batter and would be charged with five runs. First loss.

May 19: Finishes the game with three scoreless innings against Cleveland, but the A’s don’t score either and lose 4-0.

May 22: Gets his second start, this time against the Yankees, and allows three runs in five innings. No matter, Philly didn’t score any runs. Second loss.

May 26: His first appearance in Philadelphia and Gerkin relieves an ineffective Don Black in the second inning against Detroit. He finishes the game, allowing just one run in 7 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, the A’s battled back to tie after being down 4-0 and that run allowed was the difference. Third loss.

June 1: Another start against the Browns. Gerkin allowed four runs – two earned – in eight innings, but the A’s were blanked by Sig Jakucki. Fourth loss.

June 2: One day after pitching eight innings, he mops up the final two innings in a 9-0 loss.

June 3: The second game of a doubleheader goes 13 innings, so Gerkin is needed again. He allows one hit and no runs in 3 2/3 innings, but the game ends in a 0-0 tie. The A’s offense certainly did him no favors.

June 6: In Boston, he again finishes with two innings in a 5-2 loss.

June 12: The A’s win 7-5 in 12 innings, but the runs come too late for Gerkin, who pitched a scoreless eighth.

June 16: Back in the rotation, Gerkin tosses seven scoreless innings as the A’s lead 3-0. Then comes the eighth. Hersch Martin doubles in a run and Nick Etten follows with a home run. A’s win in 10, but Gerkin is lifted in that eighth.

June 22: In New York, Gerkin allows two runs over six innings, but, yes, once again the A’s are shut out. Fifth loss.

June 23: One day after going six innings, Gerkin is brought into the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game and allows a walk and two hits – and a run. Sixth loss.

June 29: Gerkin gets the start and loses to Allie Reynolds for the second time, 4-2. He goes 6 1/3 allowing all four runs. Seventh loss.

July 1: Pitches 2/3 innings of relief in a 9-5 loss at Detroit.

July 4: He starts the second game of a doubleheader in St. Louis, pitching six scoreless innings before being lifted for Joe Berry. No pinch hitter, just a straight move to the bullpen. Holding a 4-0 lead, Gerkin must have felt at least a little confident to get that first victory. But Berry allowed two runs in the seventh, one more in the eighth and had one in with two on in the ninth before he was pulled for Russ Christopher, who quickly gave up a game-winning two-run single to Pete Gray. No loss – or win, for that matter – but surely one sour Gerkin.

July 8: Gerkin pitches decently against the White Sox, allowing three runs (one earned) in 6 1/3 innings, but trailing 3-1. The A’s do score three runs in the final two innings, which would have been great except that Don Black allowed two runs in two innings (including walking five batters) as the A’s lost 5-4. Eighth loss.

July 13: In a pitching duel between the Browns’ Nelson Potter, both starters went 11 innings. In the top of the 11th, Dick Siebert dropped the throw from third base on Vern Stephens’ grounder. Gerkin retired the next two batters, but then a double and single made it 4-2. The A’s had two on with two out in the home 11th, but Bobby Estalella popped out. Philly also had a runner on second in the ninth with one out and couldn’t score. Ninth loss. At this point, newspaper not only were tracking each loss in the game stories, but they also were projecting Boston’s Boo Ferriss to be the first 30-game winner since Dizzy Dean. Gerkin wouldn’t have minded just one.

July 22: Gerkin was left in to go the distance against Detroit and he was hammered for nine runs (seven earned). Not that it mattered as Hal Newhouser, in the midst of his second straight MVP season, allowed just one run on four hits in also tossing a complete game. Tenth loss.

July 29: Philly’s Bobo Newsom and New York’s Tiny Bonham battled for nine innings and were tied 1-1. Newsom was hit for in the top of the 10th, so Gerkin entered in the bottom. He faced four batters, allowing two hits and a walk, including the game-winning single to Oscar Grimes. Eleventh loss.

Aug. 2: Gerkin pitched one of his better games and led 1-0 into the seventh, but a pair of sacrifice flies put Washington on top. Unfortunately for Gerkin, who went the distance, the Senators’ Marino Pieretti was better, allowing just one unearned run. 2-1 final. Twelfth loss.

Aug. 10: Gerkin got one more start and was staked to a quick 4-0 lead. But he gave it all back in the bottom of the second to the Browns and was pulled in the third inning trailing 5-4. No matter, the A’s lost anyway, 14-13 in 11 innings.

Gerkin was sent back to Lancaster of the International League – Mack specifically mentioned the 0-12 record as a reason. He arrived on Friday, Aug. 17 and on Saturday, Aug. 18, took the mound and recorded a victory, of course.

Before this story ends, let’s rewind just a little bit.

Gerkin might have gone 0-12, but he did in fact win a game for the A’s in 1945.

How’s that?

On April 30, he pitched all seven innings of an exhibition game at Mitchell Field in Hempstead, N.Y., against a team from that military base, which the A’s won, 9-1, “before a large crowd of wounded soldiers recently returned from Europe.”

No doubt, it is a win Gerkin would remember. After all, it was his only one with Philadelphia.