Buffalo Blues and Detroit Tigers: 1915-1922
Ehmke began his Major League career in 1915, pitching 18 games (mostly in relief) for the Buffalo Blues of the Federal League. The Detroit Tigers purchased Ehmke from the Blues on February 10, 1916. After seeing limited action in 1916, Ehmke appeared in at least 30 games a year for the Tigers in 1917 and from 1919-1922. Ehmke's best season for the Tigers was 1919 when he finished with a 17-10 record. Ehmke did not have a winning season in Detroit after 1919 and was twice among the American League leaders in losses for the Tigers (18 in 1920 and 17 in 1922). In 1921, Ehmke had a record of 13-14 and an ERA of 4.54 pitching for a team that had the highest team batting average (.316) in American League history.
On August 8, 1920, Ehmke shut out the Yankees 1-0 in just 1 hour‚ 13 minutes‚ one of the shortest games in American League history. With no outs and 2 on in the 5th inning‚ Yankee Ping Bodie fell for the hidden ball trick applied by Tigers' second baseman Ralph Young. Ehmke did have problems with his control during his tenure with the Tigers, leading the American League in 1920-1923, 1925 and 1927 for hitting batters.
Read more about this topic: Howard Ehmke
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