George Joseph Mullin, nicknamed “Wabash George” or “Big George”, was born July 4, 1880 in Toledo, Ohio.
Powerfully built with a fearful fastball and biting curve that Johnny Evers once referred to as a “meteoric shoot,” George Mullin was Detroit’s stalwart right-handed pitcher for 12 years. A double threat, Mullin also earned a reputation as a batter to be feared, finishing his career with an impressive .262 batting average.
Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 28 of the 2009 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 1 week of July.
July 4
1912 Tiger pitcher George Mullin celebrates the nation’s birthday and his own by throwing a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns. In addition to his excellent pitching, the 32-year old also collected three hits and drove in two runs during the 7-0 victory
George Joseph Mullin, nicknamed “Wabash George” or “Big George”, was born July 4, 1880 in Toledo, Ohio.
Powerfully built with a fearful fastball and biting curve that Johnny Evers once referred to as a “meteoric shoot,” George Mullin was Detroit’s stalwart right-handed pitcher for 12 years. A double threat, Mullin also earned a reputation as a batter to be feared, finishing his career with an impressive .262 batting average.
In 1901, Mullin signed his first professional contract with Fort Wayne of the Western Association and became a workhorse for his new club, hurling 367 innings en route to a 21-20 mark. After the season, Mullin signed a contract with Brooklyn of the National League, but broke the agreement before ever appearing in a Superbas uniform, as he accepted a more lucrative offer from the Detroit Tigers.
Mullin was 21 when he entered the major leagues on May 4, 1902 at Bennett Park in Detroit. A week later he made his debut start at home against Chicago, surrendering nine runs over 8 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the White Sox. In an early display of his hitting prowess, Mullin also cracked three doubles in the game. A regular in the Detroit rotation for the rest of the season, Mullin’s rookie season was mixed: he pitched himself to a 13-16 record in 30 starts, but also batted .325.
A crafty pitcher, Mullin’s arsenal included more than his excellent stuff. He perfected a number of eccentric strategies to gain an advantage over hitters. At critical times, Mullin chose the “stall,” wherein he distracted the batter with tactics of walking off the mound, loosening or tightening his belt, fixing his cap, re-tying his shoes, and removing imaginary dirt from his glove. Mullin also incessantly talked to himself, to batters, and to fans of opposing teams who would heckle him when he engaged in his act.
In 1903, Mullin achieved a breakthrough performance with a 19-15 record and 2.25 Earned Run Average, though wildness caused him to lead the league in walks, with 106. He continued to lead the league in free passes every year through 1907, but during that time he also developed into one of the league’s most durable pitchers. He led the league in innings pitched with 347 2/3 in 1905, and in September 1906 he started and won both ends of a doubleheader against Washington.
Mullin ran off a string of three consecutive 20-win seasons from 1905 to 1907, though during that span he also lost 20 games twice. In his first World Series against the Chicago Cubs in 1907, Mullin lost both his starts despite pitching two complete games and notching a sterling 2.12 Earned Run Average.
The following year, Mullin struggled to a 17-13 mark but overcame his difficulties to capture the Tigers’ only victory in the 1908 World Series, an 8-3 complete game victory in Game 3. But it was the 1909 season that was the superlative achievement of his career. Trimming off forty pounds during the offseason, Mullin pitched a one-hitter against Chicago on opening day as the first act in what proved to be a personal 11-game winning streak to start the season. His first loss of the year finally came on June 16, 5-4 to the Athletics. Mullin finished the season 29-8 with a 2.22 Earned Run Average, leading the American League in wins. He was second with 303 2/3 innings pitched, and in a sign of his improved control, gave up only 78 walks.
Returning to the World Series for the third straight year, Mullin drew the Game 1 starting assignment, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 4-1. With Pittsburgh leading 2-1 after three games, Mullin started Game 4. He limited Pittsburgh to five hits and pitched a 5-0 complete game shutout, squaring the series at two games apiece. Facing elimination in Game 6, Mullin started his third game and gave up three runs in the first inning, before settling down to pitch seven straight innings of shutout ball in a 5-4 Detroit victory.
After the Detroit starter was knocked out of the box early in the decisive Game 7, Tigers manager Hughie Jennings turned to Mullin, who was unable to hold the Pirates as Pittsburgh cruised to an 8-0 victory. Despite the poor performance, Mullin finished the Series with an impressive 2-1 record and 2.25 Earned Run Average in 32 innings pitched, the latter still a major league record for a seven-game series. Detroit, however, would not return to the World Series for another 25 years, and Mullin never again pitched in the postseason.
With his career year behind him, Mullin pitched two distinguished seasons out of the next three. He posted winning records of 21-12 and 18-10 in 1910 and 1911, respectively, but fell to 12-17 in 1912, his last full season with Detroit.
Despite being out of condition for most of the season, Mullin achieved a milestone in 1912. On May 21, he faced Walter Johnson at Washington and out-dueled him 2-0 for his 200th career victory.
In disfavor with management and in decline as a pitcher, Mullin was placed on waivers by Detroit in June. Still unclaimed three weeks after the team’s decision, Mullin was vindicated in the second game of a July 4 doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns at Navin Field. He gave himself a birthday gift of a no-hitter, striking out 5 and walking 5. Mullin added to his performance by delivering three hits and driving in two runs in the 7-0 victory.
Following a feeble 1-6 start to open the 1913 season, Mullin was purchased by the Washington Senators on May 16. He posted a 3-5 record for the year before Washington assigned him to Montreal of the International League.
After finishing out 1913 with the Royals, Mullin jumped to Indianapolis of the Federal League in 1914, where he went 14-10. Though he finished his organized baseball pitching career in 1915 at Newark with a 2-2 mark, Mullin continued to participate in semipro baseball as manager and pitcher for various clubs in Indiana and Ohio until 1919. His last position was assistant manager and coach of a club in Rockford, Illinois, of the Three-I League in 1921.
Mullin’s pitching career, while impressive, was certainly influenced by his lack of weight control and conditioning.
Nevertheless, Mullin achieved a set of admirable pitching marks. Over 14 seasons, he was 228-196 with a 2.82 Earned Run Average. A 20-game winner five times in six seasons, he also achieved the distinction, twice, of winning and losing twenty in the same season.
Mullin still holds four single-season Detroit pitching records for a right hander, all set in 1904: most games started, with 44; most complete games at 42; most innings pitched, with 381 1/3, and most games lost with a 23 mark. His 209 victories as a Tiger rank second in franchise history.
After baseball, Mullin returned to Wabash where he lived and worked as a police officer.
He died on January 7, 1944 at age 63.
A large part of this biography comes from the SABR Baseball Biography Project written by David Cicotello. It can be found online at http://bioproj.sabr.org
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: N
no-trade clause
A clause in a player’s contract that permits him to be traded only with his consent.
For those of you that want to stick around, here’s an Extra Inning
This story came in an email:
Dear Bob:
I very much enjoy your podcasts,and I thought I’d share a little slice of emotional history with you and your listeners.
I am a lifelong baseball fan,since the age of seven or eight years.I am now sixty-two,and have been a devoted DODGERS fan (Brooklyn and L.A.) for decades.
The subject I wish to reflect upon, however, was the coming of major league baseball to Canada in the form of the Montreal Expos. I’ll never forget the thrill of being in old Jarry Park,Montreal, on April 14,1969,when the newly-minted Expos took on the venerable St. Louis Cardinals.
Our family did not have alot of money, but my pop managed to wangle a pair of great seats for this momentous contest. We were only a few rows from the field. And wonder-of-wonders, the Expos won the game! ! !
I attended many Expos games at Jarry Park in those early years, making the 4-hour roundtrip drive from my home in Ottawa. Sure, as a typical expansion team, the ‘Spos were an assortment of over-the-hills and never-weres, with weak to horrible pitching and non-existent team speed. But we loved them with every fiber of our being.
Some of my favorite players were Mack Jones, Coco Laboy, Bob “Beetle” Bailey, Ron “Pigpen” Hunt, Rusty Staub, and of course the workhorse and anchor of the pitching staff, sinkerball specialist Steve Rogers. What made it a bonus, of course, was seeing some of the game’s biggest stars on other teams come to town and work their magic. I got to witness power merchants like Willie Stargell, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, Jimmy Wynn and a host of others drilling towering homers out of the squat, tiny Jarry Park. And some great pitching,too, including an incredible no-hitter tossed by Expos’ Bill Stoneman.
Yes, Jarry Park was small, creaky, kind of minor-league looking, but to me those were magical times in the evolution of the Montreal Expos. Ultimately, the team folded in Montreal and moved on to Washington,D.C. for the 2005 season.
It was a sad occasion for hardcore ball fans like myself, but the memories I have of old Jarry Park and the fledgling Expos will live on in my heart and soul forever.
Best Wishes;
John May
Ottawa Canada
And recognition of this long overdue email:
Loved the BHP with Vic Raschi. Though a Yankee, and thus my sworn enemy, I was always distantly fond of the Springfield Rifle for some reason. During my first job, I had a customer who was hugely fond of the Raschi-Reynolds-Ford Yankees, and he used to tell me stories of them all the time.
Of course, you had to bring up 1949. 
Terrible year for Red Sox fans, but if you go into a two game series needing one win to wrap up the pennant, and you drop both, you have no one to blame but yourself.
I still owe you a ballpark. No one has done Shibe Park, yet, right? I can’t recall. I have to go dig my references out of storage and put that together for you.
Raschi’s 1950 World Series always struck me as just another sweep-but recently, I looked at it more closely and realized it was a lot closer than it appeared. Once, I took out the cards and dice and replayed it. Sadly, it was still a Yankee win, but it did take 5 games this time, and I had a Yankees rally from 3 runs down in extra innings to take game five and the championship.
I’ve been on a baseball reading jag, and I recently finished a book by Bert Randolph Sugar, of all people, called “Rain Delays”. It’s one of those baseball story collections that there are a million of-I’m sure you’ve read some. You can never vouch for these stories, of course-part of their charm, in a weird way, is their semi accuracy.
Anyway, one of the stories in this volume I hadn’t read before, at least not that I can recall, and if it isn’t true, you kind of wish it was.
Supposedly Jackie Robinson is about to leave to go to the park on Opening Day in 1947. He turns to kiss Rachel goodbye and says, “Well, honey, you shouldn’t have any trouble telling which one I am at the ballpark today……..(pause)………I’m number 42.”
And also-my sympathies on the passing of Nick Adenhart. Although we don’t know them, we develop feelings for the young players on our team-I’m sure you were as protectively fond of Mr. Adenhart as I am towards names like Buchholz, Bowden, and Bard on my Red Sox.
Take care,
Mike Webb
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Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
