| Rex Cecil | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | |||
| Born:October 8, 1916 Lindsay, Oklahoma | |||
| Died: October 30, 1966 (aged 50) Long Beach, California | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| August 13, 1944, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| May 28, 1945, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 6–10 | ||
| Earned run average | 5.18 | ||
| Innings pitched | 106 | ||
| Teams | |||
| |||
Rex Ralston Cecil (October 8, 1916 – October 30, 1966) was an American professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher, a native of Lindsay, Oklahoma, had a 14-year pro career, including 18 games pitched, 16 as a starter, in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox (1944–1945). Cecil batted left-handed, stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg).
Professional baseball is played in leagues throughout the world. In these leagues and associated farm teams, baseball players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system.
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer.
Lindsay is a city in Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,840 at the 2010 census. It once promoted itself as "The Broomcorn Capital of the World" but no longer uses that slogan, as broomcorn is no longer raised in the area.
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Cecil's early pro career (1937–1939; 1941–1944) was based on the West Coast, especially in the Western International and Pacific Coast leagues. In 1944, during the peak of the World War II manpower shortage, Cecil won 19 of 30 decisions, with a stellar 2.16 earned run average, for the PCL San Diego Padres and was acquired by the Red Sox.
The West Coast or Pacific Coast is the coastline along which the continental Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. As a region, this term most often refers to the coastal states of California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. More specifically, it refers to an area defined on the east by the Alaska Range, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and Mojave Desert, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The United States Census groups the five states of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii together as the Pacific States division.
The Western International League was a mid- to higher-level minor league baseball circuit in the northwest United States and western Canada. Informally known as the "Willy" loop, it operated in 1922, 1937–1942, and 1946–1954. In 1955, the league changed its name to the Northwest League, and still operates today as a Class A-Short Season loop under that name.
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern, and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball. It is officially named the Pacific Coast League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Inc. Its headquarters are in Round Rock, Texas.
Making his Major League debut on August 13, 1944, in relief against the eventual American League champion St. Louis Browns at Fenway Park, Cecil threw four scoreless innings and earned the victory when Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman Bobby Doerr hit a walk-off home run in the 13th inning. [1] He then threw successive complete games as a starting pitcher, against the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, and split two decisions. During his rookie campaign for Boston, Cecil won four games, lost five and compiled a 5.11 earned run average.
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather delays or pinch hitter substitutions. Relief pitchers are further divided informally into various roles, such as closers, setup men, middle relief pitchers, left/right-handed specialists, and long relievers. Whereas starting pitchers usually rest several days before pitching in a game again due to the number of pitches thrown, relief pitchers are expected to be more flexible and typically pitch more games but with fewer innings pitched. A team's staff of relievers is normally referred to metonymically as a team's bullpen, which refers to the area where the relievers sit during games, and where they warm-up prior to entering the game.
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major league status. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season, 25 years after the formation of the National League.
Fenway Park is a baseball park located in Boston, Massachusetts near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home for the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. It is the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. Because of its age and constrained location in Boston's dense Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, the park has been renovated or expanded many times, resulting in quirky heterogeneous features including "The Triangle" (below), Pesky's Pole, and the Green Monster in left field. It is the fourth-smallest among MLB ballparks by seating capacity, second-smallest by total capacity, and one of eight that cannot accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.
In 1945, Cecil began the year with the BoSox and was Boston's Opening Day starting pitcher on April 17 against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Cecil lasted 61⁄3 innings and allowed eight runs — although only two were earned, as he was victimized by three errors by first baseman Catfish Metkovich and made one miscue himself. New York won the game, 8–4. [2] He started six more games during April and May, but in his seven 1945 starts he lost five, won two, and again compiled a high earned run average, at 5.20. He then was demoted to Boston's top farm team, the Louisville Colonels of the American Association, and spent the rest of his pro career in the minors.
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of two major league clubs based in New York City, the other being the New York Mets of the National League. In the 1901 season, the club began play in the AL as the Baltimore Orioles. Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchased the franchise and moved it to New York City, renaming the club the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders were officially renamed the Yankees in 1913.
The original Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees, one of the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises, from 1923 to 1973 and then from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York Giants football team from 1956 through the first part of the 1973–74 football season. The stadium's nickname, "The House That Ruth Built", is derived from Babe Ruth, the baseball superstar whose prime years coincided with the stadium's opening and the beginning of the Yankees' winning history. It has also been known as "The Big Ballpark in The Bronx", "The Stadium", and "The Cathedral of Baseball".
In a two-season Major League career, Cecil posted a 6–10 record with 63 strikeouts and a 5.18 ERA in 106 innings pitched, allowing 118 hits and 60 bases on balls. During his long minor league career, he won 161 games, including 21 games in his final pro season, 1953, in the Class C Arizona–Texas League.
In baseball or softball, a strikeout occurs when a batter racks up three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denoted by K. A strikeout looking is denoted by a Ʞ.
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. Runs resulting from defensive errors are recorded as unearned runs and omitted from ERA calculations.
In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two outs counts as two-thirds of an inning. Sometimes, the statistic is written 34.1, 72.2, or 91.0, for example, to represent 34 1⁄3 innings, 72 2⁄3 innings, and 91 innings exactly, respectively.
Rex Cecil died in Long Beach, California, at the age of 50.
Long Beach is a city on the Pacific Coast of the United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area of Southern California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257. It is the 39th most populous city in the United States and the 7th most populous in California. Long Beach is the second-largest city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the third largest in Southern California behind Los Angeles and San Diego. Long Beach is a charter city.
