24 Facts About Charles Radbourn

1.

Charles Radbourn played for Buffalo, Providence, Boston, Boston, and Cincinnati.

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2.

Charles Radbourn led the National League in earned run average and strikeouts to win the Triple Crown, and the Grays won the league championship.

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3.

Charles Radbourn spent the next four seasons with the club, spent one year with the Boston franchise of the single-season Players' League, and finished his MLB career with Cincinnati.

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4.

Charles Radbourn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

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5.

Charles Radbourn had immigrated to the United States from Bristol, England, to find work as a butcher; Caroline followed soon after.

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6.

In 1855, the Charles Radbourn family moved to Bloomington, Illinois, where Charles Radbourn was raised.

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7.

In 1878, Charles Radbourn joined the Peoria Reds, a barnstorming team, as their right fielder and "change pitcher".

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8.

Charles Radbourn made the major leagues in 1880 as second baseman, right fielder and change pitcher for the Buffalo Bisons of the National League.

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9.

Charles Radbourn impressed everyone so much that Providence signed him on the spot for a salary variously reported as $1,100 or $1,400.

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10.

Charles Radbourn led the NL with 201 strikeouts and six shutouts and was second-best in wins and ERA.

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11.

Charles Radbourn, who had a reputation for being vain, became jealous as Sweeney began to have more success, and the tension eventually broke out into violence in the clubhouse.

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12.

At that point, Charles Radbourn offered to start every game for the rest of the season in exchange for a small raise and exemption from the reserve clause for the next season.

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13.

Charles Radbourn began his warm up by throwing just a few feet, increasing the distance gradually until he was pitching from second base and finally from short center field.

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14.

Charles Radbourn's 60 wins in a season is a record which is expected never to be broken because no starter has made even as many as 37 starts in a season since 1991.

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15.

Charles Radbourn started each game of the series and won all three, while allowing just three unearned runs.

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16.

The official scorer decided that Charles Radbourn had pitched the most effectively, and awarded him the win.

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17.

However, under modern scoring rules, Miller would get the win, being the "pitcher of record" when he left the game, and Charles Radbourn would have been credited with a save for closing the game and "pitching effectively for three or more innings".

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18.

Charles Radbourn pitched effectively in the majors for several more years but was not able to duplicate his success of 1883 and 1884.

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19.

Charles Radbourn was claimed by Boston, and he spent the next four seasons with the club, winning 27,24,7, and 20 games.

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20.

Charles Radbourn then jumped to the rebel Players' League and spent 1890 with its Boston club and, after the PL folded, played the 1891 season with Cincinnati where he recorded his 300th victory before retiring.

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21.

Charles Radbourn was seriously injured in a hunting accident soon after retirement, in which he lost an eye.

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22.

Charles Radbourn died in Bloomington on February 5,1897 at age 43, and was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

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23.

Charles Radbourn was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

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24.

Charles Radbourn is known for being the first person photographed gesturing the middle finger.

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