Now That’s Pitching
“Dutch, why don’t you work the second game?”
Olde-tyme baseball by C. Philip Francis – August 20, 2008
You don’t see many of them any more, but I really loved double-headers. It was getting two games for the price of one. I enjoyed watching the New York Yankees the best, but any team was fine with me. When the Detroit Tigers had a double dip at Briggs or Tiger Stadium I would drive there early, get a reserved seat on the aisle in the lower deck near third base, and camp out for the day. Things have changed so much in life including double-headers.
And talking about double-headers, can you name the last pitcher to throw and win two games in one day? In case you can’t, it happened on August 28, 1926 when the Cleveland Indians met the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park. It has to be one of the most astonishing pitching performances in baseball history when unknown Emil “Dutch” Levsen threw back to back complete wins 6-1 and 5-1.
The sidearmed right-hander was born in Wyoming, Iowa on April 29, 1898. He was a graduate of the Iowa State University in Ames, and had his major league debut on September 28, 1923. He appeared in three games that season with no decisions. He had a record of 1 win and 1 loss in 1924, and a 1 and 2 the following year with no saves. It is hard to believe that he was still in the majors by 1926 when Dutch had a “breakout year” of 16 and 13.
Baseball is laden with unknowns who saw meteoric careers only to soon fall into obscurity such as Mark “The Bird” Fidrych who won the Rookie of the Year with a record of 19 and 9 in 1976; Floyd Giebell of the Detroit Tigers who beat the great Bob Feller in 1940 to give the Tigers the American League pennant; and Bob “Hurricane” Hazle who was brought up by the Milwaukee Braves in the summer of 1957, and hit .403 to help the Braves win the pennant. (Note: Fidrych hurt his arm the next spring, and won only10 games before retiring. Giebell won but three games in his brief three-year career, and his win over Feller was his last. Hazle hit a meager .211 the next year, and was soon out of baseball.)
The Indians were playing the last place Red Sox that August afternoon in 1926 when Dutch Levsen was given the ball to pitch Game One. Before a crown of 10,000 Dutch threw a four-hitter in his 6-1 opening victory beating Boston’s Hal Wiltse, and did it in one hour and twenty-nine minutes. A sports writer who covered the games said of the control artist, “He showed us wonderful skill and courage in his right arm.”
It took Levsen a little longer to win his second game that day 5-1 over Slim Harriss – one hour and forty-three minutes. During his long afternoon on the mound he did not strike out a batter, walked two, and gave up four hits in each game. Most of the putouts were made by Indian right fielder Willis Hudlin, manager-center fielder Hall of Famer Tris Speaker, and first baseman George Burns who won the American League MVP award that year.
In looking back at his doubleheader, Dutch had such an easy time in Game One Burns suggested, “Dutch, you did so well in the first, why don’t you work the second game?” Hall of Famer shortstop Joe Sewell added, “We’re short of pitching, Dutch, maybe you can help us catch up with the Yankees”, and soon other Cleveland players began to urge Levsen to think about starting the nightcap. He later said, “I was never pressed at any time, and wasn’t even tired after the second game.” Dutch did not expect to finish the second game, but things just went well as the game went on. Incidentally, less than a month later in Cleveland’s League Park the Yankees beat Levsen and the Indians 8-3 when both Ruth and Gehrig hit home runs.
If there is a record that will never be broken, it is Dutch Levsen’s great afternoon in the summer of 1926 when he easily won two games – the last pitcher to do so- as no manager will ever again send the same pitcher to work two games. Cleveland was in the pennant race throughout that season, and finished the year three games behind the New York Yankees who were led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In the next spring training Levsen’s arm went dead as he won only three more games in his career with a 3 and 7 in 1927 and a 0 and 3 the following year. Dutch played his last major league game on July 31, 1928.
After leaving baseball he ran an ice cream store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for 20 years, sold life insurance, and worked for the Department of Agriculture in Cincinnati. He died on March 12, 1972 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota at age 73.
In Dutch Levsen’s home town of Wyoming, Iowa one can visit the Wyoming Historical Museum found in the Williams Hotel built in 1878. On display there is an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, and a 1926 Cleveland Indians baseball uniform once used by Emil Dutch Levsen.
Did the Levsen’s day of marathon pitching ruin his arm and career as his two victories on August 28th were numbers 15 and 16 in his 21 game career? One said, ‘The human arm is not made to pitch doubleheaders”, and from another, “He pitched more than he should have, and put a pretty good strain on his arm.” Regardless of whether or not he ended his career by throwing two games in the same day Dutch Levsen did have one glorious day. Before he died the Cleveland pitcher summed up his one special day, “My theory is that a professional in any sport should have one lucky afternoon and I had it. I still take great pride in that achievement.”
The last pitcher to ever throw two complete games in one day was Jack Scott of the Philadelphia Phillies in1927 who split the decisions. Prior to that year Scott had won 83 games, but lost 21 games in ’27 and only 11 thereafter. Was his marathon pitching the reason for Scott’s soon retirement, or simply age? Whatever the reason, no one will ever again see a pitcher start both games in one day.