This Week in Texas History
by BARTEE HAILE
The long career of Firpo Marberry, major-league baseball’s first relief pitcher, came to an end on May 9, 1941 with his unconditional release by the Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League.
Even though Fred Marberry was the tenth child born to a Mississippi couple who took up residence in north central Texas, there were only four siblings to welcome him into the family in 1898. The other five were already dead.
Growing up on a farm near Streetman, south of Dallas, Fred had no time for extracurricular activities. After school, on weekends and in the summer, there were always chores to do. Except for an occasional game with the local amateur team, he played very little baseball in his teens.
Then came the life-changing day Fred took his turn on the pitcher’s mound. He just rared back and threw the ball with all his might. The result was a blazing fastball that baffled batters. And he did it again and again with amazing accuracy.
When word got out that there was a pitching phenom who was as strong as an ox and almost as big (six-foot-one and 200 pounds) in the neighborhood, the Mexia Gushers made a beeline for the Marberry farm. Given the choice of spending his afternoons on a diamond or his life behind a plow, the youth picked baseball.
After three months in the Class D Texas-Oklahoma League, Fred moved up a class to the Cotton States League in Mississippi. Still unhittable, he leapfrogged to the Southern Association just one level below the big leagues, finishing the 1922 season with the Little Rock Travelers.
Back with the Travelers the next year, the strong-armed farm boy continued to overpower batters. Hearing there was a young pitcher with a fastball that had to be seen to be believed, a scout for the Washington Senators caught the next train for Little Rock. He returned to the nation’s capital a few days later with Fred Marberry under contract.
When the excited scout explained that his prize prospect was a one-pitch wonder, the Washington manager and coaches thought he had lost his mind. But one look at the Texan’s fastball convinced them to put him in the starting rotation.
Marberry had been on the Senators roster only a month when teammates stuck him with the nickname that he hated to his dying day. Someone noticed the big rookie bore a vague resemblance to Luis Firpo, the hulking Argentine boxer that knocked Jack Dempsey out of the ring on Sep. 14, 1923. From that day on, Fred was “Firpo.”
That same season the Senators came up with a radical new idea – a backup pitcher whose job was to “relieve” the starter, whenever he got into trouble or ran out of gas. This was pure heresy at a time when starting pitchers were expected to finish what they started. For example, Walter Johnson, the Senators’ ace when Marberry joined the team, went nine full innings in 80 percent of his 666 starts over 21 seasons.
Under a new manager, Bucky Harris, Marberry started the 1924 campaign as an extra starter and the number-two relief pitcher. When the first-string reliever faltered, Harris called upon Firpo more and more, and he responded with 15 “saves” in 35 relief appearances in addition to 14 starts. His 11-12 win-loss record was no true indication of his contribution to the Senators’ first American League pennant.
Despite his age and inexperience, Marberry was immune to the pressure of the World Series. He was a lifesaver in Game Two, striking out the one batter he faced to hold the New York Giants in check, making it possible for the Senators to rally for the win in the bottom of the ninth.
Firpo was not at his best in his one start, as he gave up four runs in three shaky innings in Game Three. But he was the ever-reliable “fireman” the next day with two perfect innings in relief that helped the Senators tie the Series at two games apiece on the way to their first and last world championship.
While Washington began a steady decline into decades of mediocrity after back-to-back pennants in 1924 and 1925, Marberry matured into baseball’s first great relief pitcher. Used almost exclusively out of the bullpen in 1926, he had 22 saves in 59 relief appearances, a record that stood for 23 years.
When Walter Johnson changed roles in 1929, going from player to manager, Firpo got what he wanted – more starts. Again he rose to the challenge with a combined 58-25 record during “The Big Train’s” four years at the helm.
Both Johnson and Marberry left Washington after the 1932 season. Worried that his suddenly sore arm was a permanent condition, the Senators traded Firpo to Detroit. He proved them wrong by chalking up 16 victories for the Tigers in 1933 and 15 in 1934.
But Fred “Firpo” Marberry never won another major league game and by June 1936 was back in the minors. He pitched another four seasons for clubs like the Dallas Steers and Rebels and Fort Worth Cats of the Texas League before finally calling it a career at 42.
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