Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2023/Tungsten Arm O'Doyle

Tungsten Arm O'Doyle
Tungsten Arm O'Doyle
	O'Doyle in 1919
	Pitcher / First baseman
	Born: June 8, 1890; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
	Died: September 26, 1992 (aged 102); Leadhills, Scotland
	Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
	May 30, 1908, for the Burlington Gentlemen
Last MLB appearance
	September 26, 1927, for the Lansing Blue Stockings
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	498–467
Earned run average	1.56
Strikeouts	7,699
Teams
	Burlington Gentlemen (1908); Hartford Hartfords (1909–1912); Washington Governors (1913–1919); Akron Groomsmen (1920–1924); Lansing Blue Stockings (1925–1927);
Career highlights and awards
	2× Triple Crown (1911, 1915); 10× Wins leader (1909-1912, 1916-1917, 1919-1921, 1923); 5× Losses leader (1920–1924); 10× ERA leader (1909-1916, 1920-1921); 15× Strikeout leader (1908-1922); Pitched a perfect game on August 11, 1916; Pitched nine no-hitters; Ohio Sports Hall of Fame; Akron Groomsmen No. 11 retired; Major League Baseball All-Century Team; MLB records 9,729 career innings pitched; 1,220 career games started; 819 career complete games; 7,699 strikeouts; 1.56 career ERA;
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1936
Vote	100% (first ballot)

Frederick Kornold "Tungsten Arm" O'Doyle (June 8, 1890 – September 26, 1992) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he sold fruit to support his family as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. O'Doyle entered the major leagues in 1908, when he was only 17 years old with the Burlington Gentlemen. He was then sold to the Hartford Hartfords franchise. In the 1912 offseason, O'Doyle made the controversial decision to jump to the Washington Governors, a decision that doomed the Hartfords franchise and led to their bankruptcy the next season. He left Washington to move closer to home in 1920, going to the Akron Groomsmen. It was here where he statistically had his best seasons, despite an abysmal win–loss record while there. He finished his career with the Lansing Blue Sox, retiring in 1927.

O'Doyle was one of the most creative and controlling pitchers throughout his career. This allowed him to pitch very well through his 30s. By the time O'Doyle retired, he had established numerous pitching records, many of which stood for a whole century. He holds MLB records for the most career losses with 467, innings pitched, games started, complete games, strikeouts, and career earned run average. He led his league in losses during five straight seasons and pitched nine no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1916. O'Doyle was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the inaugural Class of 1936.

Despite his massive success as a pitcher, numerous events took a toll on O'Doyle, leading him to commit suicide in Scotland by going in a cave and setting off over 200 sticks of dynamite. The resulting explosion killed him and caused the mountain the cave was in to collapse.

Early life[edit]

O'Doyle was born in a small inn in Philadelphia on June 8, 1890. He was of predominantly Irish and German ancestry.

Growing up, his family was impoverished and struggled to make a living. His mother never had a job during his childhood, and his dad worked as a coal miner. To make money to try and support his family, he sold fruit in the city from their neighbor's fruit farm. He made some money off of it, but the stand was a frequent target for street urchins, and he often came back home with little to no money. To defend himself, he would sometimes throw fruit at the urchins to get them to go away. This, combined with the discovery of the element tungsten in his father's coal mine, led to him being called "Tungsten Arm". In 1906, he left his family and Philadelphia to move to Burlington, Vermont in search of greater economic opportunity.

Professional career[edit]

During his first two years in Burlington, he attempted to find consistent work, but he was often fired after a few months for a variety of reasons. During one particular occurrence, he was walking back after a particularly frustrating firing and he found an apple on the side of a road. In a rage, he threw the apple over 800 feet away into a local farmer's backyard. The farmer turned out to be Burlington Gentlemen manager Wiggly Sampson, and he invited the 17 year old O'Doyle for a tryout. He was reluctant due to the memories of him throwing fruit at urchins, but he agreed to do it.

Early career[edit]

At the tryout, he immediately impressed, and was signed on the spot. He spent only one season with Burlington before finally getting his big break by being sold to the Hartford Hartfords in 1909. O'Doyle broke out during his time with Hartford, establishing himself as one of baseball's best young pitchers with his blazing fastball. He threw the first recorded pitch over 100 miles per hour on May 26, 1911 after Turtleneck Horveeck for the opposing Richmond Honeyhams sent an O'Doyle fastball right to O'Doyle's groin area in the at bat before. He threw at Horveeck's head, successfully hitting him and killing him instantly. At the time, O'Doyle remarked that it was the proudest moment of his career:

The at–bat before was a challenging one for me. To his credit, he was incredibly resilient at the plate. However, when he couldn't defeat me in the game, he made it personal and inflicted an amount of pain that was only matched by the embarrassment that followed it. I had no choice but to defend and protect myself, and I did the only thing I knew how to do: eliminate my competition.

Washington Governors[edit]

Going into the 1913 season, O'Doyle was not satisfied playing for the Hartfords anymore and wanted out. He threatened owner Stoney Ford by saying if his contract weren't sold somewhere else, he would decapitate his favorite horse. When Ford refused, O'Doyle followed through with his request, even going as far as sneaking the bloody head inside Ford's bed. Ford finally complied by selling him to the Washington Governors in a move that would eventually doom the franchise.

His time with Washington was the longest and one of the best stints he would have with one team. He was their ace throughout his seven seasons there, and he had excellent stats in this span. His best season came in 1915, when he won the Triple Crown for pitching: most wins, most strikeouts, and lowest earned run average. Despite also winning it in 1911, the former wasn't recognized up to this point due to Horveeck's death. On August 16, 1916, O'Doyle threw the fifth perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Facing his old team, the Hartford Hartfords, he struck out 18 batters en route to a 4–0 win. It was at this point in his career that he also became a batter as well, hitting for a .302 batting average in 1918. Desiring to move closer back home in Philadelphia, O'Doyle was released from his contract with the Governors.

Akron Groomsmen[edit]

O'Doyle chose Akron as his next team, despite the team being poor the season prior and being limited in offensive performance. He selected jersey number 11. The weaknesses of the team would become glaringly obvious, as O'Doyle led the league in losses every year he was in Akron, while O'Doyle himself was having the best season of his career. During the 1921 season alone, he set new MLB records for lowest earned run average in a season and most strikeouts in a season, along with throwing two no-hitters, both of which the Groomsmen lost. He also started doing much better with the bat, as he set records and recorded stats never seen before in games doing both. These records would stand for one whole century before Shohei Ohtani broke them during his 2021 MVP season. Despite these records, the team lost as many games as they had before signing O'Doyle and he decided to leave the team after a down 1924 season.

Lansing Blue Sox[edit]

Moving up north, O'Doyle joined the World Series champions the previous year, the Lansing Blue Sox. Because he was concerned about his age as he was 34 in 1924, he stopped hitting and once again focused on pitching. His performance improved with the Blue Sox, and they found some postseason success. In what would turn out to be O'Doyle's final season, the Blue Sox made the 1927 World Series, facing the Evanston Lakers. They forced a game seven in which O'Doyle was scheduled to pitch. He pitched eight shutout innings, and the game was tied at 0 heading into the ninth. When the Lakers came up to bat in the bottom on the ninth, O'Doyle stayed on. He had two outs and was up 0–2 before deciding to end his career on the mound. He threw the slowest recorded pitch in MLB history at 25 miles per hour, allowing Joseph "Shoey" Jackrabbit to hit a game and series–winning home run. He retired at 37 years old

Despite the way his career ended, O'Doyle left behind a legacy of dominance and showmanship. His constant antics on and off the field, along with his 100 mile per hour fastball made him a fan favorite in every city he pitched in. The other side to that was the constant heartbreak he had to deal with while pitching, especially during his time in Akron. Knowing that he was likely to lose the game, he was able to pitch for five years there.

Personal life[edit]

After leaving Philadelphia, he never saw his parents again. His father was killed when a vengeful urchin threw a coconut at his head. His mother went missing one year later and was never found.

O'Doyle never wed and he did not have any kids. Towards the end of his time in Lansing, he formed a close friendship with a barmaid, Molly Malone of Cathcart Street, originally from Inishvickillane. Late one night, Mrs. Malone's husband Pádraig told his drinking friends that he would kill O'Doyle: but the very next morning, Mr. Malone's body was found dead in a barrel of absinthe. After that O'Doyle lived mostly a private life. He bought properties around the world and began moving every few years to different countries. Due to this, he was hardly ever seen in public.

Depression and suicide[edit]

While O'Doyle had been famous for his lack of empathy during his career, his struggles started to weigh on him more and more as he aged, particularly the way he ended his career. He started to regret the antics he had done in the past, such as killing Horveeck and decapitating Ford's horse. He battled depression for 65 years after he had retired. On September 26, 1992, while living in Scotland, O'Doyle went to a cave in Leadhills to mine for coal as his father did during Tungsten Arm's childhood. After coming up empty on the day, O'Doyle decided to end his life. He went to his home in nearby Wanlockhead to retrieve his stash of homemade dynamite he had made the year prior. It is estimated that this stash consisted of over 200 sticks of dynamite. He returned to the cave, went deep inside, and set off the dynamite. The explosion was so powerful that it not only killed O'Doyle instantly, but also caused Mount Ennernock, the mountain in which the cave was located, to completely collapse. The resulting debris took over five years to clear. His body has never been found. He was 102 years old.

External links[edit]

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