Johnny Marcum

John Alfred Marcum (September 9, 1909 – September 10, 1984), nicknamed "Footsie" and "Moose", was an American professional baseball pitcher.

He played for seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, and Chicago White Sox.

Over seven seasons, he had a 65–63 record and a 4.66 earned run average (ERA).

Growing up in Kentucky, Marcum's professional career started after Bill Neal, the manager of the Louisville Colonels, saw him pitching and signed him to a contract.

John Alfred Marcum was born on September 9, 1909, in Campbellsburg, Kentucky.

His parents, Ben and Grace, were of American and Irish descent, the athlete later recalled.

In addition to a brother, Tillman, who was seven years his senior, Johnny eventually had three younger siblings as well.

His first home was his family's Campbellsburg farm, but when he was three, the Marcums moved closer to Eminence to work on a tenant farm.

Ben had a local reputation as a standout baseball pitcher in semipro ball.

Sometimes on weekends, he would give his sons time off from their tasks to play a contest.

In 1927, Bill Neal, who managed the Louisville Colonels of the Class AA American Association, saw Marcum pitching and signed him to a contract.

Reports indicate that Marcum spent much of the 1928 season pitching batting practice for Louisville and playing occasional games as an outfielder.

Statistics for him are unrecorded.

A March article by The Courier-Journal said that his delivery of a baseball "strongly resembles the throwing of a corncob at a cow by a rheumatic woman in December", though the article also noted that he was a hard thrower.

Louisville optioned him to the Dayton Aviators, a Class B team, in 1929.

In 39 games for the Aviators, Marcum had a 9–19 record, a 5.37 earned run average (ERA), 109 strikeouts, 83 walks, and 326 hits allowed in 285 innings pitched.

His 19 losses led the Central League, and his 326 hits allowed ranked second to Alex McColl's 339.

Marcum spent most of the 1930 season with Dayton.

In 22 games as a pitcher, he had a 6–9 record, a 5.75 ERA, and 179 hits allowed in 130 innings pitched.

However, he also played 55 games in the outfield.

As a hitter, he batted .421 with 114 hits and 17 home runs.

Promoted to Louisville late in the year, he won four of the five games he pitched, while also batting .395.

Used as a right fielder in the Little World Series, Marcum had at least one hit in all eight games, though the Colonels lost the series to the Rochester Red Wings.

In 1931, Marcum spent the whole season with Louisville, again playing the outfield on days he was not pitching.

In 35 games pitched, he had an 8–14 record, a 5.63 ERA, and 229 hits allowed in 168 innings pitched.

Though his batting totals were lower than what they had been in Dayton, he still hit .296 with seven home runs.

Despite this, manager Allen Sothoron thought Marcum was too slow to reach the major leagues as an outfielder, and he used him strictly as a pitcher the following season.

Pitching 34 games in 1932, Marcum posted an 8–9 record and 154 hits allowed in 130 innings.

Marcum entered the major leagues late in the 1933 season with the Athletics, compiling a record of 3–2 in five appearances.

However, he had what biographer Bill Nowlin termed a "breakout year" in 1933.

Making 37 appearances, Marcum posted a 20–13 record and a 3.74 ERA, allowing 278 hits in 272 innings.

Though the Colonels finished last in the American Association's East Division, Marcum's 20 wins were third in the league, behind only Paul Dean's 22 and Bill Lee's 21.

During the 1933 season, Earle Mack, a scout for the Philadelphia Athletics, attended a series between Louisville and the St. Paul Saints, attempting to find his team another pitcher.

He spent the next two years with the Athletics as one of their main starting pitchers, posting records of 14–11 in 1934 and 17–12 in 1935, a season in which he received votes for the American League Most Valuable Player.

"As a pitcher I don't mind saying that I could always fool the kids around the farm," Marcum recollected in 1935.

"Maybe that's why they made me go to the outfield now and then."

Before the 1936 season, Marcum was traded to the Red Sox, who were spending a great deal of money in hopes of improving.

Marcum spent 1936–1938 with Boston, but he and other acquisitions failed to live up to expectations.

After splitting 1939 between the Browns and the White Sox, Marcum pitched in the minor leagues for several more seasons before retiring.

Following his baseball career, he returned to Kentucky, tending a 165-acre farm in Eminence.