Jack Harshman

John Elvin Harshman (July 12, 1927 – August 17, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, and Cleveland Indians between 1948 and 1960.

He batted and threw left-handed.

Harshman was born in San Diego, California, in 1927.

He began his professional career at the age of 17 in 1945 for the San Diego Padres of the minor league AA Pacific Coast League.

For his first five seasons, Harshman was being conditioned to be a major league hitter instead of a pitcher.

Harshman's short stint in San Diego ended with a .254 batting average in 67 at-bats.

In 1946, Harshman moved over to the Class C Modesto Reds, where he hit .288 in 56 games before being shipped back to the PCL San Diego squad for only 3 games.

1947 was his first busy season as he played in 151 games for the Victoria Athletics in the Western International League.

Harshman smashed 36 home runs while batting a modest .306.

He then moved up yet again to the San Diego squad for just 11 games and a poor .148 average.

Despite the sluggish ending, the major league New York Giants purchased his contract as a first baseman in December 1947.

In 1948, Harshman went to the Jersey City Giants of the AAA International League.

He hit 24 home runs, drove in 76 runs, and batted .245.

He received a brief call-up to the Giants and batted .250 in 9 plate appearances.

1949 was a breakout year for the 21-year-old slugger.

In 150 games for the AA Minneapolis Millers, Harshman smashed 40 home runs and had 111 RBI.

1950 saw an unexpected change in Jack's progression.

He batted a terrible .193 in 35 games for the Class A Jacksonville Tars and a below average .230 for Minneapolis.

His second MLB stint with the Giants went even worse, batting just .125 in 32 at bats.

It was around this point that management thought about changing Harshman's role in the organization.

During his sluggish 1950 season, he was brought in to pitch two games for the Jacksonville Tars.

He threw for 12 innings and a 6.75 ERA, splitting his 2 games for a 1–1 record.

In 1951 Harshman got back on track with his slugging career.

In 154 games for the Nashville Volunteers, he crashed 47 home runs with a fair .251 average.

However, his manager once again experimented with Jack potentially being a pitcher, letting him take the field in 5 games.

He posted another 1–1 record, but lowered his ERA to 3.94.

Despite bringing a huge bat in the previous season, the decision was made to give Harshman double duty as a pitcher and occasional utility hitter.

He batted .222 with 8 home runs and 15 RBI in just 135 at bats, but most of his work for the 1952 season came from on the mound.

Harshman pitched in 26 games with 14 starts, threw a total of 131 innings with 78 strikeouts, a 4.67 ERA, and an average 6–7 win–loss record.

1953 was Harshman's breakout year.

In the AA Southern Association Nashville Volunteers, Jack posted a remarkable 23–7 record with a 3.27 ERA.

Despite his successful transition from a first baseman slugger to a young phenom pitcher, the Giants allowed the Chicago White Sox to purchase Harshman's contract.

Jack made his White Sox debut against the Cleveland Indians on April 14, 1954.

He started the game, but only lasted 3 innings after being tagged for four earned runs on eight hits.

After another ineffective start on April 19, Harshman was demoted to the bullpen.

He continued to struggle until being given another start on June 6.

He responded by throwing a seven-hit shutout against the Washington Senators.

On July 25, he struck out 16 Red Sox hitters, including Ted Williams in a complete game for a 5–2 win.

At the time, it was the most strikeouts in the long history of Fenway Park.

The record would stand for 32 years until a young flamethrower named Roger Clemens fanned a Major League best 20 batters.