Arthur Brown Bradsher (January 10, 1883 – January 27, 1951) was a college baseball player and tobacco businessman. He was a left-handed pitcher for the Trinity College (now Duke University) baseball team in the Deadball Era.[1] Bradsher was most notable for his 586 strikeouts, 15 shutouts, and five no-hitters, achieved during his college career between 1901 and 1905.
| Arthur Bradsher | |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | |
| Born: January 10, 1883 Roxboro, North Carolina | |
| Died: January 27, 1951 (aged 68) Beaufort, North Carolina | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| debut | |
| Trinity College | |
| Last appearance | |
| 1904-1905 | |
| Career statistics | |
| Strikeouts | 586 |
| Shutouts | 15 |
| No-hitters | 5 |
Early years
Bradsher was born on January 17, 1883 in Roxboro, North Carolina. His father Charles E. Bradsher was a doctor, and died when Arthur was just four years old.[2] His mother Nancy Malone married O. T. Carver after Charles died.
Trinity College
Bradsher attended Trinity College from 1901 to 1904 and graduated Cum Laude. He received his master's degree in 1905. His thesis was entitled "Growing tobacco in the State of North Carolina."[3][4]
Tombs
In 1903, Bradsher was the principal founder of the Tombs, one of the strongest organizations on the Trinity/Duke campus from 1903 to 1942.[5] Its purpose was to promote Varsity and intramural athletics and to improve team sportsmanship and school spirit. Another objective was to firmly cement relations between Trinity and other schools in the field of sports. The Tombs morphed into the Varsity Club in 1945. It combined the strengths from both organizations. Bradsher returned to the campus often to council the Tombs organization.[6]
Baseball
Bradsher was picked as the top college baseball player in the South in both the 1904 and 1905 seasons by the likes of John Heisman. Heisman nicknamed Bradsher “King of the Southern Diamond.”[7] He lettered five times at Trinity.[8]
1902
The Trinity College "strikeout king" captured the hearts of the Southern fans and newspaper reporters after he pitched three shutouts in eight days in April 1902, striking out forty-three batters and allowing a total of three hits. This phenomenal performance has never been matched.
1903
His pitching record for his Sophomore season was 7-2-1. In the 4-4 tie against Mercer he was called on for the only relief appearance of his career. He pitched six perfect no-hit innings striking out twelve Mercer batters. The game was called for darkness after twelve innings. Bradsher led the Trinity team with a ,354 batting average in 1903.
1904
After beginning the 1904 season pitching two no-hitters and on his way to a third, Bradsher took himself out with a cut finger against Guilford College.[9] He threw with pinpoint control and led Trinity to the 1904 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship.. Bradsher won 13 games and lost only one while recording a 0.73 ERA. His WHIP average (4 walks+ 47 hits divided by 129 innings pitched = .0.395. The four walks in 129 innings and in fourteen complete games is a record that still stands.
1905
In 1905, Bradsher missed a perfect game against Mercer due to a miscue by his shortstop in the second inning of his no-hit, no walk, ten inning performance.[10] His twenty-two strikeouts in the game was a record that stood until 1965.[citation needed]
Heisman chose Bradsher as his premier player and captain for his All-Southern team. Heisman was quoted in the Atlanta Constitution: “This young man is beyond all questioning the most prominent player of the season. With most extraordinary ability as pitcher, he combines the advantages of being a good batter and base runner...And, I would have him captain of my team. He has the bearing of a gentleman, the forbearance of a true sportsman, and the ideal temperament of the fighting athlete, ever determined, never dismayed, always strong with a persistent smile to help out. As a captain, he would be a credit and ornament to any team.”[11]
Records
Seven times he went to the mound and pitched no-hit ball. Five of those appearances were complete games. A sixth was his only college game in relief where he pitched six perfect innings and struck out twelve batters. His other non-complete no-hit game was against Guilford where he removed himself in the eighth inning with a cut finger. Arthur Bradsher struck out 15 batters on 10 occasions.
Bradsher holds 11 single season Duke pitching records: Most strikeouts in a single season (171), most wins in a single season (13), most innings pitched in a season (134), most games started (14), most complete games in a season (14), least hits given up per 9 innings (2.34), least walks per 9 innings (0.29), strikeout to walk ratio (42.75), whip (0.395), shutouts (5), and lowest ERA (0.0746). He holds nine career pitching records: Career games started (58), career wins (42), complete games (53), innings pitched (513), fewest hits per 9 innings (4.28), most career strikeouts (586), most career shutouts (15), most years lettered in a single sport (5) and most years serving as a team captain (3).[12] Bradsher has been added to the 2020 ballot for the Duke University Baseball Hall of Fame. [13]
Personal
On August 29, 1907, Bradsher married Elizabeth Chadwick Muse.[14]. Four of their five children attended Duke University, His oldest son Charles was a chemistry professor at Duke for forty-five years. Twenty family members and decedents attended Duke University.
Tobacco career
After graduation from Trinity College, it was reported by Ted Mann, the publicist for Duke University, that Bradsher turned down an offer to play professional baseball in the amount of $10,000.[15] That would have been the highest price ever offered a player coming out of college.[citation needed] Instead he accepted a job in the tobacco industry, with American Tobacco Company.
In 1945, Bradsher retired from his position as Vice President, at Imperial Tobacco in Montreal, Canada, to his 100-acre farm, Summerlea on the Neuse River near New Bern, North Carolina.[16][17]
Coming Soon,,,The :King of the Southern Diamond." The novel "King of the Southern Diamond" is scheduled to be mid-summer 2019. The legendary John Heisman nicknamed Arthur Bradsher, King of the Southern Diamond, after he started the 1904 season hurling twenty-five consecutive no-hit innings. Baseball was king at the turn of the twentieth century. America wanted an idol from the college playing fields and they found one in Arthur Brown Bradsher, the best pitcher in the country. He had pinpoint control, movie star looks and cum laude intelligence. One newspaper reported “Every woman in the South wanted to marry him and every baseball boss in the country wanted to own him.” The Trinity College “strikeout king” captured the hearts of the Southern fans and newspaper reporters after he pitched three shutouts in eight days in April 1902, striking out forty-eight batters and allowing a total of three hits. This phenomenal performance has never been matched. The creative non-fiction, 85,000-word work depicts much more than the exciting escapades on the ball field. It is a tender love story between Trinity college sweethearts Arthur Bradsher and Lizzie Muse. In 1905, the pros offered Bradsher $10,000, equivalent of a million-dollar contract in the modern era. Would it be Lizzie or baseball? Would he pitch for Boston and lose Lizzie? Or would he decide on a life of love and family? King of the Southern Diamond came from the desire of a grandson to know his grandfather that he never met. It is based on three years of research, 250 newspaper articles, family letters and diaries, with special help from the Duke University library. The author knows baseball. He played on two state championship baseball teams at Westminster in Atlanta, played college ball at the University of North Carolina, and coached youth programs for six years. Love, God, baseball, family, and adventure… King of the Southern Diamond touches all the bases.
References
- ^ "Our History - Trinity College of Arts & Sciences". trinity.duke.edu.
- ^ Eugenia Bradsher. "A History of the Bradsher Family".
- ^ N.C.), Trinity College (Durham (1901). "Annual Catalogue of Trinity College (Durham, N.C.)". Trinity College. p. 124 – via Google Books.
- ^ Bradsher, Arthur Brown (15 July 2018). "The Manufacture of Tobacco in North Carolina". Historical Society of Trinity College – via Google Books.
- ^ "Tombs Staged A Dinner Last Night". Durham Morning Herald. April 7, 1922. p. 9. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Arthur Bradsher, '04, Great Trinity Pitcher, Dies". Duke University Alumni Register. Durham, N.C. February 1951. p. 43.
- ^ Spence 1954, p. 33
- ^ Duke University 2018, p. 8
- ^ "Trinity Turns The Trick". The Durham Sun. May 11, 1904. p. 4. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "A Long Tie Game At Macon". Atlanta Constitution. April 8, 1905. p. 9. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "All-Southern Team 1905 Selected by J. W. Heisman". Atlanta Constitution. June 4, 1905. p. 3. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Duke University 2018, pp. 86–89
- ^ Duke University Hall of Fame Committee Art Chase
- ^ "Popular College Athlete Marries". Times Dispatch. September 2, 1907. p. 3.
- ^ "King of Diamond Declined Pro Bid". The Daily Tribune. May 2, 1951. p. 10. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Duke University Alumni Register. Durham, N.C. February 1951. p. 43.
- ^ "Annual Report of Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada, Limited" (PDF). 1940.
Books
- Spence, Hersey Everett (1954). "I Remember": Recollections and Reminiscences of Alma Mater. Seeman Printery.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Duke University (2018). Duke University Baseball Media Guide (PDF).
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