Johnny Marcum


John Alfred Marcum, nicknamed "Footsie" and "Moose", was an American professional baseball player. He was a pitcher for seven seasons in Major League Baseball 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.
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. Marcum entered the major leagues late in the 1933 season with the Athletics, compiling a record of 3–2 in five appearances. 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 Most Valuable Player in the American League. 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.

Early life

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 had three younger siblings. 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. "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."

Early minor league career

Dayton Aviators (1929–1930)

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, 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.

Louisville Colonels (1931–1933)

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. 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.

Major league career

Philadelphia Athletics

1933

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. The hurler he went to see had just injured his foot and was not throwing as hard as normal, but Mack was impressed with Marcum and returned a favorable report. Around this time, the Colonels mailed a letter to all 16 of the major league teams, offering Marcum's contract to the highest bidder. Philadelphia won the bidding on August 20 with an offer of either $25,000 or $30,000, later sending Jim Peterson to the Saints to complete the transaction on September 30.
Marcum made his major league debut on September 7 at Philadelphia's Shibe Park, holding the Cleveland Indians to five hits and pitching a shutout in a 6–0 victory. His second start was a five-hit shutout as well, against the Chicago White Sox. In five starts, Marcum had a 3–2 record, a 1.95 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 20 walks, and 28 hits allowed in 37 innings pitched.

1934

By 1934, Marcum had acquired nicknames. The New York World-Telegram reported in April that he was commonly called "Footsie" because his feet were supposed to be among baseball's largest. "Moose" was another nickname of his. His season got off to an unsuccessful start, as he lost six decisions before picking up his first win on June 17, posting a 6.01 ERA in that span. Beginning with the win, he posted a 14–5 record and a 3.66 ERA over the remainder of the season. On August 18, he allowed eight hits but no runs in a 9–0 shutout of the Washington Senators. A second shutout came in the second game of a doubleheader on September 16, in which he allowed seven hits in a 2–0 victory over the St. Louis Browns. In 37 games, he had a 14–11 record, a 4.50 ERA, 92 strikeouts, 88 walks, and 257 hits in 232 innings pitched. Despite his slow start, he ended the year with more wins than any other Athletic. His 92 strikeouts were the ninth-best total in the American League.

1935

Marcum waited a while to sign his contract for 1935, hoping for more money. He began the season as the number two starter for the Athletics, behind Sugar Cain in the rotation. In Marcum's fourth start of the year, on May 17, he held the Browns to four hits in an 8–0 shutout victory. He had a busy day on June 20. Slated to pitch the second game of a doubleheader against the White Sox at Comiskey Park, he was relaxing in the clubhouse during the first game, when a teammate informed him that his manager wanted him to pinch hit in that contest. Marcum made the long journey from the clubhouse to home plate, where he was handed a bat to save time. He hit a game-tying single against John Whitehead, left the game in favor of a pinch runner, and returned to the clubhouse as Philadelphia rallied to win 5–3. Then, Marcum pitched innings in the second game, his longest outing of the year, suffering the loss in a 2–1 defeat. On July 23, he was "invincible with men on base", according to the Associated Press, as he threw an eight-hit shutout in a 2–0 victory over the White Sox. During the season, Marcum set career bests in many categories, including wins, ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched. His 17 wins were the seventh-best total in the AL, and they easily led the last-place Athletics, as no other Philadelphia pitcher won more than nine games. His 99 strikeouts were also the eighth-best total in the AL. With 4% of the votes, Marcum and teammate Pinky Higgins tied for 20th in AL Most Valuable Player voting. Following the season, on December 6, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Gordon Rhodes, George Savino, and $150,000.

Boston Red Sox

1936

W.P. Dozier Jr., sports editor of the Sarasota Herald, wrote before the 1936 season that the Red Sox would be "bolstered by the purchase of such stars as Jimmy Foxx, Heinie Manush, and Johnny Marcum." Marcum again delayed signing his contract, hoping for a $10,000 salary, though he settled for $7,500. The start of his season was delayed slightly due to a sore arm, treated by a tonsillectomy, a common remedy of the period. A win over the Browns on July 28 evened Marcum's record at 6–6, but he won only two of his final nine decisions. After Marcum failed to hold the lead in the first game of a doubleheader against the Athletics on August 19, The Telegraph wrote that "the Yawkey bankroll seems to have produced a set of elbowers that have failed so completely that Red Sox are playing exactly.500 ball today... and have sunk to sixth place ." He did throw one shutout, limiting the White Sox to seven hits in the second game of a September 3 doubleheader as Boston prevailed 5–0. In 31 games, he had an 8–13 record, a 4.81 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 52 walks, and 194 hits allowed in 174 innings pitched.

1937

Marcum won his first four decisions of 1937. On May 27, he threw a six-hit shutout in a 7–0 victory over the Senators. A wrist sprain cost him three weeks of action in June. He pitched 11 innings in the second game of a doubleheader on July 10, besting his old team by a 5–2 score. In 37 games, he had a 13–11 record, a 4.85 ERA, 59 strikeouts, 47 walks, and 230 hits allowed in innings. Nowlin noted that while his ERA was similar to the previous year, his win–loss record was much improved. Following the season, in its assessment of Marcum and several other veterans the Red Sox had acquired over the years, the Courier-Post reported that "none has set the world on fire since going to Boston".