Arthur Bradsher

Arthur Bradsher
Pitcher
Born: January 17, 1883
Roxboro, North Carolina
Died: January 21, 1951(1951-01-21) (aged 58)
Beaufort, North Carolina
Batted: Left Threw: Left
debut
Trinity College
Last appearance
1904-1905
Career statistics
Strikeouts 586
Shutouts 15
No-hitters 5

Arthur Brown Bradsher (January 17, 1883 – January 21, 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.

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

Pitcher Arthur Bradsher

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]

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. 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.

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 game was against Guilford. 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 (0.410), 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 Muse.[14] His oldest son Charles was a chemistry professor.

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. 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 on the Neuse River near New Bern, North Carolina.[16][17]

References

  1. ↑ "Our History - Trinity College of Arts & Sciences". trinity.duke.edu.
  2. ↑ Eugenia Bradsher. "A History of the Bradsher Family".
  3. ↑ N.C.), Trinity College (Durham (1901). "Annual Catalogue of Trinity College (Durham, N.C.)". Trinity College. p. 124 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Bradsher, Arthur Brown (15 July 2018). "The Manufacture of Tobacco in North Carolina". Historical Society of Trinity College – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "Tombs Staged A Dinner Last Night". Durham Morning Herald. April 7, 1922. p. 9. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Arthur Bradsher, '04, Great Trinity Pitcher, Dies". Duke University Alumni Register. Durham, N.C. February 1951. p. 43.
  7. ↑ Spence 1954, p. 33
  8. ↑ Duke University 2018, p. 8
  9. ↑ "Trinity Turns The Trick". The Durham Sun. May 11, 1904. p. 4. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "A Long Tie Game At Macon". Atlanta Constitution. April 8, 1905. p. 9. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "All-Southern Team 1905 Selected by J. W. Heisman". Atlanta Constitution. June 4, 1905. p. 3. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Duke University 2018, pp. 86-89
  13. ↑ Duke University Hall of Fame Committee Art Chase
  14. ↑ "Popular College Athlete Marries". Times Dispatch. September 2, 1907. p. 3.
  15. ↑ "King of Diamond Declined Pro Bid". The Daily Tribune. May 2, 1951. p. 10. Retrieved July 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Duke University Alumni Register. Durham, N.C. February 1951. p. 43.
  17. ↑ "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.
  • Duke University (2018). Duke University Baseball Media Guide (PDF).
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