Bob Rush (baseball)
Robert Ransom Rush (December 21, 1925 – March 19, 2011)[1] was a professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1960.
Bob Rush | |||
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Pitcher | |||
Born: Battle Creek, Michigan | December 21, 1925|||
Died: March 19, 2011 85) Mesa, Arizona | (aged|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 22, 1948, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
August 7, 1960, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 127–152 | ||
Earned run average | 3.65 | ||
Strikeouts | 1,244 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
Rush played for the Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago White Sox.
On June 11, 1950, Rush and pitcher Warren Spahn of the Braves each stole a base against each other; no opposing pitchers again stole a base in the same game until May 3, 2004, when Jason Marquis and Greg Maddux repeated the feat.[2]
Rush was an All-Star selection in 1950 and 1952.
Late in the 1957 season, while Rush was warming up in the Wrigley Field bullpen during a game, a wild pitch he threw went into the stands and injured a spectator, who sued him and the Cubs, one of the few times in Major League Baseball history when a player has been named as a defendant by a fan injured by an object that left the field. The court granted Rush summary judgement which was affirmed on appeal a decade later; however it held that the Baseball Rule, which generally immunizes teams against suits by fans injured by foul balls who sit in seats outside the backstop's protection, did not extend to an errantly thrown ball and that a jury could decide if the Cubs had adequately anticipated the risk of one leaving the field and striking a fan.[3]
He was the Milwaukee starting pitcher for Game 3 of the 1958 World Series. Rush gave the Braves six strong innings, allowing the New York Yankees only three hits. But control problems proved costly, Rush's three walks loading the bases for Hank Bauer's two-run single. Those were all the runs Yankee starter Don Larsen needed in a 4-0 win.
Rush was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, and died in Mesa, Arizona.
References
- South Bend Tribune Obituary
- Camps, Mark, "Rare feet: Opposing hurlers steal bases in the same game," The San Francisco Chronicle, 5/9/04, accessed 8/20/09
- Maytnier v. Rush, 225 N.E. 2d 83 (Ill.App. 1st Dist. 2nd Div. 1967).