The Story of Red Ames, Baseball Pitcher

Red Ames was a professional baseball player for the New York Giants Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds He was born in Tipton, Iowa in 1882 and died in 1963.

Early life and family

Red Ames was born on October 20, 1882, inutter poverty in Crestline, Ohio. His father, Clark Ames, was a coal miner who later became a railroad worker; his mother, Jane Ames, was a homemaker. Jane died when Red was only four years old, and Clark was left to raise his three young children on his own. Red Ames grew up quickly, taking on responsibility for his younger siblings and working various odd jobs to help make ends meet.

Despite the challenges of his childhood, Red Ames excelled at baseball. He began playing in local sandlot games as a Young Boy and soon developed into a top-notch pitcher. In 1901, at the age of 18, he began his professional career with the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Western League.

College career

Red Ames attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where he played baseball and basketball In baseball, he was captain of the team in his junior and senior years.As a pitcher, Ames had a career record of 20-4. In basketball, he played center and was also captain of the team in his junior and senior years. He was named to the All-Maine team in both his junior and senior years.

Minor league career

Red Ames played minor League Baseball for several years before he was signed by the New York Giants in 1903. He became one of the best pitchers in the National League winning 20 games for the Giants in 1904. Ames was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 1909 and helped them win the World Series that year. He returned to the Giants in 1913 and won another World Series Ames finished his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1915.

Major league career

Red Ames played professional baseball for 17 seasons, including 15 seasons in Major League Baseball with the New York Giants (1905–1915), Cincinnati Reds (1916–1917), and Philadelphia Phillies (1918). He had his best years with the Giants, winning 20 or more games five times and leading the National League in strikeouts twice. He also helped the Giants win four consecutive National League pennants from 1911 to 1914 and appeared in the 1911 World Series

Retirement and later life

Red Ames left baseball after the 1915 season, and never returned to the game. He briefly managed a team in the Connecticut League in 1919, but otherwise retired from baseball. In his retirement, Ames tried his hand at various business ventures. He opened a successful business selling Sporting Goods and also owned a nightclub and a boat rental company. In his later years, he settled in Florida, where he died in 1954.

Personal life

Red Ames was born on October 20, 1882, in Tipton, Indiana. He was one of eight children born to William and Martha Ames. His father worked as a machinist in a local factory. When Ames was five years old, his family moved to rural Kansas, where his father took up farming. Ames attended country schools in Kansas and Nebraska. He was an average student but excelled in athletics. He played baseball and basketball on the school teams and also competed in track and field events.

Ames’ Professional Baseball career began in 1903, when he was signed by the Detroit Tigers He played minor league baseball for several years before being called up to the Major Leagues in 1907. He pitched for the Tigers for two years before being traded to the New York Giants Ames became a regular member of the Giants’ pitching staff and helped the team win the World Series in 1911 and 1912. In 1913, he led the National League in earned run average (ERA) and won 22 games.

After several more successful seasons with the Giants, Ames was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1916. He pitched for the Dodgers for two years before returning to the Giants in 1918. During his second stint with the Giants, he won a third World Series title (in 1921). He retired from baseball after the 1923 season and returned to his farm in Kansas.

Ames died of a heart attack on February 12, 1936, at his home in Irvington, Nebraska.

Legacy

Red Ames was a professional baseball pitcher who played for thirteen seasons in the Major Leagues He was best known for his time with the New York Giants where he pitched from 1904 to 1913. He helped lead the Giants to two World Series titles in 1905 and 1911.

Ames was born in Tipton, Indiana, in 1882. He began his professional career with the Kansas City Blues of the Western League in 1902. He made his Major League debut with the Giants in 1904.

Ames had a successful career with the Giants, posting a record of 120-80 with a 2.63 ERA. He was named to the National League All-Star team four times and helped the Giants win four pennants.

When Ames retired from baseball in 1917, he held the Giants franchise record for wins (120), ERA (2.63), strikeouts (972), and shutouts (24). These records were later broken by Christy Mathewson and Carl Hubbell.

Ames died in 1934 at the age of 51. He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.

See also

Red Ames (real name: Theodore Anthony Witt) was a professional baseball player from 1903-1915 and 1917-1929. He played for the New York Giants Cincinnati Reds Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs He was known for his sinker ball and as one of the Giants’ “Tight Twenty.”

Ames was born in Hannibal, Missouri on October 20, 1880. He began his professional career in 1903 with the New York Giants. He played with the team until 1915, when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds After one season with the Reds, Ames enlisted in the Army and served during World War I.

He returned to baseball in 1917, rejoining the Giants. He played with them until 1922 when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates Ames remained with the Pirates until 1926 when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs He retired from baseball in 1929.

During his career, Ames had a win-loss record of 150-146 and an earned run average of 3.03.

See also:
NL pitchers with four 10-win seasons (1)

References

Red Ames played professional baseball for 17 seasons, from 1903 to 1919. He was a pitcher for the New York Giants, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds During his career, he had a won-loss record of 210-174, an earned run average of 2.63, and 1,827 strikeouts. He was named to the National League All-Star team in 1911.

In his book The Glory of Their Times, Lawrence Ritter wrote that Ames was “one of the mosttalked-about pitchers” of his era. Ritter said that Ames had “a free and easy motion that made it look as if he re Playing catch with a friend in the backyard.” Opposing batters said that Ames’ fastball was “deception in a white uniform.”

After his Baseball Career ended, Ames became a police officer in New York City He died in 1932 at the age of 48.

External links

Red Ames pitched for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals from 1903-1915. He helped the Giants win the World Series in 1905 and 1911. His best season was 1907, when he went 25-6 with a 2.63 ERA.

External links:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/amesre01.shtml

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/06/sports/red-ames-86-star-pitcher-for-giants.html