Orval Overall: A Forgotten Pitcher from the Cubs' Dynastic Past

Orval OverallA Forgotten Pitcher from the Cubs' Dynastic Past Jason Cannon (bio) When Mike Montgomery recorded the final out of the Chicago Cubs memorable 2016 World Series championship, he replaced Orval Overall as the last pitcher in team history to deliver a title clinching pitch. Overall belonged to the Cubs' "500 club," a team that won 530 games, four pennants, and back-to-back World Series titles from 1906 through 1910, but the legends of the team's four Hall of Famers have overshadowed Orval's contributions. Overall led the league in shutouts twice, set a Cubs' season record with 205 strikeouts, and won three World Series games during parts of his six seasons in Chicago between 1906 and 1913. Overall's success with the Cubs speaks not only to his talent and work ethic but also to the brilliant personnel work of manager Frank Chance who rescued the struggling pitcher from Cincinnati and revamped him. Overall's sterling pitching repertoire and unique blend of affability, sincerity, and competitiveness made him one of the most dominant and respected players in the game before an injury derailed his career. At the turn of the twentieth century, off the field, Overall represented a new generation of ballplayer. "The baseball player of today is a trained athlete and presumably a man of culture," he wrote.1 A savvy businessman, he engaged baseball's labor issues because the financial leverage that owners had over players deeply frustrated him. Overall fought the reserve clause and continuously renegotiated his salary. In turn, he helped the Cubs win a lot of games, which increased the value of the franchise five-fold during Charles Murphy's ownership tenure from late 1905 to early 1914. Tension between Overall and Murphy grew into an irreparable rift following the pitcher's arm injury in 1910. Despite his deep loyalty to Chance, Overall refused to report to spring training in 1911 after Murphy's contract offer required him to accept a pay cut. Overall stance toward Murphy softened, and he returned to the Cubs in 1913, but his arm struggled to produce quality pitches, and his major-league career ended when Murphy moved him to the San Francisco Seals. A century later, Mike [End Page 33] Montgomery's last pitch recalled Overall's final delivery of the 1908 World Series and reconnected the Cubs' triumphant present with a forgotten pitcher of its dynastic past. Overall grew up around baseball and business in the central California agriculture community of Visalia. On September 21, 1879, just five months after the Bakersfield Two Orphans defeated the Visalia Empires, 31–6, in the first organized baseball game in town history, Daniel Overall married Cynthia Hawpe. Seventeen months later she gave birth to their son, Orval, on February 2, 1881. Tragically, Orval's mother died when he was a year and a half old, just weeks after giving birth to her second child. The extended family helped care for Orval, as Daniel poured himself into a ranching operation that he parlayed into ownership of a large citrus business, the Kaweah Lemon Company. Locals embraced Daniel as a civic leader and elected him as auditor and county sheriff. Baseball blossomed in Visalia, and the talented Orval Overall became a phenomenon on the diamond. As a fifteen-year old, Orval played for Visalia High, and his talent caught the attention of the city team which offered him the chance to pitch. Overall's pitching debut was against Lindsay in September of 1896, and he allowed only two hits while striking out thirteen.2 Consequently, Overall transitioned to pitching at school, and led Visalia High to the state championship game. The umpire behind the plate that day may have been the only person on the field more intimidating than Orval. It was none other than the old gunslinger, Wyatt Earp. According to one account, Earp "called so many bum ones that the irate parents of the kids made him get out of the game."3 With whispers in the air at that time of Earp's connection to gamblers, perhaps the parental objections proved for the best. Overall's high school teammate, Oscar Kern, who struggled with degenerative eyesight...

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.