George Mullin (baseball)

American baseball player (1880 1944)

George Joseph Mullin (July 4, 1880 – January 7, 1944), sometimes known by the nickname "Wabash George", was an American right handed baseball pitcher. Mullin played in Major League Baseball for 14 seasons with the Detroit Tigers from 1902 to 1913, Washington Senators in 1913, and the Indianapolis Hoosiers/Newark Pepper of the Federal League from 1914 to 1915. He compiled a career record of 228–196 with a 2.82 earned run average (ERA) and 1,482 strikeouts. His 1,244 career assists ranks seventh among major league pitchers. Mullin was also a strong hitter, twice batting over .300 for a season and compiling a career batting average of .262. In 12 seasons with Detroit, he helped the team win three consecutive American League pennants from 1907 to 1909. He had five 20 win seasons for the Tigers, led the American League with 29 wins in 1909, and ranks second in Detroit Tigers history with 209 wins. He also holds the Detroit Tigers' all time club records with 3,394 innings pitched and 336 complete games and pitched the first no hitter in Tigers' history on July 4, 1912.

Mullin was born in 1880 in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Irish immigrants. He attended St. John's Jesuit High School in Toledo. From 1898 to 1901, he played semipro baseball in Wabash, Indiana, and South Bend, Indiana.

Mullin began playing professional baseball in 1901 with the Fort Wayne Railroaders of the Western Association. During the 1901 season, he appeared in 47 games and compiled a 21–20 record with a 3.48 ERA over 367 innings.

Mullin's career with the Detroit Tigers began with controversy. Mullin signed to play for the Tigers late in the 1901 season. He subsequently signed a contract with Ned Hanlon's Brooklyn Superbas as well as having signed to play for the Fort Wayne club in 1902. The owner of the Fort Wayne club, Isadore Mautner, sought to have Mullin charged criminally with taking money under false pretenses and perjury. Mautner sent detectives to have Mullin arrested when the Tigers visited Chicago in April, but Mautner's plan was frustrated when Detroit officials moved Mullin (in disguise) out of the team hotel. In May, Mautner sought Mullin's extradition to Indiana, but the Governor of Indiana refused to sign the papers, concluding that the dispute was civil rather than criminal in nature. In July, Mullin was removed by police when the Tigers' train stopped in Fort Wayne on returning from St. Louis. A judge promptly released Mullin, holding that Mautner's remedy was a civil action for damages. Mullin quickly left town before Mautner could have a new warrant finalized. Mautner later persuaded a grand jury to bring criminal charges against Mullin, and the saga continued to capture headlines well into 1903. In the end, the dispute was resolved in late 1903 with a payment of $1,000 to Mautner.

In his first season in Detroit, Mullin immediately showed his ability as a workhorse and as a batsman, but struggled with his pitch control and overall effectiveness. He appeared in 35 games for the 1902 Tigers, 30 of them as a starter and 25 of them complete games. He compiled a 13–16 record with a 3.67 ERA (slightly higher than the league average of 3.57). He also led the American League with 13 wild pitches and ranked fourth with 95 batters walked. At the plate, he compiled an impressive .325 batting average and .367 on base percentage with four doubles, three triples, and 11 RBIs. Two weeks later, on August 18, Mullin faced Boston's star pitcher Cy Young. The game ended in a 4–4 tie when the game was called due to darkness after 11 innings. Three of Boston's runs were scored on errors by Detroit's fielders. Mullin and Young met as starting pitchers 10 times over the next seven years; Mullin won six of those games to four for Young. In 1903, Mullin improved markedly, reducing his ERA by almost a point and a half to 2.25 (71 points below the league average of 2.96). He appeared in 41 games, threw 31 complete games, and compiled a 19–15 record. He ranked among the American League's leading pitchers with six shutouts (second), 41 games (second), 170 strikeouts (fifth), 320 2/3 innings pitched (fifth), and a 2.25 ERA (sixth). He also demonstrated athleticism on defense, leading the league's pitchers with 38 putouts and 108 assists. On the other hand, he continued to struggle with control as he led the league with 106 batters walked – the first of four consecutive years in which Mullin led the league in walks. In 1904, Mullin had another strong year, pitching a club record 42 complete games with a 2.40 ERA (below the league average of 2.60). He again ranked among the league's leading pitchers with 42 complete games (second), 163 assists (second), seven shutouts (third), 382 1/3 innings pitched (fourth), 28 putouts (fourth), and 161 strikeouts (sixth). He also hit for a .290 batting average with a career high 10 doubles. Despite Mullin's workhorse ability and impressive ERA, he ranked second in the league with 23 losses and led the league with 131 walks allowed 13 fielding errors. The 1905 season was Mullin's most durable. He pitched 382 1/3 innings, a figure that remains a Detroit Tigers club record. He compiled a 21–21 record and ranked among the league leaders with 1,428 batters faced (first), 382 1/3 innings pitched (first), 138 walks allowed (first), 41 games started (tied for first), 35 complete games (tied for first), 134 assists (second), 21 losses (third), 21 wins (fifth), and 168 strikeouts (sixth). In 1906, Mullin had his second consecutive 20 win season, compiling a 21–18 record in 40 starts. And control issues persisted as he led the league in walks allowed for the fourth consecutive years. In World Series play from 1907 to 1909, Mullin completed all six games he started and gave up only 12 earned runs in 58 innings, for a 1.86 ERA in World Series play. On November 27, 1909, Mullin shut out the Cuban Almendares team in a 4–0 victory for the touring Tigers.

Mullin continued as a winner and a workhorse in 1910 and 1911, with records of 21–12 and 18–10. On April 20, 1912, with a crowd of 26,000 in attendance, Mullin was given the honor of pitching the first game at the new Navin Field, beating the Indians 6–5 in 11 innings. Mullin won his own game with an RBI single. On May 21, 1912, Mullin shut out the Washington Senators, earning his 200th career win — a 2–0 pitching duel with Walter Johnson. And on July 4, 1912 (Mullin's 32nd birthday), he pitched the first no hitter in Detroit Tigers history, as Mullin helped himself with 3 hits and 2 RBIs in the game.

In 1913, Mullin got off to a shaky 1–6 start, though his ERA remained respectable at 2.75. In Washington, Mullin joined a pitching staff led by Walter Johnson who won 36 games in 1913. Mullin appeared in only 11 games for the 1913 Washington team, compiling a 3–5 record and a career high 5.02 ERA.

On January 1, 1914, Mullin announced that he had come to terms to play for the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the newly formed Federal League. He said at the time: "The fact that the Federals are willing to put two or three years' salary in the bank for players looks good to me." He enjoyed a one year revival pitching for the Hoosiers in his home state of Indiana. His appeared in 36 games for the Hoosiers and compiled 14–10 record, and his 2.70 ERA ranked 10th in the Federal League. He also hit .312 with a .404 on base percentage and 21 RBIs in 77 at bats. Mullin was released by Newark in late June. Mullin concluded the 1915 season pitching for the Camden Athletic Club. He also pitched in 1916 for teams in Kokomo and Columbus, Indiana.

Mullin had remarkable stamina as a pitcher. He started 428 games and had 353 complete game, the 25th highest total in major league history. He was among the American League leaders in complete games nine straight years (1903–1911) and innings pitched for eight straight years (1903–1910). His career highs were 42 complete games (1904) and 382 1/3 innings (1905), both Tigers team records. To this day, Mullin is the Tigers' all time innings pitched leader, both in a career (3,394) and in a season (382 1/3). Mullin was a powerfully built pitcher (often referred to as "burly") with an intimidating fastball, perhaps even more so due to his imperfect control. He hit batsmen 131 times in his career, the 19th highest total in major league history. He also threw 85 wild pitches and gave up 1,238 bases on balls, 45th most in major league history. He led the league in walks allowed four times (1903–1906), including a career high 138 in 1905, and was among the league leaders in walks allowed 11 times. An all around athlete, Mullin had great range and ability to get to the ball. He contributed 1,244 assists as a pitcher, the seventh highest total of any pitcher in major league history, behind legends such as Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Walter Johnson. His career record of 2.56 assists per game also ranks seventh in major league history for pitchers. He had a career high 163 assists in 1904 and twice led the league in assists by a pitcher. Mullin was also known for the tactics he used to try to keep batters off balance. The tactics included talking to batters when they came to bat, or even talking to himself. Longtime Detroit sports writer H. G. Salsinger wrote that, while Mullin had an excellent fastball and a good curveball, "most of his success was due to smartness rather than stuff." Mullin also excelled as a batter. He had a career .262 batting average (401 for 1,531) with a .319 on base percentage. He had 96 extra base hits (70 doubles, 23 triples, 3 home runs), 122 bases on balls, and 18 stolen bases. On September 18, 1906, Mullin even pinch hit for Ty Cobb. Cobb was slumping and manager Bill Armour summoned Mullin to bat for Cobb in the bottom of the 9th inning. According to the next day's account in the Detroit Free Press, Mullin "hit center field with a triple." Yet, as one author noted: "The pitching prowess and significant achievements of George Mullin seem to have faded away on the brittle pages of baseball history. Not even in the Motor City is the name of George Mullin, the burly right hander from Wabash, Indiana, mentioned."

Mullin was married to the former Grace Aukerman. They had a daughter, Beatrice (Mrs. Lemoine) Rish. In 1923, he was reportedly working as a police officer in Toledo, Ohio. In his later years, Mullin suffered from a long illness that reduced his weight to 100 pounds. He died in 1944 at age 63 in Wabash. Mullin was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1962.