List of St. Louis Browns Opening Day starting pitchers

For the Opening Day starting pitchers since 1954, see List of Baltimore Orioles Opening Day starting pitchers.
Jack Powell, the Browns' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1909 and 1911

The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that played in St. Louis, Missouri from 1902 through 1953. The franchise moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it was known as the Milwaukee Brewers, after the 1901 season.[1] It moved to Baltimore, Maryland after the 1953 season, where it became known as the Baltimore Orioles.[2] The Browns played their home games at Sportsman's Park. They played in the American League. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season,[3] though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day.[4] The Browns used 35 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 52 seasons. The Browns won 26 of those games against 25 losses in those Opening Day starts. They also played one tie game.[5]

Urban Shocker and Ned Garver had the most Opening Day starts for the Browns, with four apiece. Harry Howell, Carl Weilman, Sam Gray and Bobo Newsom each had three Opening Day starts for the Browns. The other pitchers with multiple Opening Day starts for the Browns were Red Donahue, Jack Powell and Lefty Stewart. The Browns won three of both Shocker's and Garver's Opening Day starts, more than any other Browns' pitchers. The Browns lost two of Weilman's Opening Day starts. They did not lose more than one Opening Day game started by any other pitcher.

Although over their history the Browns won only one more Opening Day game than they lost, they did have a nine-game winning streak in Opening Day games from 1937 through 1945. That winning streak immediately followed their longest losing streak in Opening Day games, which was five losses from 1932 through 1936.

The Browns' first game in St. Louis was played on April 23, 1902 against the Cleveland Indians at Sportsman's Park.[5] Their Opening Day starting pitcher for that game was Red Donahue.[6] The Browns won the game 5–2.[5][6] The Browns advanced to the World Series only once during their time in St. Louis, in 1944.[7][8] In their only postseason appearance, they lost the 1944 World Series to their Sportsman's Park cotennant St. Louis Cardinals, four games to two.[9] Jack Kramer was the Browns Opening Day starting pitcher that season.[10] The Browns won that game.[5][10]

The franchise's only major league Opening Day game as the Milwaukee Brewers was played on April 25, 1901 against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit. Pink Hawley was the Brewers' Opening Day starting pitcher. The Brewers lost the game by a score of 14–13.[5][11]

Key

Season Each year is linked to an article about that particular Browns season.
W Win
L Loss
T Tie game; no decision to starting pitcher
ND (W) No decision by starting pitcher; Browns won game
ND (L) No decision by starting pitcher; Browns lost game
(W) Browns won game; no information on starting pitcher's decision
(L) Browns lost game; no information on starting pitcher's decision
(#) Number of appearances as Opening Day starter
** AL Champions

Pitchers

Earl Hamilton was the Browns' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1917.
Urban Shocker, shown here with the New York Yankees, made four Opening Day starts for the Browns.
Oral Hildebrand pitched Opening Day for the Browns in 1937, his first season with the club.
Year Pitcher Decision Opponent Location Reference
1901[a] Pink Hawley (L) Detroit Tigers Bennett Park [5][11]
1902 Red Donahue (W) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][6]
1903 Red Donahue (2) (L) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][12]
1904 Ed Siever (L) Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][13]
1905 Harry Howell (W) Chicago White Sox South Side Park [5][14]
1906 Harry Howell (2) (L) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][15]
1907 Harry Howell (3) (W) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][16]
1908 Barney Pelty (W) Cleveland Indians League Park [5][17]
1909 Jack Powell (L) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][18]
1910 Bill Grahame (L) Chicago White Sox South Side Park [5][19]
1911 Jack Powell (2) (W) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][20]
1912 Joe Lake (L) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][21]
1913 Carl Weilman (W) Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][22]
1914 Carl Weilman (2) (L) Detroit Tigers Tiger Stadium [5][23]
1915 Carl Weilman (3) (L) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][24]
1916 Bob Groom (L) Cleveland Indians League Park [5][25]
1917 Earl Hamilton (L) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][26]
1918 Grover Lowdermilk (W) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][27]
1919 Dave Davenport (L) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][28]
1920 Allen Sothoron (L) Cleveland Indians League Park [5][29]
1921 Urban Shocker (W) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][30]
1922 Urban Shocker (2) (W) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][31]
1923 Urban Shocker (3) (L) Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][32]
1924 Urban Shocker (4) (W) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][33]
1925 Joe Bush (L) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][34]
1926 Milt Gaston (L) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][35]
1927 Tom Zachary T Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][36]
1928 Sam Gray (W) Detroit Tigers Tiger Stadium [5][37]
1929 Sam Gray (2) (W) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][38]
1930 Sam Gray (3) (L) Detroit Tigers Tiger Stadium [5][39]
1931 Lefty Stewart (W) Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][40]
1932 Lefty Stewart (2) (L) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][41]
1933 Bump Hadley (L) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][42]
1934 George Blaeholder (L) Cleveland Indians League Park [5][43]
1935 Bobo Newsom (L) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][44]
1936 Ivy Andrews (L) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][45]
1937 Oral Hildebrand (W) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][46]
1938 Bobo Newsom (2) (W) Cleveland Indians League Park [5][47]
1939 Bobo Newsom (3) (W) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][48]
1940 Slick Coffman (W) Detroit Tigers Tiger Stadium [5][49]
1941 Elden Auker (W) Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][50]
1942 Bob Muncrief (W) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][51]
1943 Al Hollingsworth (W) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][52]
1944** Jack Kramer (W) Detroit Tigers Tiger Stadium [5][10]
1945 Sig Jakucki (W) Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][53]
1946 Nels Potter (L) Detroit Tigers Tiger Stadium [5][54]
1947 Denny Galehouse (L) Detroit Tigers Sportsman's Park [5][55]
1948 Fred Sanford (L) Cleveland Indians Cleveland Stadium [5][56]
1949 Ned Garver (W) Cleveland Indians Sportsman's Park [5][57]
1950 Ned Garver (2) (W) Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [5][58]
1951 Ned Garver (3) (L) Chicago White Sox Sportsman's Park [5][59]
1952 Ned Garver (4) (W) Detroit Tigers Tiger Stadium [5][60]
1953 Virgil Trucks (W) Detroit Tigers Busch Stadium [5][61]

Footnote

a As the Milwaukee Brewers

References

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