Clay Baldwin
by William Bowen
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Some players are built for baseball—their natural gifts are so overwhelming that the game seems to come naturally to them, as if they were born with a ball in hand. Clay Baldwin was not one of those players. His gift was in his love of the game and his single-minded dedication to his craft. It took him longer than most players to reach the major leagues, but eventually Baldwin was able to bypass and even dominate many more naturally gifted opponents through sheer force of will.
Baldwin's obsession with baseball began at a young age, but the stocky youngster was unable to throw or hit as hard as his peers. He practiced day and night, becoming a competent control pitcher in his youth and making it to the independent leagues. After being bypassed at tryouts and seeing physically gifted teammates signed by major league clubs, Baldwin began experimenting with different training methods and pitch grips to gain a leg up. First came a boost in his velocity at age 24, which Baldwin attributed to an enhanced delivery. He had spent every night of an entire winter breaking down his delivery and building it back up in an attempt to eliminate “wasted movements.” The result was a clean and quick delivery.
After throwing a fastball, curveball, and changeup for the early part of his career, Baldwin also began adding pitches, experimenting with grips to maximize movement. He eventually dropped the changeup and added a knuckle curve and a splitter. Baldwin's splitter became his money pitch, with a sudden drop that devastated independent league hitters. Baldwin finally put it all together at age 27, leading his independent league team to a championship and catching the attention of the Brooklyn Bluebirds, who offered Baldwin a contract in December 1913.
The Bluebirds had made it to the World Series in five of their previous seven seasons, winning it all as recently as 1912. Holdovers from those teams included Hall of Fame slugger Rupert Allen, two-time batting title winner Dooley Sauer, and lefty ace Hokey Lancaster. Baldwin wasn't the only new addition. After spitting seeds in the bullpen for a couple seasons, fellow late bloomer Edgar Blaney had finally clinched a spot in the rotation. Young Cueball McAuliffe took over behind the plate in 1913: he would spend his entire career in Brooklyn and would be Baldwin's battery mate for his entire career. Cueball and Clay became fast friends, and they were known for working late into the night on scouting reports.
Baldwin impressed in camp and immediately became the anchor of the rotation. In 1914, he led the league in wins and strikeouts. The Bluebirds made it back to the World Series, where Baldwin pitched two games: a complete-game, two-run Game One victory and a complete-game shutout in Game Five to clinch the series. Baldwin won World Series MVP.
Brooklyn's fortunes declined over the next few years as the old guard aged out, but Baldwin remained a force. He led the league in strikeouts in 1915 and 1916, and he led the league with a 1.79 ERA in 1918, the same year that, for the first time in 14 seasons, the Bluebirds finished below .500.
At the end of the 1918 season, the Bluebirds called up a hotshot prospect from their minor league system named Brock Rutherford. Rutherford was supremely talented, but he was also eager to learn. In Baldwin and McAuliffe, he had ideal mentors. Baldwin downplays the extent to which he assisted Rutherford: “Brock was the best pitcher that I've ever seen—that anyone's ever seen—and he didn't need my help, no, nor anybody else's help neither.” Still, the young flamethrower's walk rate dropped every season he was in Brooklyn.
In 1920, Rutherford delivered his first great season and Baldwin had his best season ever. Baldwin led the league with 29 wins, allowed just a single home run all season, and posted a miniscule 1.56 ERA. Rutherford led the league in strikeouts—a feat he would repeat for the next 18 seasons. The Bluebirds, with their astonishing pitching, made it back to the World Series, but they fell in six games to Detroit. Baldwin was hit hard in the series.
Rutherford won the pitching Triple Crown in 1921, making Baldwin the best No. 2 starter in the league. The Bluebirds returned to the Series and faced St. Louis, led by longtime Bluebird Dooley Sauer. Just like the previous season, Brooklyn lost in six games. After falling short of the division crown in 1922, the Bluebirds inexplicably traded Rutherford to St. Louis. Baldwin returned to the top spot in the rotation and went 22-12 with a 2.82 ERA. The Bluebirds returned to the World Series. They faced St. Louis again, but this time St. Louis had Brock the Great. Surprisingly, both Baldwin and Rutherford went 0-2 in the Series. Rutherford lost twice against the Pride of Frostburg, Maryland: 19-game winner Tuck Harrold. Baldwin was twice out-pitched by future Hall of Famer Edgar Bath. St. Louis won in seven games.
Baldwin, now 38, returned to the mound in 1924 for a mediocre Bluebirds team and had his final quality season. After a mediocre 1925, the bottom dropped out on the 40-year-old Baldwin in 1926, and he was relegated to part-time duty. After deciding early in the season this would be his last year, Baldwin turned in one last vintage performance—a three-hit shutout in mid-September—and retired.
Baldwin, though, was not finished with baseball. Having had to learn how to become a great pitcher, Baldwin had a wealth of pitching tips and advice. He was hired and served as the Bluebirds pitching coach for the next ten seasons. He coached a generation of Bluebirds pitchers, most notably Hall of Famer Toothbrush Terrigan.
Baldwin led the league in wins (1914, 1920), ERA (1918, 1920), strikeouts (1914-16), complete games (1914, 1919), and shutouts (1918, 1920). He won Player of the Week five times and Pitcher of the Month nine times. Despite not appearing in a single major league game before the age of 28, he pitched over 4,000 innings and retired with a 275-180 career record. He posted a 2.63 ERA and struck out 1,720 hitters. He pitched for Brooklyn’s 1914 Championship team, winning the World Series MVP Award.
In 1926, the Brooklyn Bluebirds retired No. 40 in Clay Baldwin's honor. In 1957, Baldwin was inducted into the Hall of Fame.