Ewell Blackwell
The Whip's sidearm delivery was so unorthodox that batters claimed they couldn't see the ball until it was halfway to the plate. Blackwell's submarine style made him nearly unhittable for righties, who faced what looked like a ball coming from first base.
His 1947 season remains one of the great what-ifs in baseball history. After posting a 2.45 ERA in 1946, Blackwell was dominating hitters when he injured his arm mid-season while chasing a no-hitter. The timing was cruel — he'd thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings and looked poised for Cy Young-caliber numbers.
The injury robbed baseball of a truly unique talent. Even diminished, Blackwell made six All-Star teams with that distinctive delivery that spawned countless imitators. His career 3.30 ERA and 107 ERA+ don't capture how dominant he was when healthy, or how his unorthodox style changed how coaches taught young pitchers to throw.
Career · Hitting
10 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | CIN | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — |
| 1946 | CIN | 33 | 56 | 0 | 2 | .107 | — | — |
| 1947 | CIN | 33 | 106 | 0 | 4 | .123 | — | — |
| 1948 | CIN | 22 | 48 | 0 | 1 | .229 | — | — |
| 1949 | CIN | 30 | 19 | 0 | 0 | .211 | — | — |
| 1950 | CIN | 40 | 89 | 0 | 5 | .146 | — | — |
| 1951 | CIN | 39 | 82 | 1 | 6 | .293 | — | — |
| 1952 | CIN | 28 | 37 | 0 | 4 | .162 | — | — |
| 1953 | NYY | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — |
| 1955 | KC1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 237 | 443 | 1 | 22 | .174 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
10 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | CIN | 2 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 60 | 1 | 2.000 |
| 1946 | CIN | 33 | 194.3 | 9 | 13 | 2.45 | 147 | 100 | 1.230 |
| 1947 | CIN | 33 | 273.0 | 22 | 8 | 2.47 | 161 | 193 | 1.179 |
| 1948 | CIN | 22 | 138.7 | 7 | 9 | 4.54 | 91 | 114 | 1.341 |
| 1949 | CIN | 30 | 76.7 | 5 | 5 | 4.23 | 97 | 55 | 1.487 |
| 1950 | CIN | 40 | 261.0 | 17 | 15 | 2.97 | 147 | 188 | 1.207 |
| 1951 | CIN | 38 | 232.7 | 16 | 15 | 3.44 | 117 | 120 | 1.294 |
| 1952 | CIN | 28 | 118.0 | 4 | 12 | 4.73 | 78 | 55 | 1.619 |
| 1953 | NYY | 8 | 19.7 | 2 | 0 | 3.66 | 113 | 11 | 1.525 |
| 1955 | KC1 | 2 | 4.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | 59 | 2 | 2.000 |
| Career | 236 | 1321.1 | 82 | 78 | — | — | 839 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.