Ken Chase

Who was Ken Chase?

Kendall Fay Chase was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1936 and 1943. Listed at 6' 2" 210 lb., Chase batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Oneonta, New York.

A hard-throwing pitcher, Chase entered the majors in 1936 with the Washington Senators, playing six years for them before joining the Boston Red Sox and New York Giants. While in Washington, he was part of a rotation that included Dutch Leonard, Wes Ferrell and Sid Hudson. On April 29, 1939, Ken Chase gave up hit number 2,721 of Yankee Captain Lou Gehrig's career. Lou Gehrig never recorded another hit as he willingly pulled himself out of the lineup the next day. He never played another game. In 2009, Yankee Captain Derek Jeter passed Captain Gehrig for the most hits ever by a Yankee.

His most productive season came in 1940 with the Senators, when he set career-numbers with 15 wins, a 3.23 ERA, and 129 strikeouts. Unfortunately, he struggled with poor control during the season, allowing 143 walks and 12 wild pitches to lead the American League.

In an eight-season career, Chase posted a 53-84 record with 582 strikeouts and a 4.27 ERA in 188 games pitched, including 160 starts 62 complete games, four shutouts, and 1165.0 innings.