Howard Ehmke was the quintessential journeyman. He played from 1915 to 1930 for the Buffalo Blues (of the Federal League), Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and the Philadelphia A’s. He finished with a 166-166 record and a 3.75 era. In a time when pitchers finished what they started, Ehmke was an innings horse. He started 338 games and threw 199 complete games. What makes Ehmke’s story unforgettable is the 1929 season and World Series.

A few weeks prior to the end of the season, when it became apparent that the Cubs would be the opponent in the World Series, A’s manager Connie Mack pulled Ehmke aside and told him to go scout the Cubs. Mack had a feeling that Ehmke’s sidearm throwing motion and ability to mix up speeds and pitches would stymie the Cubs bats.

Ehmke was not used much during the year, as he only started 8 games, appeared in only 11 games, and had only thrown 13 inning in the last two months of the season.

It was almost not to be; Ehmke had struggled with health and arm issues and the A’s placed him on waivers. No other team wanted him. Mack called Ehmke into his office and informed Ehmke that he was going to let him go. Ehmke told Mack that he was working to get healthy, and that Mack could suspend him without pay, that Ehmke had never been on a championship team, and all he wanted to do was get to the World Series, then after that Mack could do whatever he wanted.

Mack pondered this over, and agreed. He told Ehmke that this conversation would stay private and that when he felt his arm was ready, that Mack would give him one more chance.

So Ehmke headed out and followed the Cubs for a week and came back. Virtually everyone assumed that Lefty Grove would be the game one starter for the A’s, and there would be a duel between Grove and Cubs Charlie Root. Cubs manager Joe McCarthy said before the start of the series “The Athletics have four pitchers who have earned the respect of their own league’s batsmen, and…they are (Lefty) Grove, (Rube) Walberg, (George) Earnshaw, and (Jack) Quinn. If Connie Mack’s calculations take in any other pitchers than these four, save for relief duty, no one has heard about it.”

Ehmke walked up to Mack and asked if he were still going to pitch and Mack told him to go warm up. No one could believe that moments before the game that Ehmke was warming up. Conjecture was that Ehmke would pitch the first inning and Grove would come on in the second. Two months earlier the man no one wanted was starting game one. The fans in attendance absolutely saw a pitching duel, Root was in absolute control from the outset. Ehmke struggled through the first, giving up a hit to Woody English. The next hitter up was a two time Triple Crown winner in Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby crushed an Ehmke offering that  brought the crowd to its feet, but it was hauled in at the wall by Bing Miller.

The third inning found Ehmke on the ropes again as the Cubs put runners at second and third with only one out, with Hornsby due up and Hack Wilson to follow. Ehmke calmly struck out Hornsby, and Wilson met the same fate as the A’s escaped disaster. Root and Ehmke matched one another zero for zero. Ehmke seemed to find his groove and struck out the side in the sixth. The top of the seventh A’s teammate Jimmy Foxx sent a Root offering into the left field bleachers staking Ehmke to a 1-0 lead.

Again trouble found Ehmke as the Cubs again had runners on second and third with only one out. Ehmke induced a shallow fly to left by Cliff Heathcote, the followed by striking out Gabby Hartnett.

The 1-0 lead held up to the ninth; Root was relieved by Guy Bush. The A’s pushed across a couple of insurance runs with English making back to back errors on balls hit by Mickey Cochrane and Foxx. Miller singled to make it 3-0.

The bottom of the ninth the Cubs ended Ehmke’s shutout bid, when Kiki Cuyler reached on an error and scored on a single by Riggs Stephenson. Charlie Grimm added another single, and the winning run strode to the plate in the form of pinch hitter Footsie Blair. Mack made no move to relieve Ehmke, and Blair bounced out, leaving the Cubs down to an out. Chuck Tolson pinch hit for Bush and Ehmke struck him out to end the game.

Ehmke set a World Series record on that afternoon by striking out 13. Ehmke would pitch again in game 5 and would get a no decision, but he did get his wish. He was on a Championship team and earned that title.

Ehmke would leave baseball after the next season, but before leaving would found the Howard Ehmke Company, a company that manufactured canvas tarpaulins to keep the infields dry during rain delays. The Ehmke Manufacturing Company is still in business today. Howard Ehmke passed away 17 March 1959 aged 64.