| Oscar Graham | |
| Width: | 150 |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Left |
| Birth Date: | 20 July 1878 |
| Birth Place: | Plattsmouth, Nebraska |
| Death Place: | Moline, Illinois |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | April 13 |
| Debutyear: | 1907 |
| Debutteam: | Washington Senators |
| Finalleague: | MLB |
| Finaldate: | August 5 |
| Finalyear: | 1907 |
| Finalteam: | Washington Senators |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Stat1label: | Win–loss record |
| Stat1value: | 4-9 |
| Stat2label: | Earned run average |
| Stat2value: | 3.98 |
| Stat3label: | Strikeouts |
| Stat3value: | 44 |
| Teams: | |
Oscar Marion Graham (July 20, 1878 – October 15, 1931) was a professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year career, he won four games in Major League Baseball and 272 games in the minor leagues. Graham was 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds.[1]
Graham was born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska[2] in 1878. He started his professional baseball career in 1901. In 1902, he won 16 games in the class A Western League. Graham then went to the Pacific Coast League's Oakland Oaks, and he put up some big numbers in the long PCL seasons. In 1903, he went 28-29 with a 3.44 earned run average, pitching 504.2 innings in 61 games.[3] He led the league in games pitched, innings pitched, losses, and earned runs (193).[4] His 234 walks and 49 hit batters during that season are PCL records that have never been broken.[5] Graham was also a good hitter, as he had a batting average of .323 to finish sixth in the league in that category.[6]
In 1904, Graham had a slightly lesser workload, as he pitched 392.1 innings and went 19-23 with a 2.89 ERA.[3] Again, he hit well and finished ninth in the batting race at .305.[7] Graham had one of his better seasons in 1905. He pitched over 500 innings for the second time and tied his career-high in wins with 28. His ERA dropped to 2.37, and he led the league with 56 games started.[3] [8] The following year, he tossed another 432 innings for Oakland and went 25-23.[3] He was purchased by the American League's Washington Senators in August of that year.[1]
Graham made his major league debut with the Senators on April 16, 1907. He ended up appearing in 20 games for them, including 14 starts, and he went 4-9 with a 3.98 ERA. His last MLB game was on August 5, and he then finished the season with the American Association's Minneapolis Millers.[1] [3]
Graham started 1908 with Minneapolis. He had a win–loss record of 8-5 before leaving to play for another team in the Virginia, Minnesota based Virginia Ore Diggers, where he was paid a "whopping" $350 each month.[3] [9] Graham returned to the American Association in 1909, this time with the Indianapolis Indians. In 40 games, he went 15-15. He started off 1910 with them, as well, but was released in July for "failure to keep in winning condition."[3] [10]
For the next few years, Graham bounced around the minor leagues. He had his fifth, and final, 20-win season in 1916, when he went 23-12 with a 2.31 ERA in the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League.[3] He tied for the league-lead in victories.[11]
Graham retired from professional baseball after the 1917 season. He pitched a total of 17 years and won 276 games – 272 in the minor leagues and 4 in the major leagues.[1] [3]
Graham lived in Rising Sun, Iowa, in the winters, and he worked as a corn husker and rabbit hunter during that time.[12] He died in Moline, Illinois, in 1931.[1]
Graham died on October 15, 1931, in Moline, Illinois. He is interred at Riverside Cemetery in Moline.[13]