Babe Adams (May 18, 1882 - July 27, 1968) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1906 to 1926 who spent nearly his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Noted for his outstanding location control, his career average of 1.29 walks per 9 innings pitched was the second lowest of the 20th century; his 1920 mark of 1 walk per 14.6 innings was a modern record until 2005. He shares the Pirates franchise record for career victories by a righthander (194), and holds the team mark for career shutouts (47); from 1926 to 1962 he held the team record for career games pitched (481). Adams was born in Tipton, Indiana. He made his major league debut on April 18, 1906 with the St. Louis Cardinals, taking the loss in a 4-inning start, but did not pitch again for them. In September 1907 his contract was sold to the Pirates, with whom he spent the remainder of his career. After going 12-3 with a 1.11 ERA in the 1909 regular season, his first full year, Adams became the star of the 1909 World Series after being named the surprise starter of Game 1 following a tip by National League president John Heydler that Adams' style was similar to that of an AL pitcher against whom the Detroit Tigers had had difficulty. He won 3 complete game victories - each of them a 6-hitter - including a shutout in Game 7; he was also the only member of that team who would be on the Pirates' World Series champions in 1925. He later won 20 games in both 1911 and 1913. An off year in 1916 that saw his ERA rise to 5.72 got him farmed out to the Western Association, but late in 1918 he found his stride again and rejoined the Pirates, where he stayed until 1926.
Adams was known as an excellent control pitcher. On July 17, 1914, he pitched an entire 21-inning game against the New York Giants without allowing a single walk, surrendering only 12 hits but losing 3-1 on Larry Doyle's home run in the top of the 21st; it is the longest game without a walk in major league history. Rube Marquard also went the distance for New York to gain the victory, allowing two walks. In 1920, Adams allowed only 18 walks in 263 innings.
In his career Adams won 194 games and lost 140. His ERA was 2.76. His last game was on August 11, 1926; he was released days later after joining a group of players who requested that former manager and team vice president Fred Clarke, who had been openly criticizing manager Bill McKechnie, not be permitted to sit on the bench. Adams later managed in the minor leagues, farmed in Mount Moriah, Missouri, and worked as a reporter and foreign correspondent during World War II and the Korean War.
Adams died of throat cancer in Silver Spring, Maryland at age 86.
YEAR TEAM AGE W L PCT G GS CG SV GF IP H R ER BB SO ERA RSAA 1906 Cardinals 24 0 1 .000 1 1 0 0 0 4 9 8 6 2 0 13.50 -5 1907 Pirates 25 0 2 .000 4 3 1 0 1 22 40 25 17 3 11 6.95 -11 1909 Pirates 27 12 3 .800 25 12 7 2 11 130 88 25 16 23 65 1.11 22 1910 Pirates 28 18 9 .667 34 30 16 0 3 245 217 95 61 60 101 2.24 31 1911 Pirates 29 22 12 .647 40 37 24 0 2 293 253 97 76 42 133 2.33 33 1912 Pirates 30 11 8 .579 28 21 11 0 5 170 169 73 55 35 63 2.91 5 1913 Pirates 31 21 10 .677 43 37 24 0 5 314 271 94 75 49 144 2.15 30 1914 Pirates 32 13 16 .448 40 35 19 1 4 283 253 97 79 39 91 2.51 0 1915 Pirates 33 14 14 .500 40 30 17 2 8 245 229 90 78 34 62 2.87 -5 1916 Pirates 34 2 9 .182 16 10 4 0 5 72 91 51 46 12 22 5.75 -24 1918 Pirates 36 1 1 .500 3 3 2 0 0 22.2 15 4 3 4 6 1.19 4 1919 Pirates 37 17 10 .630 34 29 23 1 5 263 213 66 58 23 92 1.98 30 1920 Pirates 38 17 13 .567 35 33 19 2 2 263 240 83 63 18 84 2.16 28 1921 Pirates 39 14 5 .737 25 20 11 0 3 160 155 57 47 18 55 2.64 20 1922 Pirates 40 8 11 .421 27 19 12 0 4 171 191 77 68 15 39 3.58 12 1923 Pirates 41 13 7 .650 26 22 11 1 2 159 196 83 78 25 38 4.42 -11 1924 Pirates 42 3 1 .750 9 3 2 0 3 40 31 5 3 3 5 0.68 15 1925 Pirates 43 6 5 .545 33 10 3 3 12 101 129 67 61 17 18 5.44 -13 1926 Pirates 44 2 3 .400 19 0 0 3 14 37 51 32 25 8 7 6.08 -7 TOTALS 194 140 .581 482 355 206 15 89 2994.2 2841 1129 915 430 1036 2.75 154 LG AVERAGE 165 165 .500 193 12 2994.2 2963 1391 1076 940 1127 3.23 0 YEAR TEAM HR H/9 BR/9 SO/9 BB/9 SO/BB SHO WP IBB HBP BFP BK NW NL 1906 Cardinals 0 20.25 24.75 0.00 4.50 0.00 0 0 0 0 21 1 0 1 1907 Pirates 1 16.36 18.82 4.50 1.23 3.67 0 1 0 3 104 0 0 2 1909 Pirates 0 6.09 7.89 4.50 1.59 2.83 3 1 0 3 475 0 12 3 1910 Pirates 4 7.97 10.40 3.71 2.20 1.68 3 1 0 6 971 0 18 9 1911 Pirates 5 7.77 9.31 4.09 1.29 3.17 6 3 0 8 1117 0 22 12 1912 Pirates 4 8.95 10.96 3.34 1.85 1.80 2 0 0 3 704 0 10 9 1913 Pirates 8 7.77 9.17 4.13 1.40 2.94 4 5 0 0 1227 0 20 11 1914 Pirates 5 8.05 9.51 2.89 1.24 2.33 3 2 0 7 1116 0 14 15 1915 Pirates 6 8.41 9.73 2.28 1.25 1.82 2 2 0 2 969 0 13 15 1916 Pirates 2 11.38 13.25 2.75 1.50 1.83 1 1 0 3 314 0 2 9 1918 Pirates 0 5.96 7.54 2.38 1.59 1.50 0 0 0 0 82 0 2 0 1919 Pirates 1 7.29 8.18 3.15 0.79 4.00 6 2 0 3 1017 0 18 9 1920 Pirates 6 8.21 8.86 2.87 0.62 4.67 8 5 0 1 1035 0 20 10 1921 Pirates 4 8.72 9.73 3.09 1.01 3.06 2 0 0 0 646 1 13 6 1922 Pirates 1 10.05 11.05 2.05 0.79 2.60 4 1 0 4 707 0 11 8 1923 Pirates 8 11.09 12.57 2.15 1.42 1.52 0 1 0 1 676 0 9 11 1924 Pirates 1 6.98 7.65 1.13 0.68 1.67 0 1 0 0 154 0 4 0 1925 Pirates 7 11.50 13.28 1.60 1.51 1.06 0 0 0 3 448 0 4 7 1926 Pirates 5 12.41 14.35 1.70 1.95 0.88 0 0 0 0 164 0 2 3 TOTALS 68 8.54 9.97 3.11 1.29 2.41 44 26 0 47 11947 2 194 140 LG AVERAGE 84 8.90 11.98 3.39 2.83 1.20 26 59 0 85 12508 6 BABE ADAMS LEAGUE LEADERSHIP RANKINGS 1906 NL BALKS T2ND 1 1907 NL WORST RSAA T9TH -11 1909 NL SAVES T9TH 2; GAMES FINISHED T10TH 11; RSAA 5TH 22 1910 NL WINS 6TH 18; WINNING PERCENTAGE 4TH .667; ERA 5TH 2.24; RSAA 3RD 31; HITS/9 IP 10TH 7.97; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 4TH 10.40; WALKS/9 IP 7TH 2.20; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 10TH 1.68; NEUTRAL WINS 10TH 18 1911 NL WINS T5TH 22; WINNING PERCENTAGE 7TH .647; GAMES STARTED T2ND 37; COMPLETE GAMES 5TH 24; INNINGS PITCHED 7TH 293; STRIKEOUTS 8TH 133; ERA 3RD 2.33; RSAA 4TH 33; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 1ST 9.31; WALKS/9 IP 2ND 1.29; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 2ND 3.17; SHUTOUTS 2ND 6; BATTERS FACED 9TH 1117; NEUTRAL WINS T4TH 22 1912 NL BASERUNNERS/9 IP 5TH 10.96; WALKS/9 IP 5TH 1.85; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 9TH 1.80 1913 NL WINS T6TH 21; WINNING PERCENTAGE 8TH .677; GAMES T8TH 43; GAMES STARTED 2ND 37; COMPLETE GAMES 4TH 24; INNINGS PITCHED 2ND 314; HITS T6TH 271; STRIKEOUTS 5TH 144; ERA 2ND 2.15; RSAA 4TH 30; HOMERUNS T9TH 8; HITS/9 IP 7TH 7.77; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 1ST 9.17; STRIKEOUTS/9 IP 10TH 4.13; WALKS/9 IP 3RD 1.40; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 3RD 2.94; SHUTOUTS T3RD 4; BATTERS FACED 4TH 1227; NEUTRAL WINS T5TH 20; 1914 NL GAMES STARTED T8TH 35; HITS 9TH 253; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 2ND 9.51; WALKS/9 IP 2ND 1.24; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 3RD 2.33; NEUTRAL LOSSES T10TH 15 1915 NL EARNED RUNS T9TH 78; HOMERUNS T7TH 6; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 5TH 9.73; WALKS/9 IP 3RD 1.25; NEUTRAL LOSSES T7TH 15 1916 NL WORST RSAA 1ST -24 1919 NL WINS T7TH 17; WINNING PERCENTAGE 7TH .630; GAMES STARTED T8TH 29; COMPLETE GAMES T5TH 23; INNINGS PITCHED 7TH 263; STRIKEOUTS T7TH 92; ERA 5TH 1.98; RSAA 3RD 30; HITS/9 IP 5TH 7.29; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 1ST 8.18; WALKS/9 IP 1ST .79; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 1ST 4.00; SHUTOUTS 3RD 6; BATTERS FACED 8TH 1017; NEUTRAL WINS T5TH 18 1920 NL WINS T9TH 17; GAMES STARTED T9TH 33; ERA 2ND 2.16; RSAA 3RD 28; HITS/9 IP 5TH 8.21; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 1ST 8.86; WALKS/9 IP 1ST .62; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 1ST 4.67; SHUTOUTS 1ST 8; WILD PITCHES T9TH 5; NEUTRAL WINS T5TH 20 1921 NL WINNING PERCENTAGE T1ST .737; ERA 2ND 2.64; RSAA 7TH 20; HITS/9 IP 2ND 8.72; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 1ST 9.73; WALKS/9 IP 1ST 1.01; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 1ST 3.06; SHUTOUTS T9TH 2; BALKS T3RD 1 1922 NL BASERUNNERS/9 IP 2ND 11.05; WALKS/9 IP 1ST .79; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 1ST 2.60; SHUTOUTS T3RD 4 1923 NL WINNING PERCENTAGE 5TH .650; WORST ERA 7TH 4.42; WALKS/9 IP 2ND 1.42; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 4TH 1.52 1925 NL SAVES T3RD 3 1926 NL SAVES T5TH 3; GAMES FINISHED T8TH 14
