Dick Whitworth

Once called the “greatest pitcher in the world,” Dick Whitworth was the idol of Chicago American Giants’ fans in the late 1910’s.

Whitworth was born in St. Louis in 1895 and began pitching for a semipro team made mostly of teenagers in Kansas City, Kansas in 1911.  On that team, Fred Palace’s Colts, he was a teammate of Bullet Rogan.

The tall righthander made his Negro Leagues debut in 1915 for the Chicago American Giants, going 5-2 with a 3.33 earned run average.  He threw a no-hitter against the Chicago Union Giants in his rookie season.  By 1919, Whitworth was so popular that he held out part of the year in a salary dispute but still finished 5-1 with a 3.73 ERA.

During that 1919 season, Whitworth defeated a white team, the Chicago Magnets, in front of “fully 9,000 people.”  That performance prompted manager Rube Foster to call him “the greatest pitcher today in the world.”

The next season, Foster wasn’t such a fan of Whitworth, as the pitcher took his services to rival Hilldales (PA).  Foster was so angry that he asked teams to boycott playing Hilldales, for whom Whitworth went 4-2.

Whitworth returned to the American Giants in 1922 but was no longer a star.  He was released after the 1924 season and died in St. Louis in 1966.