The Worst Pitcher of All Time Pt. 2: Bill Childers and the worst game ever played
July 27, 1895
The lowly Louisville Colonels are facing the best team in baseball, the rough and tumble Baltimore Orioles starring John McGraw, Hughie Jennings, and “Wee Willie” Keeler. The result is a predictable one. With Baltimore at bat and one out in the top of the ninth, the home town Colonels are down 12 to 6.
When the Louisville Courier-Journal wrote about the game the next day, they stated that it was “the worst game of ball ever played by professional teams in this city.” The play was so bad that the spectators actually stayed to watch the slaughter in some sort of masochistic trance.
What turned an otherwise routine Louisville defeat into the worst game ever played (in Louisville)?
The man responsible for the worst game ever played (in Louisville) was an amateur twirler from St. Louis named Bill Childers.
How did he end up on the mound that afternoon?
One account is that he came to Louisville on the recommendation of “Tub” Welch, Louisville’s utility man. Another account has him begging Louisville manager “Honest” John McCloskey for a trial. Childers officially joined the club on July 26 and practiced with the team.
Apparently McCloskey had seen enough in Childers during his brief time with the club, that he decided to see what this kid was made of. So with one out in the top the ninth, he took a chance on his latest “discovery.”
Childers took the mound to face Jennings, who when not jumping into empty swimming pools, found time to hit .386, while also being the best defensive shortstop in baseball. Keeler was on third base after tripling home two runners. This was a sticky situation to be making your major league debut.
Childers seemingly unphased by the pressure, commenced his major league debut with a strike. This would be the highlight of his career.
His second pitch was wild, which allowed Keeler to score from third. It was now 13 to 6. At least the bases were empty now, he could relax and just pitch his game.
Of course, Childers’ game consisted of walking every batter in sight. Childers walked the next three batters: Jennings, McGraw (who hit .369 that year) and Steve Brodie (who hit a modest .348). 1895 was bonkers for batting averages (the NL collectively hit .296 that year) and the Orioles had a ridiculous middle of the order. So for degree of difficulty, Childers gets a bit of a pass.
The young twirler now faced second baseman and future Black Sox manager “Kid” Gleason. Childers succumbed to the pressure of the bases loaded situation and threw another wild pitch, his second of the day. This scored Jennings. 14 to 6. Gleason singled which scored Brodie and McGraw. 16 to 6. “Scoops” Carey came to the plate, and he was the weakest starter on the club, batting a meagre .261 and playing a poor first base. This did not stop Childers from walking Carey. Backup catcher “Boileryard” Clarke came to the plate and made his second hit of the inning, scoring Gleason from second. 17 to 6. Pitcher “Dad” Clarkson who hit a meagre .140 that year was no match for the unstoppable failure of Childers and drew another base on balls. This was Childers’ fifth free pass of the inning.
With six runs having scored and two men on base and still just one out in the inning, manager John McCloskey had finally seen enough. Louisville’s best pitcher Bert Cunningham, came in to stop the bleeding and promptly gave up a hit to Joe Kelley, which scored the inherited runners Clarke and Clarkson. 19 to 6.
By the time the inning was over, it was 22 to 6 for the Orioles and Louisville had lost again.
The Courier-Journal offered a strangely optimistic characterization of Childers’ performance, noting that while it would be fair to criticize his pitching, he was not given the chance to chance to warm up, and likely was nervous as he had never even been to a professional game before. They even advocated for a future appearance pending some more practice. The paper concluded that if Childers could learn to throw the ball over the plate rather than over the batters heads, he would have a chance. Perhaps they were being a bit facetious.
Childers’ final line was seven batters faced, two hits, five walks, three wild pitches (the game account only describes two), and six earned runs (according to scoring rules that time, the two inherited runners allowed to score by Cunningham were credited to Cunningham, not Childers).
Since he recorded zero outs, Childers joined the Infinite ERA Club. He currently holds the major league record for most runs given up in a career without getting an out.
While Childers’ futility on the major league mound remains no mystery, virtually nothing is known about the man who pitched possibly the worst game ever.
In the official record books, Childers is listed as Bill Childers with a birthplace of St. Louis. However there is no evidence of what Childers’ first name actually was, or proof of his birthplace, so the name Bill is just a guess at this point. He was described in multiple sources as a St. Louis amateur, so that remains our only firm biographical detail.
Despite this lack of information, there are several leads (some quite tenuous) that may help provide firm identification of who Childers’ was. On August 11, 1895, a player named Childers was listed as the starting pitcher for the St. Louis amateur club called the Willows. Could this be the same man?
Erstwhile SABR researcher Richard Malatzky has located an amateur pitcher named William Childress from Tennessee who was playing in the St. Louis area around the time, so this is another possible match. This could be the same Childress, who pitched alongside Tub Welch (alleged discoverer of Childers) on a local St. Louis team called the Athletics in May 1898. It was suggested that this Childress had found fame pitching in the Texas League, but I’ve found no such match thus far.
So at this point, Childers remains a shadowy figure, but one with a place in the major league record books.
