The Class of 1972
Eppa Rixey

Eppa Rixey could brag for many years to be the all-time best left-handed pitcher to play professional baseball.  He is still remembered as one of the all-time greats and one of the best players to come from Virginia.

Born in Culpeper, Virginia, Rixey played golf, tennis and basketball for the University of Virginia until off-season umpire Cy Rigler, studying at UVA as well as coaching baseball and basketball, encouraged the 6’5”, 210 pound Rixey to try his hand at pitching.

The advice was well-placed considering that until he was surpassed by Warren Spahn in 1962, Rixey held the National League record for victories by a left-hander, with 266.   Rixey never pitched a day in the minors, but went straight on to a 10-10 record and a 2.5 ERA his rookie season with the Philadelphia Phillies.  From 1912 to 1920, he won 87 games and lost 103 for the Phillies.  In 1921 he joined the Cincinnati Reds winning 179 and losing 148 over the next 13 seasons.  During his record setting 21-season career, Rixey compiled 266 wins and 251 losses, with a 3.15 ERA.  In the 1915 World Series he lost his only decision to the Boston Red Sox. 

Rixey pitched for first-division clubs in only 9 seasons against 12 in the lower half.  He pitched on only one championship club early in his career, the 1915 Phillies. Yet as late as 1932, at the remarkable age of 41 and in his 20th season, Rixey pitched 27 consecutive scoreless innings.  When Rixey was on first-division clubs, he could win.  In his first 5 years with Cincinnati, he hurled an even 100 victories, topped with a 25-13 performance with the second place Reds of 1922.  That year Rixey led the League in both victories and innings pitched (313).

His unusual height, southern gentlemanly manners, reliable pitching strength and strange name made Rixey a fan favorite. “Eppa” was an inherited family name, and Rixey came from an old Virginia family with roots back to the 18th century.  The popular notion that his name was actually "Jeptha" was pure fiction created by a Cincinnati sportswriter who just liked the sound of it.

Rixey retired from baseball in 1933. He passed away February 28, 1963, the same year he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 


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