August 17, 1947: Canadian pitchers Fowler, Marchildon win both ends of doubleheader for Philadelphia A’s

Dick Fowler (left) and Phil Marchildon (right) at Philadelphia Athletics spring training in the late 1940s. (Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

It was no coincidence that the Philadelphia Athletics’ two best pitchers in the 1940s were from the province of Ontario.1 There was a simple reason for it: Connie Mack’s Athletics had a working agreement with the International League’s Toronto Maple Leafs.2

In 1937 Toronto began conducting tryout camps in the hopes of uncovering local talent.3 That first summer they discovered Dick Fowler, a 16-year-old string bean from the Stanley Park neighborhood in Toronto.4 The next year, they spotted Penetanguishene’s Phil Marchildon in a tryout camp in Barrie, Ontario.5 Thinking that he might be too old to be considered a bona-fide prospect, the 24-year-old Marchildon shaved three years off his age when he signed with the Maple Leafs.6

Both pitchers performed well during their minor-league stints with Toronto.7 Mack, who was looking to improve the American League’s worst pitching staff, purchased Marchildon’s contract from the Maple Leafs at the end of Toronto’s 1940 season. A year later, he made a similar move to acquire Fowler.8

Marchildon had an easier time transitioning into the majors, in part because he was more than six years older than Fowler at the time of his call-up. “Penetang Phil” was the most effective hurler on the lowly Athletics in 1941-42, compiling a 27-29 record and a 3.91 ERA. The 21-year-old Fowler struggled with a 4.95 ERA in 1942, his first full season in the majors.

With World War II raging in Europe, Marchildon enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force after the 1942 season, while Fowler joined the Canadian Army. Both players sacrificed almost three full seasons of their big-league careers to help in the war effort.

Marchildon completed his training as a tail gunner in England in May of 1944.9 In August, on his 26th mission, his plane was shot down over the Sea of Denmark and five of his six crewmates perished.10 He spent nine harrowing months in a German POW camp, losing 40 pounds during the ordeal.11

Marchildon was a completely different person after the war. Instead of his usual friendly and outgoing self, he was nervous and guarded.12 After some reluctance, he was persuaded by Mack to return to the team in early July of 1945.13 He made three appearances that season, including an August 29 start at Shibe Park on Phil Marchildon Night.14

Fowler was nearly deployed to Europe in the fall of 1944, but he remained in Canada on compassionate grounds when doctors diagnosed his infant son with terminal cancer.15 On August 15, 1945, the day after the announcement of Japan’s surrender, Fowler was discharged from the army.16

In his first big-league start in almost three years, Fowler became the first Canadian to toss a major-league no-hitter when he defeated the St. Louis Browns, 1-0, on September 9.17 It served as the launching point for his big-league career. For the rest of the decade, Fowler was Mack’s most valuable pitcher.18

Fowler and Marchildon were the workhorses of the Philadelphia pitching staff. They pitched decently in 1946, but the Athletics stumbled to a 49-105 record, and the Canadian duo was saddled with 16 losses each.19

Career years from Fowler and Marchildon helped Philadelphia improve significantly in 1947.20 The Athletics came into their doubleheader with Washington on August 17 sitting in fourth place with a respectable 58-54 record. The Senators, headed in the opposite direction, were in seventh place with a 46-60 mark.

Fowler (8-8, 2.77 ERA) got the start in the first game of the twin bill against future Hall of Famer Early Wynn. The 27-year-old Wynn had a 12-11 record and a 3.52 ERA.

The two right-handers went toe-to-toe in a tight pitchers’ duel. With the game still scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, Wynn came to the plate with one out and nobody on. After Fowler fell behind 3-and-1 in the count, he grooved a pitch that Wynn clubbed over the right-field wall for his second home run of the season.21

The score remained 1-0 until the top of the eighth when Fowler singled to start a two-out rally. After Barney McCosky’s double moved Fowler to third base, Eddie Joost doubled sharply over the head of Washington third baseman Eddie Yost to drive in both runners and give the Athletics a 2-1 lead.22

Wynn hit for himself with two out in the bottom of the ninth and the tying run on first base. The decision by Senators manager Ossie Bluege to let Wynn bat was hardly surprising, since he had hits in his two previous plate appearances against Fowler. The switch-hitting pitcher had also batted .407 against righties in 1946. Wynn looped a double into right-center field with the runner on first, Jerry Priddy, running on contact. Right fielder George Binks caught the ball on one bounce with his bare hand and relayed the ball to second baseman Pete Suder, who turned and fired a strike to the plate to nail Priddy for the game’s final out.23 Fowler earned the victory and lowered his ERA to 2.67.

The second game of the doubleheader lacked the drama of the opener.24 Marchildon (14-7, 3.26 ERA) took to the hill for Philadelphia. The 33-year-old right-hander had earned a decision in each of his 13 previous starts, with nine of those outings going into the win column. The Senators countered with 34-year-old southpaw Mickey Haefner. The knuckleballer had a record of 7-9 and a 3.73 ERA. He had been red-hot recently, allowing only three runs in his five previous starts.

Philadelphia opened the scoring on Hank Majeski’s fly ball in the second inning.

The Athletics exploded for four more runs in the third on five hits and a walk; the big blast was a double by Suder that knocked in a pair of runs. The offensive outburst sent Haefner for an early shower, breaking his streak of five consecutive complete games. After 2½ innings, Philadelphia held a comfortable 5-0 lead.

Marchildon breezed through the Washington lineup, retiring the first 17 men in order.

With two out in the sixth inning, his perfect game was snapped when the normally reliable Joost booted a groundball hit by reliever Milo Candini. A frustrated Marchildon kicked the mound and walked the next batter, Yost, before getting out of the inning by retiring Montréal native Sherry Robertson.25

Mickey Vernon broke up the no-hitter in the seventh with a one-out triple. He scored when the next batter, Joe Grace, singled.

The Senators added an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth on another fielding error by Joost, but Philadelphia hung on for a 5-2 win. Marchildon tossed a complete-game four-hitter, earning his 15th win of the season.

Marchildon continued to pitch well for the remainder of the season. Nine days after the Washington doubleheader, he took a perfect game into the bottom of the eighth in Cleveland, only to lose it on a missed strike-three call that should have ended the inning. Marchildon went “ballistic” after the blown call, and he was fortunate that he wasn’t ejected.26 He settled for a 12-inning, complete-game victory and drove in the eventual game-winning run himself. He finished the season with a 19-9 record and a 3.22 ERA.

Fowler quietly put together the best season on the Athletics pitching staff. Six one-run defeats limited his record to a modest 12-11, and in 10 of his 11 losses, Philadelphia scored two runs or less. However, his 2.81 ERA was third best in the American League. Fowler’s Adjusted ERA (ERA+) of 136 ranked ahead of Bob Feller’s 130 ERA+ and second overall in the junior circuit.27

The Canadian pitching pair, who were best friends and roommates on the road,28 helped Philadelphia to its first winning season since 1933. The Athletics finished with a 78-76 record, an increase of 29 wins over their abysmal 1946 campaign. Despite the marked improvement, they still finished in fifth place. It was their 14th consecutive season in the second division.

Philadelphia’s resurgent pitching staff deserved credit for the team’s rapid improvement. Yankees coach Chuck Dressen raved about the Athletics hurlers after the 1947 season. “Look at the staff of competent pitchers Connie Mack has!” he exclaimed. “Fowler, Marchildon, [Bill] McCahan and [Joe] Coleman. That’s the best pitching staff in baseball.”29

Marchildon and Fowler’s double victory in Washington on August 17 may have been the peak for the duo. Marchildon’s post-traumatic-stress issues worsened in 1948, and he was never the same pitcher.30 He won only nine more games in the majors. Prior to the start of the 1950 season, Marchildon’s contract was sold to Buffalo of the International League.

Fowler hurt his pitching shoulder throwing batting practice on the first day of spring training in 1948. The injury plagued him for the remainder of his career.31 Despite pitching through jaw-clenching pain, Fowler still posted back-to-back 15-win seasons in 1948-49. Three more injury-riddled seasons followed, and he was released by Philadelphia on October 17, 1952.32

Marchildon and Fowler were inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 and 1985, respectively.33

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1194708171.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1947/B08171WS11947.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS1/WS1194708172.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1947/B08172WS11947.htm

Notes

1 In the 1940s, Fowler went 59-61 with a 3.65 ERA in 1,052% innings pitched, and Marchildon went 68-75 with a 3.92 ERA in 1,213 innings. Despite missing almost three full seasons because of World War II, they were the only pitchers to toss more than 1,000 innings for the Philadelphia Athletics in the decade.

2 Along with the American Association and Pacific Coast League, the International League was at the highest level of the minor leagues in 1937. It was classified as Double A from 1912 until the introduction of the Triple-A classification in 1946.

3 Gary Belleville, “Dick Fowler,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dick-fowler/, accessed March 9, 2021. International League President Frank Shaughnessy pushed the Maple Leafs to find local talent in the hopes of increasing their attendance. Shaughnessy even acted as an instructor in Toronto’s first “baseball school” at Maple Leaf Stadium in July of 1937. Fowler was discovered at that camp.

4 The Toronto media dubbed Fowler the “Stanley Park string bean” during his time with the Maple Leafs.

5 Phil Marchildon with Brian Kendall, Ace: Phil Marchildon, Canada’s Pitching Sensation and Wartime Hero, (Toronto: Penguin Books Canada Ltd., 1993), 17.

6 Marchildon and Kendall, 22. Fowler knocked one year off his age when he signed with the Athletics. Reporting an inaccurate birthdate was common during this era. The fans, media, and, most importantly, Connie Mack, were unaware of Fowler and Marchildon’s correct birthdates throughout their professional careers.

7 Marchildon went 15-20 with a 3.69 ERA with the Maple Leafs in 1939-40. Fowler went 11-10 with a 3.27 ERA with Toronto in 1940-41. The Maple Leafs finished dead last in the International League standings in all three of those seasons.

8 Fowler won his big-league debut on September 13, 1941, against the Chicago White Sox. He tossed a complete game in a 3-1 victory.

9 Marchildon and Kendall, 114.

10 Marchildon and Kendall, 150-51.

11 Ralph Berger, “Phil Marchildon,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/phil-marchildon/, accessed March 9, 2021.

12 Berger, “Phil Marchildon.”

13 Marchildon and Kendall, 152-53.

14 Marchildon suffered a leg injury in his August 29, 1945, start. He tried to pitch four days later and had to be pulled after two innings because of the pain. He was shut down for the rest of the season after that start.

15 Belleville, “Dick Fowler.” Fowler’s son, Tommy, was expected to live for only five months after the diagnosis. He defied doctors’ predictions and lived into his early 40s.

16 Gary Bedingfield, “Dick Fowler,” Baseball in Wartime, https://www.basebaIlinwartime.com/player_biographies/fowler_dick.htm, accessed March 11, 2021.

17 As of the end of the 2020 season, the only other Canadian to throw a major-league no-hitter was James Paxton. He tossed a no-hitter for the Seattle Mariners against the Blue Jays in Toronto on May 8, 2018.

18 From the end of World War II to the end of the 1949 season, Fowler went 52-48 with a 3.45 ERA. Over that same period, Marchildon went 41-44 with a 3.89 ERA.

19 Their Philadelphia teammate Lou Knerralso suffered 16 losses in 1946. As of 2021, it was the only time in majorleague history that three pitchers on the same team led the league in losses.

20 Rookie Ferris Fain helped the Athletics’ offense immensely in 1947. The addition of shortstop Eddie Joost was a significant boost to the team’s defense as well.

21 Art Morrow, “A’s Defeat Nats, 2-1, 5-2, Behind Fowler and Marchildon,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 18, 1947: 20.

22 Morrow, “A’s Defeat Nats, 2-1, 5-2, Behind Fowler and Marchildon.”

23 Burton Hawkins, “Nats Face Rough Time in West as Batters Lose All Punch,” Washington Evening Star, August 18, 1947:12.

24 Four baserunners were thrown out at home in the first game. In addition to the game-ending play, Philadelphia left fielder Barney McCosky threw out Buddy Lewis at the plate to end the bottom of the third. Washington also threw out two baserunners at home: center fielder Stan Spence threw out George Binks to end the top of the fourth and Eddie Joost for the second out in the top of the seventh.

25 Morrow, “A’s Defeat Nats, 2-1, 5-2, Behind Fowler and Marchildon.” Robertson had a 10-year major-league career with the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.

26 Marchildon and Kendall, 193-96. Marchildon threw his glove and vehemently argued the call with umpire Bill McKinley, who was in his first full season in the big leagues. Both Marchildon and catcher Buddy Rosar were later fined $25 each by the American League.

27 Fowler’s ERA+ of 136 means that his earned-run average was 36 percent better than league average after adjusting for park effects. Joe Haynes of the Chicago White Sox led the American League in ERA+ (150) and ERA (2.42) in 1947. Feller had the league’s second-best ERA (2.68). Both Fowler and Eddie Lopat posted a 2.81 ERA. However, Fowler had a slightly better ERA than Lopat when rounding to three decimal places (2.811 versus 2.814).

28 Jim Shearon, Canada’s Baseball Legends (Kanata, Ontario: Malin Head Press, 1994), 73. Marchildon and Fowler had known each other for quite some time. They attended spring training together with the Maple Leafs in Avon Park, Florida, in 1939 and 1940.

29 “Dressen Claims Pitching Produced Homers in N.L.,” The Sporting News, October 8, 1947: 27. Dressen was not exaggerating in his praise for the Philadelphia pitching staff; they led the American League with an ERA+ of 109 in 1947. Unfortunately, injuries derailed the careers of Fowler, McCahan, and Coleman. Marchildon’s career was cut short by post-traumatic stress from the war.

30 Berger, “Phil Marchildon.”

31 Belleville, “Dick Fowler.”

32 Fowler gutted it out for two more pain-filled seasons in 1953 and 1954 with the Triple-A Charleston (West Virginia) Senators.

33 Fowler was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He died of kidney and liver disease in 1972.