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Richard William "Rube" Marquard (October 9, 1886 - June 1, 1980) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1910s and early 1920s. He achieved his greatest success with the New York Giants.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, his playing rights were acquired for $13,000 - a then unheard-of sum to pay for a ballplayer's contract; and his lack of success shortly after being thus acquired led wags to tag him "the $13,000 lemon". (According to both Marquard himself in "The Glory of their Times" and the Baseball Hall of Fame's entry on him, the price paid for his contract was actually $11,000, not $13,000.) Later, however, he was to make baseball history by winning nineteen decisions in a row. He allegedly celebrated by buying an opal stickpin to reward himself. Upon being told by a friend that opals were a jinx, he threw the pin into a river; but apparently the curse had already done its work, as he lost his next decision.
He retired in 1925 with a record of 201-177 and a 3.08 ERA; his 1593 strikeouts, at the time, ranked 3rd in major league history among lefthanders (behind Rube Waddell and Eddie Plank), and stood as the NL record for southpaws until his total was surpassed by Carl Hubbell in 1942.
Rube Marquard was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. He died in Baltimore, Maryland at age 93.
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