Firpo Marberry
Born: 11/30/1898 in Streetman, TX, USA
Died: 6/30/1976 in Mexia, TX, USA
MLB Debut: 1923-08-11 | Final Game: 1936-06-10
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 190 lbs
Full name: Frederick Marberry
Biography
Firpo Marberry was a prominent American baseball pitcher who made a significant impact in Major League Baseball from 1923 until his retirement in 1936. Born in 1898, Marberry established himself as a reliable arm in the league, finishing his career with a record of 148-88 and an earned run average (ERA) of 3.63. His ability to control games and deliver crucial performances was underscored by his impressive strikeout total of 822 and a noteworthy 101 saves, highlighting his effectiveness both as a starting pitcher and a relief specialist.
Competing during a transitional period in baseball, Marberry's career spanned the tail end of the deadball era and the early years of the live-ball era, allowing him to adapt his pitching style to the evolving game. His contributions were particularly significant as he was among the early adopters of the relief pitching role, paving the way for future generations of closers and setup men. Marberry's legacy in baseball is marked not only by his statistics but also by his influence on the role of pitchers in the modern game.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 148 | 88 | 551 | 187 | 86 | 7 | 101 | 2067.3 | 2049 | 834 | 96 | 686 | 822 | 3.63 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | WSN | AL | 4 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 44.7 | 42 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 2.82 | - |
| 1924 | WSN | AL | 11 | 12 | 50 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 195.3 | 190 | 67 | 70 | 68 | 3.09 | - |
| 1925 | WSN | AL | 9 | 5 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 93.3 | 84 | 36 | 45 | 53 | 3.47 | - |
| 1926 | WSN | AL | 12 | 7 | 64 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 138.0 | 120 | 46 | 66 | 43 | 3.00 | - |
| 1927 | WSN | AL | 10 | 7 | 56 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 155.3 | 177 | 80 | 68 | 74 | 4.64 | - |
| 1928 | WSN | AL | 13 | 13 | 48 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 161.3 | 160 | 69 | 42 | 76 | 3.85 | - |
| 1929 | WSN | AL | 19 | 12 | 49 | 26 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 250.3 | 233 | 85 | 69 | 121 | 3.06 | - |
| 1930 | WSN | AL | 15 | 5 | 33 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 185.0 | 190 | 84 | 53 | 56 | 4.09 | - |
| 1931 | WSN | AL | 16 | 4 | 45 | 25 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 219.0 | 211 | 84 | 63 | 88 | 3.45 | - |
| 1932 | WSN | AL | 8 | 4 | 54 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 197.7 | 202 | 88 | 72 | 66 | 4.01 | - |
| 1933 | DET | AL | 16 | 11 | 37 | 32 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 238.3 | 232 | 87 | 61 | 84 | 3.29 | 1404.1 |
| 1934 | DET | AL | 15 | 5 | 38 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 155.7 | 174 | 79 | 48 | 64 | 4.57 | 222.0 |
| 1935 | DET | AL | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19.0 | 22 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4.26 | -416.1 |
| 1936 | NY1 | NL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
| 1936 | WSN | AL | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3.86 | - |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 551 | 668 | 60 | 128 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 65 | 2 | 22 | 111 | 0.192 | 0.224 | 0.237 | 0.461 | -3033.1 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | WSN | AL | 11 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.143 | 0.0 |
| 1924 | WSN | AL | 50 | 59 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.136 | -588.5 |
| 1925 | WSN | AL | 55 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.263 | 0.0 |
| 1926 | WSN | AL | 64 | 34 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0.176 | 0.0 |
| 1927 | WSN | AL | 56 | 41 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.122 | 0.0 |
| 1928 | WSN | AL | 48 | 46 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.109 | 0.0 |
| 1929 | WSN | AL | 49 | 81 | 9 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 0.235 | -363.8 |
| 1930 | WSN | AL | 33 | 73 | 9 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0.329 | -62.5 |
| 1931 | WSN | AL | 45 | 82 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 0.232 | -376.8 |
| 1932 | WSN | AL | 54 | 66 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0.167 | -544.2 |
| 1933 | DET | AL | 37 | 90 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0.122 | -883.6 |
| 1934 | DET | AL | 38 | 55 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0.218 | -213.6 |
| 1935 | DET | AL | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.0 |
| 1936 | NY1 | NL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1936 | WSN | AL | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | WS | DET | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1925 | WS | WS1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1924 | WS | WS1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 12.0 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 3.75 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | WS | DET | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 21.60 |
| 1925 | WS | WS1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| 1924 | WS | WS1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8.0 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1.12 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 551 | 0 | 92 | 370 | 17 | 29 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | WS1 | P | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 1924 | WS1 | P | 50 | 0 | 8 | 39 | 2 | 3 |
| 1925 | WS1 | P | 55 | 0 | 6 | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| 1926 | WS1 | P | 64 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 2 | 2 |
| 1927 | WS1 | P | 56 | 0 | 9 | 25 | 0 | 4 |
| 1928 | WS1 | P | 48 | 0 | 8 | 27 | 1 | 2 |
| 1929 | WS1 | P | 49 | 0 | 15 | 35 | 0 | 1 |
| 1930 | WS1 | P | 33 | 0 | 7 | 33 | 1 | 2 |
| 1931 | WS1 | P | 45 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 1 | 4 |
| 1932 | WS1 | P | 54 | 0 | 9 | 45 | 1 | 5 |
| 1933 | DET | P | 37 | 0 | 11 | 37 | 4 | 3 |
| 1934 | DET | P | 38 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 2 | 2 |
| 1935 | DET | P | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1936 | NY1 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1936 | WS1 | P | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 551 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 13th | 11.0 | 80 | 0 |