Milt Shoffner

Milburn James Shoffner

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1½", Weight 184 lb.

• Debut July 20, 1929
• Final Game September 22, 1940
• Born November 13, 1905 in Sherman, TX USA
• Died January 19, 1978 in Madison, OH USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Milt Shoffner came up originally to the Cleveland Indians in 1929, when the team was managed by Roger Peckinpaugh. He stayed until 1931. He gave up far more walks than he threw strikeouts, and from 1932-1936 he was not in the majors.

In part of 1931 he was with the Toledo Mud Hens, and in part of 1932 he was with the Newark Bears.

He came back to the majors in 1937, with substantial success in 42.7 innings where he had an ERA of 2.53. The Boston Bees of the time were an above-average team, and Milt stayed with them through part of 1939. Casey Stengel was his manager in 1938 and 1939 with the Bees.

Although Milt was having a pretty decent year in 1939 with the Bees, he ended up on waivers. In a sense, that was lucky for him because he was picked up by the Cincinnati Reds who won the National League pennant. He did not appear in the 1939 World Series.

The following year he was not effective, but was with the team as it won the pennant and then the 1940 World Series.

Notable Achievement

• Won a World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1940 (he did not play in the World Series)

Record

In 1930, Shoffner led the majors in balks, with 3: all three came in the 3rd inning of a game against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 12th. Three balks in an inning is still a major league record (as of 2010): Shoffner was the first, but four other pitchers have tied the record.

Apart from that inning, Shoffner had only one balk in his career.

Related Sites

• Milt Shoffner at the SABR Bio Project