Jacob Norwood
by Martín Abresch
| |
|
|
|
Jacob Norwood spent his entire 15-year career with the Chicago Traders, in 11 of those he pitched alongside fellow Indiana native and Hall of Famer Matthew Sullivan to form the best pitching duo in the history of the National Baseball League. Both pitchers featured an array of off-speed pitches that kept hitters off-balance. Norwood was known for his impeccable control and tricky screwball. He led the league in wins (1911-12), ERA (1906, 1910-12), strikeouts (1911), games started (1901), innings pitched (1901), WHIP (1903, 1908, 1910-12), and WAR (1902, 1911-12). With Chicago, he won the World Championship three times (1906, 1909-10). He wa a member of the famous 1909 Chicago Traders, the winningest team in NBL history, who went 123-35 and won the championship. (Though Norwood missed several months of the season and only pitched in 25 games. By WAR, he was still the second best pitcher on the team, next to Sullivan, and he went 17-6. But it's incredible to think that Chicago could have won even more games if Norwood had been healthy all season.) Norwood won the pitching Triple Crown in 1911. He was named Player of the Week five times and Pitcher of the Month seven times. After his retirement, he returned to his home town in Richmond, Indiana, where he got a job with Gennet Records and was involved with that studio's pioneering early jazz recordings.
In 1947, Jacob Norwood was elected to the Hall of Fame.