On July 26, 1913, in a game between the Chicago American Giants and the Cuban Stars in Detroit’s Mack Park, Bruce Petway pinch-hit for starting pitcher Rube Foster in the seventh inning. Dicta Johnson entered to pitch in the eighth—and when the number 9 spot in the lineup came up again in the bottom of the ninth, out came Petway again, this time hitting for Johnson. Petway singled both times, though his efforts came in vain as the American Giants lost 8 to 5.
The phenomenon of “courtesy runners” in the major leagues as late as the 1950s is well-known, and I’ve seen a number of Negro league examples, too. But I don’t think I’ve heard about too many “courtesy hitters,” at least before 1973.
(Detroit Free Press, July 27, 1913, p. 18)
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