George Pipgras

George William Pipgras (December 20, 1899 – October 19, 1986) was an American right-handed starting pitcher and umpire in Major League Baseball. Known as "The Danish Viking," he spent most of his playing career with the New York Yankees, breaking in as a rookie in 1923. He spent the 1925 & 1926 seasons in the minor leagues, and became a starter in the rotation for the first time with the legendary 1927 team. Pipgras lead the American League in wins with a 24–13, 3.38 ERA record for the following year's 1928 repeat champions. After ending his 11-year career with the Boston Red Sox, he became an AL umpire from 1938 to 1946. He was the umpire behind the plate in one of baseball's most dramatic wins ever: on September 30, 1945, at St. Louis' Sportsman's Park, when Hank Greenberg hit a ninth inning Grand Slam, after Pipgras suggested to Greenberg that the game should be called on account of darkness. Greenberg convinced him the he could still see the ball, so the game proceeded. The next pitch was hit over the fence and the Tigers won the pennant, and eventually the 1945 World Series. His younger brother Ed pitched briefly for the 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers.

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Filmography

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Selected George Pipgras film and TV show credits.

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Pitching Stats

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Major League pitching statistics for George Pipgras.

Year	Team	W-L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1923	NYY	1-3	5.94	8	2	2	0	0	33	34	22	22	25	12
1924	NYY	0-1	9.98	9	1	0	0	1	15	20	18	17	18	4
1927	NYY	10-3	4.11	29	21	9	1	0	166	148	81	76	77	81
1928	NYY	24-13	3.38	46	38	22	4	3	300	314	132	113	103	139
1929	NYY	18-12	4.23	39	33	13	3	0	225	229	132	106	95	125
1930	NYY	15-15	4.11	44	30	15	3	4	221	230	133	101	70	111
1931	NYY	7-6	3.79	36	14	6	1	3	137	134	73	58	58	59
1932	NYY	16-9	4.19	32	27	14	2	0	219	235	120	102	87	111
1933	BOS	9-8	4.07	22	17	9	2	1	128	140	65	58	45	56
1933	NYY	2-2	3.27	4	4	3	0	0	33	32	13	12	12	14
1934	BOS	0-0	8.10	2	1	0	0	0	3	4	3	3	3	0
1935	BOS	0-1	14.40	5	1	0	0	0	5	9	9	8	5	2
Career		102-73	-	276	189	93	16	12	-	1529	801	676	598	714

Fielding Stats

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Major League fielding statistics for George Pipgras.

Year	Team	G	Inn	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%
1923	NYY	8	-	0	8	0	0	1.000
1924	NYY	9	-	1	9	0	0	1.000
1927	NYY	29	-	6	33	1	1	0.975
1928	NYY	46	-	7	49	4	2	0.933
1929	NYY	39	-	4	30	1	2	0.971
1930	NYY	44	-	12	30	5	1	0.894
1931	NYY	36	-	2	20	2	0	0.917
1932	NYY	32	-	9	35	7	1	0.863
1933	BOS	22	-	6	15	2	2	0.913
1933	NYY	4	-	2	10	0	1	1.000
1934	BOS	2	-	0	2	0	0	1.000
1935	BOS	5	-	0	1	0	0	1.000
Career		276	-	49	242	22	10	-

Batting Stats

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Major League batting statistics for George Pipgras.

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
1923	NYY	8	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0.000	0.100	0.000
1924	NYY	9	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.333	0.333	0.333
1927	NYY	29	67	4	16	1	1	1	6	2	17	0.239	0.261	0.328
1928	NYY	46	115	7	18	4	0	0	5	4	28	0.157	0.192	0.191
1929	NYY	39	84	6	12	2	0	0	5	5	19	0.143	0.191	0.167
1930	NYY	44	80	10	12	3	0	1	12	6	16	0.150	0.218	0.225
1931	NYY	36	41	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	12	0.024	0.048	0.024
1932	NYY	32	82	4	18	1	1	0	10	2	19	0.220	0.238	0.256
1933	BOS	22	46	4	9	0	0	0	4	3	10	0.196	0.245	0.196
1933	NYY	4	11	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	0.091	0.167	0.091
1934	BOS	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000
1935	BOS	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-
Career		276	539	37	88	11	2	2	42	25	129	-	-	-

First Name	George
Middle Name	William
Last Name	Pipgras
Full Name at Birth	George William Pipgras
Age	86 (age at death)
Date of Birth	December 20, 1899
Birthplace	Ida Grove, IA
Date of Death	October 19, 1986
Location of Death	Gainesville, FL
Buried	Memorial Park Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL
Height	6' 1" (185 cm)
Weight	185 lbs (83.9 kg)
Star Sign	Sagittarius
Nationality	American
Occupation	Former Major League Baseball Player
Occupation Category	Baseball
Position	Pitcher
Bats	Right
Throws	Right
MLB Debut	9 June 1923
Last MLB Game	2 June 1935