{{short description|American baseball player (1897–1980)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Gus Ketchum |image=Gus_Ketchum.jpg |image_size=150 |caption= |position=Pitcher |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1897|3|21}} |birth_place=Royse City, Texas, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1980|9|6|1897|3|21}} |death_place=Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=August 7 |debutyear=1922 |debutteam=Philadelphia Athletics |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 28 |finalyear=1922 |finalteam=Philadelphia Athletics |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Win–loss record |stat1value=0–1 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=5.62 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=4 |teams= * Philadelphia Athletics ({{mlby|1922}}) }} '''Augustus Franklin Ketchum''' (March 21, 1897 – September 6, 1980){{efn|Full name and date of birth are as listed by MLB.com and Retrosheet. Ketchum's draft registration card of February 1942 gives his first name simply as "Gus", date of birth as March 21 but in 1898, and place of birth as Rockwall, Texas.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/image/612947669 |title=Draft Registration Card |publisher=Selective Service System |date=February 1942 |via=fold3.com |url-access=subscription |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}</ref> His entry in the Social Security Death Index also lists his first name simply as "Gus".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/record/56870025-gus-ketchum |title=Gus Ketchum in Social Security Death Index |publisher=Social Security Administration |via=fold3.com |url-access=subscription |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}</ref>}} was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in six games for the 1922 Philadelphia Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). Listed at {{convert|5|ft|9.5|in|m}} and {{convert|170|lb|kg}}, he threw and batted right-handed.
==Biography== Ketchum played in minor league baseball from 1922 to 1930, except for 1928.<ref name=brm/> In 180 minor league pitching appearances, he accrued a 41–56 win–loss record.<ref name=brm>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=ketchu001aug |title=Gus Ketchum Minor League Statistics & History |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
In August and September 1922, Ketchum pitched in six games for the Philadelphia Athletics,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1922/Kketcg1010011922.htm |title=The 1922 PHI A Regular Season Pitching Log for Gus Ketchum |website=Retrosheet |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}</ref> the only major league appearances of his career.<ref name=retro/> The Athletics had purchased his contract from the minor league Ardmore Producers for $1750 on July 11.<ref name=retro/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56909302/gus-ketchum-is-signed-for-test-with/ |title=Gus Ketchum is Signed for Test with Connie Mack Next Season |newspaper=The Daily Ardmoreite |page=6 |date=July 10, 1922 |accessdate=August 7, 2020 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> In six relief appearances totaling 16 innings, he compiled an 0–1 record with a 5.62 earned run average while striking out four batters.<ref name=retro/> His loss came on August 11 in a road game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds; entering a 2–2 tie game, Ketchum pitched a scoreless eighth inning, then allowed a run in the ninth on two walks, a sacrifice bunt, and a game-winning single by opposing pitcher Bullet Joe Bush.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1922/B08110NYA1922.htm |title=New York Yankees 3, Philadelphia Athletics 2 |date=August 11, 1922 |website=Retrosheet |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
Born in 1897 in Royse City, Texas, Ketchum died in 1980 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was interred in Altus, Oklahoma.<ref name=retro>{{cite web |url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/K/Pketcg101.htm |title=Gus Ketchum |website=Retrosheet |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb=117028 |br=k/ketchgu01 |brm=ketchu001aug |retro=K/Pketcg101}} *{{find a Grave|23154385}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ketchum, Gus}} Category:1897 births Category:1980 deaths Category:Baseball players from Oklahoma City Category:People from Royse City, Texas Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Philadelphia Athletics players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Ardmore Producers players Category:Shreveport Gassers players Category:Meridian Metropolitans players Category:Mexia Gushers players Category:St. Paul Saints players Category:Marshall Indians players Category:Toledo Mud Hens players Category:Nashville Vols players Category:Corsicana Oilers players Category:Monroe Drillers players Category:Peoria Tractors players Category:Beaumont Exporters players Category:Tampa Smokers players Category:Shreveport Sports players Category:Baseball players from Rockwall County, Texas Category:Baseball players from Collin County, Texas