{{Short description|American baseball player (1909–1995)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Harry Gumbert |image=Harry Gumbert Cardinals.jpg |position=Pitcher |birth_date={{Birth date|1909|11|5}} |birth_place=Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1995|1|4|1909|11|5}} |death_place=Wimberley, Texas, U.S. |bats=Right |throws=Right |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=September 12 |debutyear=1935 |debutteam=New York Giants |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=April 29 |finalyear=1950 |finalteam=Pittsburgh Pirates |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Win–loss record |stat1value=143–113 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=3.68 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=709 |teams= * New York Giants ({{mlby|1935}}–{{mlby|1941}}) * St. Louis Cardinals ({{mlby|1941}}–{{mlby|1944}}) * Cincinnati Reds ({{mlby|1944}}, {{mlby|1946}}–{{mlby|1949}}) * Pittsburgh Pirates ({{mlby|1949}}–{{mlby|1950}}) |highlights= * World Series champion ({{wsy|1942}}) }}
'''Harry Edwards Gumbert''' (November 5, 1909 – January 4, 1995), nicknamed "'''Gunboat'''", was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball whose career extended for 21 professional seasons, including 15 years and 508 games pitched in the big leagues. He threw right-handed and was listed at {{convert|6|ft|2|in}} tall and {{convert|185|lb}}. Gumbert was born in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, and was the great-nephew of two 19th-century major league players, Ad and Billy Gumbert.
==Pitching career== Gumbert's career began in 1930 in minor league baseball, and after winning 19 games for the International League edition of the Baltimore Orioles in 1935, Gumbert was acquired by the New York Giants late in that season.
Gumbert was a member of the Giants' {{baseball year|1936}}–37 National League champions, as both a starting pitcher and reliever. He worked in relief in both the 1936 World Series and the 1937 Fall Classic, and was treated harshly by the victorious New York Yankees, allowing 12 hits and 12 earned runs in four total games pitched and 3{{fraction|1|3}} innings. Traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in May {{baseball year|1941}}, he worked for two more pennant winners and compiled a stellar .667 winning percentage (34–17) and earned run average (2.91) as a Redbird. He also made a brief appearance (two-thirds of an inning pitched, and no earned runs allowed) in the 1942 World Series, in which the Cardinals defeated the Yankees in five games. Gumbert spent his final five seasons in MLB with the second division Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. As a reliever with Cincinnati, he led the NL in games pitched (61), games finished (46) and saves (17) in 1948. He missed the 1945 season while serving in the United States Army.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.baseballinwartime.com/those_who_served/those_who_served_atoz.htm |website=BaseballinWartime.com |title=Baseball in Wartime – Those Who Served A to Z |access-date=February 10, 2019}}</ref>
thumb|left|200px|Gumbert in 1949 In his 15-season big league career, Gumbert compiled a 143–113 win–loss record, allowing 2,186 hits and 721 bases on balls in 2,156 innings pitched. He struck out 709, and registered 96 complete games, 13 shut outs and 46 career saves. Gumbert also was known as one of the best fielding pitchers of his time, as he set a National League record for assists by a pitcher, recording 10 on May 23, 1938.{{cn|date=December 2022}}
As a hitter, Gumbert posted a .184 batting average (130-for-708) with 50 runs, 5 home runs and 45 RBIs in 512 games. Defensively, he recorded a .979 fielding percentage which was 18 points higher than the league average at his position.<ref name="Harry Gumbert player page">{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gumbeha01.shtml|title=Harry Gumbert statistics and history|work=Baseball Reference.com|accessdate=June 10, 2021}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Baseball}} * List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Van Blair|first=Rick|year=1994|title=Dugout to Foxhole: Interviews with Baseball Players Whose Careers Were Affected by World War II |location=Jefferson, North Carolina|publisher=McFarland & Company Publishers}} * {{cite magazine |author=((The Editors of Total Baseball ))|title=Baseball:The Biographical Encyclopedia |year=2000 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |isbn=1-892129-34-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/baseballbiograph00matt/page/451 451–452] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/baseballbiograph00matt/page/451 }}
==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb=115245 |espn= |br=g/gumbeha01 |fangraphs=|brm=gumber001har |retro=Pgumbh101}} *{{Find a Grave}} *[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/harry-gumbert/ Harry Gumbert] at SABR Bio Project
{{1942 St. Louis Cardinals}} {{San Francisco Giants Opening Day starting pitchers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumbert, Harry}} Category:1909 births Category:1995 deaths Category:People from Elizabeth, Pennsylvania Category:Baseball players from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Category:Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Binghamton Triplets players Category:Charleroi Governors players Category:Cincinnati Reds players Category:Galveston Buccaneers players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Minor league baseball managers Category:New York Giants (baseball) players Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players Category:Sacramento Solons players Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:Williamsport Grays players Category:York White Roses players Category:United States Army personnel of World War II