St. Louis Browns catcher Fred Walden was born on June 25, 1890 in Fayette, Missouri. He would be the only player in MLB history to be from Fayette, although St. Louis Stars pitcher, Johnnie Vivens, would also be from the small town just northwest of Columbia, Missouri.
The mysterious career of Walden was brief and remained centered around
St. Louis Browns catcher Fred Walden was born on June 25, 1890 in Fayette, Missouri. He would be the only player in MLB history to be from Fayette, although St. Louis Stars pitcher, Johnnie Vivens, would also be from the small town just northwest of Columbia, Missouri.
The mysterious career of Walden was brief and remained centered around the St. Louis area. There is little documentation on his life before or after his baseball career. There are no transaction records of how he was signed by the Browns, or when he was released. There are no records of him playing any high school, college, or minor leagues baseball before he debuted with the Browns.
Fred Walden would play just a single game with the St. Louis Browns. On June 3, 1912, Fred Walden would be a defensive replacement for Browns' starting catcher Lou Criger. It was the top of the ninth inning of a 13-4 loss to the Philadelphia, and Joe Kutina had pinch hit for Criger the inning before. Walden was catching for Browns' LHP Curly Brown, in an inning that lasted 13 batters before the final out. He was not given an opportunity to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. That was the entire MLB career of Fred Walden.
The following year, 1913, he would appear in 18 games with the St. Louis Terriers. At the time the Terriers were playing in the Independent League, before the formation of the Federal Baseball League. His offensive statistics would show nine hits in 51 at bats, including a triple and four runs scored. There is no record of him continuing a professional baseball career after 1913.
Fred Walden would go on to serve with the American forces in World War I, and later came back to settle in St. Louis. He passed at th age of 65 while living in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.
HEADLINE
"CROSSIN RECORDS UNASSISTED DOUBLE PLAY VS CLEVELAND" (1914)
FEATURED GAME
1916 The Browns take both ends of a double header vs the Detroit Tigers. GAME 1 - In a classic match up, Browns' George Sisler would out hit Detroit's Ty Cobb. Sisler would go 2-for-3 with a runs scored while driving in three runs. Cobb would record a hit and
HEADLINE
"CROSSIN RECORDS UNASSISTED DOUBLE PLAY VS CLEVELAND" (1914)
FEATURED GAME
1916 The Browns take both ends of a double header vs the Detroit Tigers. GAME 1 - In a classic match up, Browns' George Sisler would out hit Detroit's Ty Cobb. Sisler would go 2-for-3 with a runs scored while driving in three runs. Cobb would record a hit and two walks. St. Louis SS Doc Lavan and C Hank Severeid would both smack two hits and score three runs between them. LHP Carl Weilman would pitch a complete game while allowing just seven hits and two runs. It would be his eighth win of the season. GAME 2 - The Browns take the finale by scoring runs in the late innings, and beat the Tigers 3-1. While trailing 1-0 at the beginning of the 6th inning, the St Louis bats are led by 1B George Sisler. He would record drive in two runs in without recording a hit or a sacrifice. The third runs would come on a wild pitch by Tigers pitcher Willie Mitchell. CF Armando Marsens, RF Ward Miller, and 3B Jimmy Austin would each hit a double off of Mitchel. RHP Bon Groom would earn the win for the Browns, while LHP Ernie Koob records his first save.
BROWNS RECORD ON THIS DAY
Overall Record on June 25
31 Wins, 23 Losses (.574)
1902-09: 6-2
1910-19: 5-6
1920-29: 6-4
1930-39: 6-6
1940-49: 6-3
1950-53: 2-2
DOUBLE HEADERS
Sweeps: 5
Splits: 3
Swept: 2
TRANSACTIONS
There were No Trades conducted on this day
DEBUTS
1949 - SS Al Naples would get the start in the Browns 13-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox. He would get a double in first at bat, and record five assists in the field.
BROWNS BIRTHDAYS
1890 - C Fred Walden (1912)
The 1906 St. Louis Browns pitching staff looks amazing on paper. The Browns used only 6 pitchers for the entire season - ONLY 6 PITCHERS!!! Every starting pitcher had over 150 innings pitched, and 4 pitchers had over 240 innings pitched (Harry Howell, Barney Pelty, Fred Glade, Jack Powell). This staff recorded an astonishing 133 complete
The 1906 St. Louis Browns pitching staff looks amazing on paper. The Browns used only 6 pitchers for the entire season - ONLY 6 PITCHERS!!! Every starting pitcher had over 150 innings pitched, and 4 pitchers had over 240 innings pitched (Harry Howell, Barney Pelty, Fred Glade, Jack Powell). This staff recorded an astonishing 133 complete games, of the 154 on the schedule. This staff only issued 14 home runs across the season, and hit 58 opposing batters. The most amazing stat comes in the idea that five of the six Browns starters had an ERA of lower than2.50, and two had an ERA of below 2.00 (Barney Pelty, Jack Powell). Take into account that this team pitched in the middle of the Deadball Era, and pitchers definitely had the advantage over batters. "Trick" pitches and irregular deliveries were common practices. Even though the Browns pitching stats looked great, they found themselves in the mix with the rest of the league.
Team Pitching Statistics
(American League Rankings)
Player Statistics