On April 24, 1915, Cardinals lefty Slim Sallee allowed just two hits during a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs in St. Louis. He was given a lead in the second when Miller Huggins come up with an RBI single, and that is all Sallee needed, as he stood tall on the mound until the final out was recorded.The first hit Sallee gave up was a one out single to Wildfire Schulte, but it amounted to nothing, as Dots Miller made a spectacular play at first robbing Heinie Zimmerman of a hit, then doubling off the runner. The wildfire was out before it had a chance to light, and by the time the Cubs second baseman Art Phelan doubled in the ninth the Cardinals had scored two more runs, and this it Sallee finished them off moments later. It truly was a duel between Cubs hurler Zip Zabel and Slim Sallee, as Zabel only surrendered five hits of his own, but as in all duels one man walks away victorious. That man was Slim Sallee.
Slim Sallee spent 9 of his 14 year big league career in St. Louis. He first stepped on the mound in in 1908, then stuck around until he was dealt in 1916. He went 106-107 during that time, which at first glance may make a person think, well that is one game under .500. I believe one stat that overrules the one game under .500 is his E.R.A. during that time sat at 2.67. He was an above average pitcher, and unfortunately for him the Cardinals were a ways off when it came to putting a true contender on the field. Today, Sallee's 106 wins ranks 12th on the franchise's all time wins list, and that 2.67 E.R.A. is only second to John Tudor's 2.52, and Sallee had 125 more games on Tudor's overall record of 62-26.
If you would like to learn more about Slim Sallee check out his SABR biography here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f5ef8e5d. It is a very good read.
Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN191504240.shtml
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