All-Time Indians: Oral Hildebrand

The Indiana native, Oral Hildebrand, got his start in professional baseball playing for his home town, joining the Indianapolis Indians after graduating from Butler University. After two years in the minors there, the Cleveland Indians scouts took notice and Hildebrand was signed by the Tribe at the age of 24 in the middle of 1931. This would be one of the worst seasons as far as pitching goes in Cleveland history and the first in which no pitcher would hold an ERA under 4.00 (with at least 50 innings pitched). That year, the top pitcher was Wes Ferrell, an all-time great in his own right, but even he posted an ERA of just 4.37 to go along with his 22 wins.

Hildebrand pitched just 26.2 innings in his first season, but he was still added in as the fourth starter in 1932, a season that saw a marked improvement overall in starting pitching. His 3.69 ERA that season would be his best ever as an Indian and the second on the team behind the ace Ferrell. Hildebrand was also used out of the bullpen in his second season, keeping batters to a .243 average, which was the best on the team.

After just one full season without even 200 career innings pitched under his belt, Hildebrand had the greatest season of his career. In 1933, he started off strong and kept it going. To begin the year, Hildebrand pitched in at least eight innings in five of his first seven games, including four complete games. He would ultimately complete 15 games on the season including four games that went ten innings. In addition, Hildebrand lead the league in shut outs that year with six as he earned his first All-Star appearance and finished with a team high 90 strike outs and 16 wins. While his 3.76 ERA was not the best on the squad (both Mel Harder and Clint Brown finished with better), Hildebrand pitched more innings than everyone but Harder.

His 220 innings in 1933 earned him a spot in the starting rotation for the third straight year in 1934 although it would be the beginning of the end for Hildebrand. In almost 200 innings, he held just a 4.50 ERA with an 11-9 record, but since this was another poor overall season for Indians starters (only Harder had a year worth remembering), his year didn’t really stick out and he maintained his roll into 1935. This was another amazing season by Harder (22 wins and a 3.29 ERA) and another mediocre year for the rest of the staff. Hildebrand finished 9-8 with a 3.95 ERA, striking out just 49 in about 170 innings.

Oral Hildebrand’s final season with the Indians, 1936, was coincidentally (or maybe not) the first season of two future Indians greats, Bob Feller and Johnny Allen. After a 4.91 ERA and just ten wins and 65 strike outs in 174 innings, parting ways with the former All-Star didn’t seem very difficult. Just prior to the 1937 season, Hildebrand was sent to St. Louis in a blockbuster deal that included Joe Vosmik and Bill Knickerbocker to the Browns. This was in exchange for Lyn Lary, Moose Solters and Ivy Andrews, none of whom would produce to the level of any of the three players lost. Hildebrand would pitch his two worst career seasons for the Browns, then was traded to the Yankees.

With New York, Hildebrand had a bit of a resurgence, especially in 1939 when he held a 3.06 ERA through 126.2 innings. At the ages of 32 and 33, he had a 2.90 ERA over those two seasons, winning 11 games of his 15 starts and 19 relief appearances. In 1939, he won his ring with New York, pitching in one game for four innings against the Reds, allowing no runs and striking out three. After the two years in New York, Hildebrand was signed purchased by the minor league St. Paul Saints, traded to the Pirates, then finally purchased by the Indianapolis Indians. Hildebrand didn’t play a Major League game for the Pirates, but made four starts in 1942 with Indianapolis, ending his career where it began. Oral Hildebrand died in Indiana in 1977.