George Uhle

{{Short description|American baseball player (1898–1985)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=George Uhle

|image=George-Uhle.jpg

|caption=Uhle in 1921

|position=Pitcher

|birth_date={{Birth date|1898|9|18}}

|birth_place=Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1985|2|26|1898|9|18}}

|death_place=Lakewood, Ohio, U.S.

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 30

|debutyear=1919

|debutteam=Cleveland Indians

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 22

|finalyear=1936

|finalteam=Cleveland Indians

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=200–166

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=3.99

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=1,135

|teams=

• Cleveland Indians ({{mlby|1919}}–{{mlby|1928}}, {{mlby|1936}})
• Detroit Tigers ({{mlby|1929}}–{{mlby|1933}})
• New York Giants ({{mlby|1933}})
• New York Yankees ({{mlby|1933}}–{{mlby|1934}})

|highlights=

• World Series champion ({{wsy|1920}})
• 2× AL wins leader (1923, 1926)

}}

George Ernest Uhle (September 18, 1898 – February 26, 1985) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his playing career with his hometown Cleveland Indians. After ten seasons, during which time he led the American League in wins, innings pitched, complete games, shutouts, and games started, he was traded in 1928 to the Detroit Tigers for Jackie Tavener and Ken Holloway. He went on to play with the New York Giants, New York Yankees, and again with the Indians. When his career ended in 1936, he had won 200 games. His lifetime batting average of .289 (393-for-1360) is still a record for a pitcher (not playing at any other position)

On May 25, 1929, the Detroit Tigers defeated the Chicago White Sox 6–5 in 21 innings. Uhle, who was the winning pitcher, pitched twenty innings to earn his eighth win of the season with no losses. The losing pitcher, Ted Lyons, pitched all 21 innings for Chicago.

Babe Ruth himself credited George with being the toughest pitcher he ever faced, although Ruth batted .336 against Uhle. Out of 714 career home runs, he got only four off Uhle. Uhle had the second most strikeouts of Ruth by a pitcher, with 25. Only Lefty Grove had more, with 27.

Uhle's son, George, Jr., played minor league baseball in the Boston Braves' organization for a few years.{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Vince|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19500103&id=m9gNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SGoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1483,634622&hl=en|title=Once Over Lightly|work=The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=January 3, 1950|access-date=March 22, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=uhle--001geo|title=George Uhle Minor League Statistics and History|work=Baseball-Reference|access-date=March 26, 2020}}

Uhle was buried at Lakewood Park Cemetery in Rocky River, Ohio.