George Blaeholder

George Franklin Blaeholder (January 26, 1904 - December 29, 1947) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. Blaeholder began his career in 1925 with the St. Louis Browns, but he pitched in just two innings that season. Back in the minors in 1926, he returned to the majors with the Browns in 1927, where he again saw limited duty, pitching only 9 innings. In 1928, he became a regular full-time pitcher, posting a 10-15 mark, 4.04 ERA in 214 innings. He won 10 more more games in 7 seasons with the Browns, but Browns were a perennial losing team, and Blaeholder had only one non-losing season with the Browns (in 1932 when he went 14-14). During the 1935 season, he was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics, and the next year, played his final season with the Cleveland Indians, where he went 8-4, the only winning season of his career. He finished his career with a 104-125 record and a 4.54 ERA; despite this record, Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx said for him that Blaeholder was the toughest pitcher to hit in the American League.

Blaeholder is most noted for popularizing the slider pitch. Pitchers previously had used the pitch, but not nearly as extensively as Blaeholder threw it, as the pitch was considered by pitchers at the time to ruin the arm.