Hub Pruett

Hubert Shelby "Hub" "Shucks" Pruett (September 1, 1900 in Malden, Missouri – January 28, 1982 in Ladue, Missouri), was a professional baseball left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from to . He acquired the nickname "Shucks" because that was the strongest word in his vocabulary.

Baseball career Pruett played for the St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, and Boston Braves.

Pruett's claim to fame was that he had a knack for getting out Babe Ruth. However, the fame may have been overstated because he was most successful doing so in his first year in the major leagues, and it was mentioned prominently in newspapers. As time went on, Ruth had more success, and even hit home runs against Pruett. Other than his statistics against Ruth, Pruett was an ordinary pitcher, with a career won-lost record of 29–48 and an earned run average of 4.63. Other pitchers also had better personal records against Ruth.

Personal life Pruett's father was a physician who died in a horse and buggy accident while making a house call, and Pruett was raised by an aunt. He became a medical student during his early years in baseball and used his baseball pay to finance his medical education. He graduated from the St. Louis University School of Medicine and became a practicing physician. His son Don and grandson Chris also became physicians. In 1948, several weeks before Ruth's death, Pruett was able to personally thank Ruth for this because he felt that his success against him was one of the main reasons he was kept on by the Browns and allowed him to save money to attend medical school. Ruth told Pruett, “If I helped you get through medical school, I’m glad of it.”

Record vs. Babe Ruth dateresults of each of Babe Ruth's at bats in games during which both Pruett and Ruth appearedMay 22, 1922strikeout, walk June 10, 1922did not face each other June 12, 1922strikeout, walk, strikeout, strikeout July 12, 1922groundout (pitcher to first), strikeout, strikeout, strikeout August 25, 1922 (second game)strikeout September 17, 1922walk, strikeout, homerun, single May 16, 1923strikeout May 17, 1923walk May 19, 1923homerun, strikeout, sacrifice, strikeout, groundout June 14, 1923single, strikeout, walk, walk July 8, 1923walk, unknown type of out July 9, 1923did not face each other August 7, 1923did not face each other June 10, 1924groundout August 1, 1924bunt single August 2, 1924single, single For his career Babe Ruth batted .280/.438/.520 with 2 HRs and 13 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances against Shucks. For the timeframe Babe Ruth had an OPS of 1.233, so even allowing for the Babe reaching base 7 of their last 10 meetings Shucks did have greater than average success vs. Ruth.