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Willard Mains
Part of the story of Willard Eben Mains is typical of the era, but his achievements during his baseball career are not. Mains pitched in professional baseball for 20 years (1887-1906). He played briefly in the majors; the bulk of his career was spent in various minor leagues, where he was the first pitcher to win more than 300 games. When his career ended in 1906, only six major league pitchers (all future Hall of Famers) had reached 300 wins. Only Cy Young, Kid Nichols and Tim Keefe had more victories than his 334 total. Mains was arguably the best minor league pitcher of his day.
Typical of the times, Mains had to support himself when he was not playing professional baseball. Most players held down other jobs during the off-seasons. As early as the 1890s, Mains was making baseball bats in Sandy Creek, Maine. According to his grandson, Mains’s bats were used by the minor league teams he played on and by other teams in the region. - SABR
Redid the facegen.
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