Background
Emmett James McKeithan was born on November 2, 1906 in Shelby, North Carolina.
Emmett James McKeithan was born on November 2, 1906 in Shelby, North Carolina.
He attended and played baseball for Duke University.
He was listed at 6-foot-2-inch (188 m), weighed 182-pound (83 kg), while batting and throwing right-handed. After his college career, he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (Alabama), and joined the team for the 1932 season without having played in minor league baseball. He made his Major League Baseball debut on July 21, 1932, in the ninth inning of a game versus the Saint Louis Browns.
In one inning, he surrendered one run and did not receive a decision in the 5–3 loss.
In his next appearance, on July 28, he started and pitched 21⁄3 innings in a loss to the Detroit Tigers. After making a short relief appearance on August 19, he started his second game of the season on September 24 against the Washington Senators.
He pitched the first nine innings of the game and the score was tied 7-7. His relief then allowed a run in the 10th inning, and the Athletics lost.
McKeithan began the 1933 baseball season with the Montreal Royals, a class-Associate of Arts team in the International League.
He then re-joined the Athletics in September, appearing in three additional games, including four innings of relief on September 18. He received the victory against the Tigers, allowed one run and struck out three batters, and connected for a base hit in his only at battalion His three strikeouts were the only three of his MLB pitching career.
He returned to the Athletics for the 1934 season, and made his first appearance on April 18.
He finished the game with two innings of relief and surrendered an eighth-inning home run to Babe Ruth, the first that he had allowed in his career. lieutenant is claimed that this was the longest home run hit by Ruth in his career.
In May, he made two one-inning relief appearances, and allowed two runs to score in each, raising his season"s European Research Area to 15.75. On May 22, the Athletics released him from the team
His final MLB totals include 252⁄3 innings pitched in 10 games, and a 7.36 European Research Area. McKeithan finished out the 1934 season with the Syracuse Chiefs of the Illinois, the class-Associate of Arts affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
The following season, his last as a professional, he played for the Galveston Buccaneers of the Texas League, which was a class-A league. In eight games, his West–L record was 2–3 in 20 innings pitched. After his baseball career, he worked as a salesman, and later owned a nursing home in Forest City, North Carolina.
On August 30, 1969, McKeithan was shot in the stomach by another man and died in Forest City.
He is interred at Concord Baptist Church Cemetery in Bostic, North Carolina.