Alex Main

Miles Grant "Alex" Main (May 13, 1884 in Montrose, Michigan – December 29, 1965 in Royal Oak, Michigan) was a professional baseball pitcher who played from 1914 to 1915 and in 1918 for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Packers and Philadelphia Phillies.

A 30-year-old rookie, Main began his big league career on April 18, 1914 for the Tigers. With them, he appeared in 32 games, starting 12 of them. He went 6–6 with a 2.67 ERA, completing five games and saving three. His three saves ranked sixth in the league.

The following season, he became the second Tiger pitcher to jump to the short-lived Federal League, the first being Ed Willett.^[1] He played for the Packers that season. Although his ERA of 2.54 was third best on the team and he gave up only 181 hits in 230 innings, his record was only 13–14. He had the worst record on the team among all pitchers with at least 25 games started. Despite that, his 1.113 WHIP was fifth best in the league, and his 7.08 hits per nine innings ratio ranked second. His three saves were eighth best in the league that season. On August 16 of that season, he threw a no-hitter - that was the first no-hitter in Federal League Park history.^[2]

Main did not play in the Major Leagues in either 1916 or 1917, but in 1918 he appeared in eight games for the Phillies. Making four starts, he went 2–2 with a 4.63 ERA. He played his final big league game on June 29.

Overall, Main went 21–22 with a 2.77 ERA in 75 career games (44 starts). He allowed only 342 hits in 403 ¹⁄₃ innings. As a hitter, he hit .157 in 127 at-bats.

Following his death, he was buried at Crestwood Memorial Cemetery in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)