Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player. Played Major League Baseball as a pitcher for nineteen seasons (1918, 1920 to 1937) with the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. The possessor of a powerful fastball at the start of his career, he was one of the premier right-handed pitchers in the National League during the 1920s and early 1930s, helping his St. Louis Cardinals reach the World Series five times. Except for a single game in July 1918 when he pitched five innings for the Reds, he spent his entire with St. Louis, being brought out of Minor League ball in 1920 by Branch Rickey. His immediate insertion into the Cardinals starting rotation proved to be extremely beneficial, for he started a league-leading 47 games, and ate up innings, pitching in 301 his rookie year. While his record, 13 wins and 20 losses, were not stellar, foreshadowed good things to come. With a full year under his belt, his 1921 season was greatly improved, winning 18 and losing 12. In the next eleven seasons, he would win 20 or more games three times (topping with a 24-10 record in 1927) and fail to win in double digits only once. On July 17, 1924, before a hometown crowd, he pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Boston Braves, the first one in Cardinals history. In 1926, with a 13 win, 4 loss effort, he helped the Cardinals win the National League Pennant for the very first time. Fielding a team that included greats like Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rogers Hornsby and "Sunny Jim" Bottomley, the Cardinals went head-to-head against the New York Yankees led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the subsequent World Series. In an exciting contest that went the full 7 Games, Jesse Haines was in the thick of it. After pitching relief in Game 1 (a Yankees 3-2 win) he started Game 3, and tossed a 5-hit, 4-0 shutout, and helped his own cause by slugging a two-run home run. He wouldn't pitch again until the deciding Game 7, where he tossed 7 strong innings before developing a blister and being relieved by Pete Alexander with a 3-2 lead (Alexander would famously strike out Tony Lazzeri with a bases loaded, and hold on to preserve the series championship for St. Louis). In 1928 his 20-8 record again helped the Cardinals capture the National League Pennant, and again St. Louis met the Yankees in the World Series. The outcome, though, was different, as Ruth, Gehrig and company downed the Cardinals in four straight games (Jesse Haines losing Game 3). In 1930 his Cardinals again won the NL crown for the third time in five years, and he pitched the Pennant clincher on September 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Their opponent this time was Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics, who, much like the Yankees, were stocked with future Hall of Famers (Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Lefty Grove). Jesse Haines appeared in only one game for the Cards, but he made the most of it, outdueling Grove in Game 4 for a 3-1 Win. The A's proved too much, though, as they won the series 4 games to 2. The teams met in the World Series again in 1931, and this time the Cardinals defeated the A's, but Haines, with a 12-3 regular season record, did not pitch in the Series. 1931 would be his last year as a full time starter, but, having developed an excellent knuckleball (being tutored in throwing it by pitcher Eddie Rommel), he extended his career by being an effective reliever and occasional spot starter until his retirement at age 44 in 1937. Before then, though he did gain one more piece of a championship title in 1934, when he appeared in one game of relief during the World Series that year, which pitted the "Gas House Gang" Cardinals of Dizzy Dean, Pepper Martin and Joe Medwick against the Detroit Tigers (the Cards winning 4 games to 3). When he gained veteran status, he became a father figure for younger players, which earned him the nickname "Pop". Until the coming of the great Bib Gibson, Jesse Haines held all the Cardinals team pitching records – his 210 wins are still 2nd on the all-time team list. In 1970 he was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. His career record was 210 wins-158 losses, 555 games pitched, 24 shutouts, 981 strikeouts and a career 3.64 ERA.