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{{Short description|American baseball player (1867–1929)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Ice Box Chamberlain
|image=Elton chamberlain baseball card.jpg
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{birth date|1867|11|5}}
|birth_place=[[Warsaw, New York]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1929|9|22|1867|11|5}}
|death_place=[[Baltimore, Maryland]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=September 13
|debutyear=1886
|debutteam=Louisville Colonels
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=May 13
|finalyear=1896
|finalteam=Cleveland Spiders
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=157–120
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=3.57
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=1,133
|teams=
*[[Louisville Colonels]] (1886–1888)
*[[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]] (1888–1890)
*[[Columbus Solons]] (1890)
*[[Philadelphia Athletics (1890–91)|Philadelphia Athletics]] (1891)
*[[Cincinnati Reds]] (1892–1894)
*[[Cleveland Spiders]] (1896)
}}

'''Elton P.''' "'''Ice Box'''" '''Chamberlain''' (November 5, 1867{{snd}}September 22, 1929) was an American professional [[baseball]] player. He played in the major leagues as a right-handed [[pitcher]] during 1886–1896. In several seasons, Chamberlain finished in his league's top ten in a number of pitching categories, including [[Win (baseball)|wins]], [[earned run average]], [[strikeout]]s, and [[shutout]]s. During one of his best seasons, the [[1888 St. Louis Browns season|1888 St. Louis Browns]] won the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] [[pennant (sports)|pennant]] with a 92–43 record. Normally a right-handed pitcher, Chamberlain pitched the last two innings of an 1888 game with his left hand, making him a rare example of a [[switch pitcher]].

Chamberlain finished his major-league baseball career with 264 [[complete game]]s out of his 301 [[games started]].<ref name=BR/> After his playing days, he was hired as a baseball [[umpire (baseball)|umpire]] and later announced he was becoming a boxer, but neither venture appears to have worked out. Not much is known about Chamberlain's later life. He died in Baltimore in 1929.

==Early life and career==
Chamberlain was born on November 5, 1867, in [[Warsaw, New York]].<ref name=Overfield/> He was one of six children born to veterinary surgeon Irving Chamberlain and his wife Carrie.<ref name=SABR>{{cite web|last=Faber|first=Charles F.|title=SABR Baseball Biography Project: Ice Box Chamberlain|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ice-box-chamberlain/|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|access-date=September 2, 2023}}</ref> Moving to Buffalo as a child, Chamberlain began to play organized baseball as a teenager. His early professional career included stints with a minor league team in [[Hamilton, Ontario]], and with a [[Southern League (1885–1899)|Southern League]] team in [[Macon, Georgia]].<ref name=Overfield>{{cite book|last=Overfield|first=Joseph M.|title=Nineteenth Century Stars: 2012 Edition|year=2013|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|isbn=978-1933599298|pages=55–56|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UfgAAgAAQBAJ&q=elton+chamberlain+comiskey&pg=PA55|chapter=Elton P. Chamberlain (Ice Box)}}</ref> As a 17-year-old pitcher with Hamilton, he earned 18 wins and led the league in [[strikeout]]s.<ref name=Faber>{{cite book|last=Faber|first=Charles|title=Baseball Prodigies: Best Major League Seasons by Players Under 21|date=2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1476613536|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nHzAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT63}}</ref>

Chamberlain made his major league debut with the [[Louisville Colonels]] of the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] on September 13, 1886.<ref name=Hardball>{{cite web|last=Jaffe|first=Chris|title=75 years ago today: 17-year-old Bob Feller fans 17|date=September 13, 2011 |url=http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/75-years-ago-today-17-year-old-bob-feller-fans-17/|publisher=[[The Hardball Times]]|access-date=December 2, 2013}}</ref> In early October, Chamberlain was pitching in a game against the [[Baltimore Orioles (19th century)|Baltimore Orioles]] when Louisville players began to complain opposing pitcher [[Matt Kilroy]] was leaving the pitcher's box when he threw the ball. When the umpire did not respond to Louisville's complaints, Chamberlain's manager told him to run forward out of the box when he let go of his pitches. The move "scared the Baltimore batters out of their wits" and Kilroy did not deliver any more questionable pitches.<ref name="Felber">{{cite book |last=Keenan |first=Jimmy |title=Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games that Shaped the 19th Century |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-1933599427 |editor-last=Felber |editor-first=Bill |pages=182–183 |chapter=Matt Kilroy, Strikeout King |editor-last2=Bailey |editor-first2=Bob |editor-last3=Fimoff |editor-first3=Mark |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdgAAgAAQBAJ&q=ice+box+chamberlain+1884+arms&pg=PA182}}</ref>

In 1887, Chamberlain won 18 games for Louisville. The right-hander, who stood {{height|ft=5|in=9}} and weighed 168 lbs.,<ref name="baseball-almanac">{{cite web| title = Elton Chamberlain Stats | work = Baseball-Almanac.com | url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=chambel01 | access-date = November 12, 2006 }}</ref> earned the nickname "Ice Box". Some sources attribute the nickname to his ability to remain cool when facing tough opposition,<ref name=Overfield/> but at least one source links the nickname to chronic laziness.<ref name=Porter>{{cite book|editor-last=Porter|editor-first=David L. |title=Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: 1992–1995 Supplement for Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Other Sports|year=1995|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=0313284318|page=49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHJrkIxwhMcC&pg=PA49}}</ref> On May 9, 1888, while pitching against the [[Kansas City Cowboys (American Association)|Kansas City Cowboys]], Chamberlain pitched righthanded for the first seven innings and lefthanded for the last two innings. Louisville won the game by a score of 18–6.<ref name=Overfield/> He was the third major league pitcher to throw with both his left and right hands during the same game. That feat was not repeated in the major leagues until [[Greg A. Harris|Greg Harris]], with the Montreal Expos, switched arms for the ninth inning of a 1995 game.<ref name=Harris>{{cite web|title=Ambidextrous Harris Gives Special Glove To Baseball Hall Of Fame|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19951015/2147067/ambidextrous-harris-gives-special-glove-to-baseball-hall-of-fame|publisher=[[The Seattle Times]]|access-date=December 1, 2013}}</ref>

Chamberlain was traded to the [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]] in August 1888, having already registered 14 wins for the Colonels that year. He earned 11 more wins in the last six weeks of the season.<ref name=Overfield/> He struck out 176 batters and registered a 2.19 [[earned run average]] that season, good for fifth among the league's pitchers.<ref name=BR/> The Browns finished 1888 with a fourth consecutive league pennant. However, not long after Chamberlain joined the club, pitcher [[Nat Hudson]] left the team to get married. In the World Series, the Browns had only Chamberlain and pitcher [[Silver King (baseball)|Silver King]] to face a trio of [[History of the New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] pitchers that included future Hall of Famer [[Tim Keefe]].<ref name=Beer/>

After Chamberlain pitched a [[shutout]] in the second game of the 1888 World Series, he lost the fourth, sixth and eighth games.<ref name=Porter/> Chamberlain gave up 11 runs in the eighth game. Though the Giants clinched the series after that game, they played a full ten games, with Chamberlain winning the last game.<ref name="Beer">{{cite book |last=Nemec |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/beerwhiskyleague0000neme/page/158/mode/2up |title=The Beer and Whisky League: The Illustrated History of the American Association—Baseball's Renegade Major League |last2=Rucker |first2=Mark |publisher=[[Globe Pequot Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=1592281885 |pages=159–160 |url-access=limited}}</ref> The series was Chamberlain's last major league postseason playing appearance.<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Ice Box Chamberlain Statistics and History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chambel01.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=December 2, 2013}}</ref>

==Middle career==
[[File:Icebox Chamberlain, St. Louis Browns, baseball card portrait LCCN2008675130.jpg|thumb|200px|1889 baseball card of Chamberlain]]
The [[Cincinnati Reds]] talked to St. Louis about acquiring Chamberlain in 1889, but Cincinnati balked when St. Louis asked $8,000 for him.<ref name=Rank>{{cite book|last=Nemec|first=David|title=The Rank and File of 19th Century Major League Baseball: Biographies of 1,081 Players, Owners, Managers and Umpires|year=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786490448|page=23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TFNK7be-KGcC&q=ice+box+chamberlain+1884+arms&pg=PA23}}</ref> That year, Chamberlain pitched in a career-high 53 games and finished with 32 wins; his win total was the third highest in the league.<ref name=BR/> Following the 1889 season, a new major league was forming known as the [[Players' League]]. A players association known as the Brotherhood of Professional Ball Players had served as a union and bargaining agent since the mid-1880s; now the group's new league was attempting to compete with established baseball.<ref name=Koppett>{{cite book|last=Koppett|first=Leonard|title=The Man in the Dugout: Baseball's Top Managers and how They Got that Way|year=2000|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|isbn=1566397456|pages=14–15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TCdRaxPVmKQC&pg=PA14}}</ref> Browns owner [[Chris von der Ahe]] was afraid that Chamberlain would jump to the Chicago team in the new league; the manager of the Browns from the previous season, [[Charles Comiskey]], had been hired there. Von der Ahe agreed to match the $800 pay increase that Chamberlain would have gotten in Chicago.<ref name=Overfield/>

Chamberlain had returned to Buffalo by May 1890, where he was reported to be hanging out in pool rooms. Rumors held that Chamberlain wanted to join the Brotherhood and that he was "playing for his release."<ref name=Overfield/> He was sold to the [[Columbus Solons]] (also of the American Association) the next month.<ref name=Retrosheet>{{cite web|title=Ice Box Chamberlain|url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/C/Pchame101.htm|publisher=[[Retrosheet]]|access-date=December 2, 2013}}</ref> Chamberlain had appeared in five games for St. Louis and pitched in 25 more for Columbus by the end of the season. He finished the year with a league-leading six shutouts.<ref name=BR/> In February 1891, Chamberlain pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting a prize fight. He received a $50 fine and the Columbus team declared that they would not retain him for the 1891 season.<ref name=Dispossess/>

The [[Philadelphia Athletics (1890–91)|Philadelphia Athletics]] indicated immediate interest in Chamberlain, hoping that he would pitch most of the team's games.<ref name=Dispossess>{{cite news|title=To Dispossess a Ball Team|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/02/13/103295069.pdf|access-date=December 1, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 13, 1891}}</ref> Chamberlain earned a 22–23 [[win–loss record]] in 1891. He was the losing pitcher in the last of 485 shutouts recorded in the few seasons of American Association play.<ref name=Wilbert>{{cite book|last=Wilbert|first=Warren|title=The Shutout in Major League Baseball: A History|year=2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786468515|page=89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eaxn2e3IVS8C&q=ice+box+chamberlain+1891&pg=PA89}}</ref> In August, he gave up the longest [[home run]] that had been hit at Boston's [[Congress Street Grounds]].<ref name=Kerr>{{cite book|last=Kerr|first=Roy|title=Big Dan Brouthers: Baseball's First Great Slugger|year=2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786475605|page=186|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EaYCAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA186}}</ref> Chamberlain pitched for the NL's Cincinnati Reds in 1892, compiling a 19–23 record.<ref name=Porter/> In May of that season, Chamberlain pitched in an unusual game that was suspended due to sunlight; the scoreless game was in extra innings when umpire [[Jack Sheridan (umpire)|Jack Sheridan]] ruled that the sun was too bright for players to see the ball.<ref name=Irish>{{cite book|last=Fleitz|first=David|title=The Irish in Baseball: An Early History|year=2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786453047|page=119|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6PtSUmB7WTMC&pg=PA119}}</ref> The [[1892 Cincinnati Reds season|1892 Reds]] finished with an overall record of 82–68. League officials split the season into two halves and the Reds finished fourth and eighth in the respective halves.<ref name=Split>{{cite web|title=Research Journals Archive: The 1892 Split Season|url=http://research.sabr.org/journals/1892-split-season|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|access-date=January 24, 2014}}</ref>

Before the 1893 season, Chamberlain indicated his displeasure with the climate in Cincinnati and said that he hoped to pitch for New York or Philadelphia in the coming year. He also said that he would be happy to pitch in Buffalo if the city received a major league [[expansion team]].<ref name=Notes>{{cite news|title=Baseball Notes|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/01/24/106860994.pdf|access-date=December 1, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 24, 1893}}</ref> Chamberlain stayed in Cincinnati for that season and the next one, earning 16–12 and 10–9 records.<ref name=Porter/> On May 30, 1894, Chamberlain was the pitcher when [[Bobby Lowe]] became the first major league player to hit four home runs in one game.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Official Major League Baseball Fact Book 2002|year=2002|publisher=The Sporting News|isbn=0892046708|page=504}}</ref> Two of Lowe's home runs came in the same inning. Lowe hit only 70 career home runs in an 18-year career.<ref name=Corio>{{cite news|last=Corio|first=Ray|title=Question Box|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/29/sports/question-box.html|access-date=December 1, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 29, 1987}}</ref>

==Later career and life==
Chamberlain had agreed to play for the [[Cleveland Spiders]] in 1895,<ref name=Porter/> but instead he joined a [[Class D (baseball)|Class D]] baseball team out of [[Warren, Ohio]] in the [[Iron and Oil League]]. Future [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] member [[Honus Wagner]] played on the team. Years later, Wagner recalled Chamberlain as an experienced pitcher who shared his baseball knowledge with his young teammates.<ref name=Wagner>{{cite news|last=Wagner|first=Honus|title=Honus Wagner Says|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EMsaAAAAIBAJ&pg=3912,2250234|access-date=December 2, 2013|newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Press]]|date=April 5, 1937}}</ref> He reported to the Spiders in 1896. The team featured [[Cy Young]] and young pitchers such as [[Cy Swaim]] and [[Zeke Wilson]].<ref name=Young>{{cite book|last=Browning|first=Reed|title=Cy Young: A Baseball Life|date=2003|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]]|isbn=1558493980|page=59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfDyEa_4ZfEC&pg=PA59}}</ref> Chamberlain was released after appearing in two games.<ref name=Porter/>

Chamberlain finished his major league career with a 157–120 win–loss record and a 3.57 earned run average. Though he only finished among the top ten in [[complete game]]s in two of his seasons, Chamberlain completed 264 of his 301 games started. His complete game total was ranked 64th on the all-time major league list after the 2013 season.<ref name=BR/> Chamberlain also hit nine home runs, including a grand slam, during his major league career.<ref name=Overfield/>

In early 1898, ''[[The Montreal Gazette]]'' reported that NL president [[Nicholas Young (executive)|Nicholas Young]] signed Chamberlain as an umpire for the coming season.<ref name=Montreal>{{cite news|title=Notes of the Diamond|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Nx8uAAAAIBAJ&pg=2582,849388|access-date=December 1, 2013|newspaper=[[The Montreal Gazette]]|date=January 13, 1898}}</ref> Chamberlain did not ultimately work for the NL because he was unhappy with the salary that he was offered. He played local semi-amateur baseball in Buffalo and then announced that he was leaving baseball to become a boxer. He challenged Jack Baty, a black fighter, to a boxing match and posted a $500 bet on the fight.<ref name=BMH>{{cite news|title=Baseball Notes|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fzVCAAAAIBAJ&pg=4969,1389415|access-date=December 2, 2013|newspaper=[[Baltimore Morning Herald]]|date=June 6, 1898}}</ref> There is no record of Chamberlain boxing against Baty or anyone else, and little is known about his life after the major leagues.<ref name=SABR/>

Chamberlain briefly played minor league baseball for the 1899 [[Buffalo Bisons]] in the [[Western League (original)|Western League]].<ref name=Post>{{cite news|title=Baseball Notes|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wTVGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1030,6143858|access-date=December 2, 2013|newspaper=Rochester Post Express|date=July 31, 1899}}</ref> He did not win any games for Buffalo.<ref name=Faber2>{{cite book|last=Faber|first=Charles|title=Major League Careers Cut Short: Leading Players Gone by 30|date=2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786462094|page=193|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEGNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA193}}</ref> In 1904, ''[[Sporting Life (American newspaper)|Sporting Life]]'' reported that the pitcher had a brother, F. Earl Chamberlain, who was named a [[Pacific Coast League]] umpire.<ref name=PCL>{{cite news|title=Pacific Coast League News|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1904/VOL_42_NO_25/SL4225007.pdf|access-date=December 2, 2013|newspaper=[[Sporting Life (American newspaper)|Sporting Life]]|date=March 5, 1904}}</ref> Elton died of [[colon cancer]] on September 22, 1929, at the age of 61.<ref name=SABR/> He was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in [[Baltimore, Maryland]].<ref name="baseball-almanac"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career complete games leaders]]
* [[List of St. Louis Cardinals team records]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Baseballstats |br=c/chambel01 |brm=chambe001ice |retro=Pchame101 |almanac=chambel01}}

{{1888 St. Louis Browns}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlain, Ice Box}}
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:19th-century baseball players]]
[[Category:19th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Louisville Colonels players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns (AA) players]]
[[Category:Columbus Solons players]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Athletics (AA 1891) players]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds players]]
[[Category:Cleveland Spiders players]]
[[Category:Quincy Quincys players]]
[[Category:Hamilton Clippers players]]
[[Category:Macon (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:San Antonio Missionaries players]]
[[Category:Warren (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players]]

Ice Box Chamberlain - Revision history

imported>Bagumba: per WP:BASEPLLEAD