Art Houtteman (1927–2003) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. In 325 career games, Houtteman pitched 1,555 innings and posted a win–loss record of 87–91, with 78 complete games, 14 shutouts, and a 4.14 earned run average. He was signed by scout Wish Egan in 1945 at 17 years of age, and joined a Detroit Tigers pitching staff that had lost players to injuries and World War II. After moving between the major and minor leagues over the next few years, he was nearly killed in a driving accident just before the 1949 season. Houtteman rebounded from his injuries and went on to win 15 games that season and made his only All-Star appearance in the following year. He played three more seasons with the Tigers, then pitched for the pennant- winning Cleveland Indians during their 1954 season. After losing his position as starting pitcher, he played two more seasons with the Indians before he was bought by the Baltimore Orioles, with whom he finished his final season in Major League Baseball. Houtteman ended his baseball career in the minor leagues and became a sales executive in Detroit.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Houtteman

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1776:

The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations became the first of England's Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_of_Rhode_Island_and_Providence_Plantations

1814:

Ferdinand VII abolished the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Constitution_of_1812

1942:

World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy engaged Allied naval forces at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Coral_Sea

1974:

An all-female Japanese team reached the summit of Manaslu in the Himalayas, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaslu

2000:

Ken Livingstone took office as the first Mayor of London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Livingstone

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

effrontery: 1. (uncountable) Insolent and shameless audacity. 2. (countable) An act of insolent and shameless audacity. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/effrontery

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

For every man the world is as fresh as it was at the first day, and as full of untold novelties for him who has the eyes to see them.   --T. H. Huxley https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._H._Huxley