Tesreau was a sturdy 6’2″ 218-lb hurler who topped the NL in starts in 1913-14. He threw a spitball with the speed of a top fastball. As a rookie in 1912, he led the league with a 1.96 ERA and went 17-7 for the Giants and no-hit the Phillies on September 6. He was John McGraw‘s choice, over Christy Mathewson and Rube Marquard, to pitch the World Series opener against Boston’s 34-game winner, Smoky Joe Wood. Wood won it 4-3, and defeated Tesreau again, 3-1, in Game Four. Tesreau won their matchup in Game Seven of a Series that went eight games.
Tesreau went 22-13 for the ’13 pennant winners and 26-10 with a league-high eight shutouts in ’14. He proved he could win with a loser in 1915 when he went 19-16 (2.29) for the last-place Giants. He retired with 27 career shutouts. Tesreau later became a successful and popular coach at Dartmouth.
