July 17, 1905 – by Ronald Schmidt
It is challenging to stand out in a team with stars like Leo McKenzie, Moriarty Stapleton, Stephen Millington, or Enrique Johnson. It’s easy for bystanders not to notice players at all. One severely underrated player is Lambert Holmes.
When Holmes joined the Brewers for the 1900 season, he relieved Mike Wile, who started in 114 games for the Brewers since the league’s inauguration. Holmes had a challenging standing, especially because Wile is a Philadelphia native. But the management decided that the Brewers needed a left-handed pitcher and stuck with the two younger stars in the rotation. Nobody took notice of Holmes’ rookie year record: 21-8 – two wins more and one loss less than Danny Edgerton. Millington had a 16-18 season.
A year later, Holmes had another positive record before the Brewers experimented with a two-man rotation. Edgerton and Millington catapulted Philadelphia back into the playoffs, while Holmes had to settle as a reliever.
Although the two-man rotation was a successful project, the new team trainer forced Stilgoe to drop the idea. Holmes was back in as number three, but management was out looking for a new star. In 1903, the Brewers came in second, eight games behind the Richmond Rifles, who would later become the Legacy Cup Champions. Danny Edgerton and Stephen Millington had positive records, while Lambert Holmes was 15-17. Many people in Philadelphia blamed Holmes for not reaching the playoffs, and the pressure was back on management.
Holmes remained with the Brewers because no team would offer a good left-handed starter. But, this time, Philadelphians did notice him, and he slowly disappeared from the latest trade rumors. Millington was the star of the 1904 championship season, but Holmes’ 19 wins played a crucial role.
This season, Lambert Holmes has the chance to become immortal. He played a fantastic regular season. Holmes crowned his 26-3 record with a 1.94 ERA and a no-hitter. He didn’t get the single-season record in wins, but that’s because the top four pitchers played in the controversial two-man rotations. Among the players with less than 40 starts, he passed Ivy Maw’s 24 wins in 1903 and now leads this category.
The next challenge for the 34-year-old Texan is the League Cup against the Brooklyn Whales. The last game of the regular season was a win for Holmes against the Whales. His fifth win in his fifth start against the Whales. Holmes will certainly look forward to the upcoming matches.