Arthur Joseph Houtteman (August 7, 1927 – May 6, 2003) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 12 seasons in the American League with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. 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 (ERA).
Known on the sandlot for his pitching motion, Houtteman was signed by scout Wish Egan in 1945 at 17 years of age. He was recruited by major league teams, and joined a 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 an automobile 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 was sold to Cleveland, where he pitched for the pennant-winning Indians during their 1954 season. After losing his starting job, he played two more seasons with the Indians before he was bought by the Orioles, and he finished his final season in Major League Baseball with them. Houtteman ended his baseball career in the minor leagues and became a sales executive in Detroit. In 2003, Houtteman died at the age of 75.
Art Houtteman was born in Detroit, Michigan, on August 7, 1927. He was a second-generation American citizen; his grandfather Joseph had emigrated from Belgium. The only son born to the Houtteman family, Art's father, also named Arthur, vowed that his son would become a major league player by the time he turned 17.
Houtteman played baseball at Detroit Catholic Central High School, where his pitching caught the attention of baseball scout Wish Egan, who praised Houtteman's "perfect pitching motion". Houtteman was signed by the Detroit Tigers late in 1944 and began to practice with the Tigers in spring training before the 1945 season along with fellow Detroit sandlot player Billy Pierce. He spent most of the 1945 season playing for Detroit's top minor league affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. But injuries plagued the Tigers' pitching staff, and the 17-year-old Houtteman was called up by the parent club and began his major league career.
Due to Tiger pitching injuries, and with many top players still in the military late in World War II (Houtteman was too young for the draft), he made his major league debut on April 29. At 17 years old, he was the youngest player in the American League in the 1945 season before being optioned back to Buffalo, where on June 20 he threw seven no-hit innings, facing only 22 batters in the process, but lost the game 2–0 in extra innings. He also appeared in 13 games as a relief pitcher, and finished his minor league season with no wins, two losses and an ERA of 5.33 in just over 25 innings pitched.
Houtteman was the youngest major leaguer in 1946 but played only one game for the Tigers that season, allowing eight runs and fifteen hits in eight innings. He spent most of 1946 in the minor leagues, finished at 16–13 and led the league in strikeouts. At the end of the season, Houtteman was named by six of the eight International League managers as the top pitching prospect in the league, leading the league in strikeouts with 150, pitching over 200 innings, finishing second in victories with 16, and amassing an 11–2 road record. Minor league third baseman Johnny Bero liked Houtteman's fielding ability so much that he called him "a fifth infielder."
Despite his newfound top prospect status Houtteman remained in Buffalo at the beginning of the 1947 season before being recalled to the Tigers in July. He was relegated to the bullpen for a time, and saw little action. But after Hal Newhouser, Fred Hutchinson and Dizzy Trout were used in two days, Tiger manager Steve O'Neill decided to start Houtteman against the Washington Senators for only the second start of his career. He tossed a five-hit shutout and Tiger general manager Billy Evans said, "In 40 years I've never seen a better pitching job by a first-year pitcher. We now know that Houtteman is really a big leaguer". He followed this with another five-hit victory against the Boston Red Sox, then pitched a three-hit shutout in September against the St. Louis Browns. He finished the season at 7–2 with a 3.42 ERA, seven complete games and two shutouts. His performance in 1947 caught the attention of New York Yankees star and future Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, who said of Houtteman and Bob Lemon, "They have more stuff and more pitching sense than any other young fellows I've seen come up in a long while".
The 1948 season began with Houtteman in the starting rotation. Things started off poorly, however, as Houtteman lost his first eight decisions. Two of the first five losses, though, were by one run, and he had little run support. The 0–8 start and lack of run support led to his being called "Hard Luck Houtteman" in the media. His first victory that year came against the Senators, in which he also drove in the winning run. After winning his next start, he defeated the Philadelphia Athletics allowing only five hits, and avoided another loss. But he then lost eight more games and finished the season at 2–16. His teammates and the media attributed this to bad luck rather than bad pitching, and still regarded him as a prime prospect. Newhouser said, "The kid has had nothing but bad luck since the season opened", while Fred Hutchinson said, "He shouldn't have lost more than three or four games had he gotten an even break". But his 4.66 ERA was only 0.06 higher than the major league average.
As 1949 spring training began, Houtteman was nearly killed. In Lakeland, Florida on March 10, while driving home from Florida Southern College, he crashed into a fruit truck fracturing his skull. Originally listed in critical condition (a priest stood by to administer the last rites in extremis), he recovered rapidly and was able to talk with his teammates two days after the accident, telling them, "I'll be able to pitch sooner than you". Within two weeks, the Tigers were optimistic that Houtteman would be able to play again by June. As a result of the injuries to Houtteman and Yankee star catcher Yogi Berra due to car accidents, Cleveland Indians playing manager Lou Boudreau banned his players from driving, forcing the soon-to-be world champions to ride chartered buses to exhibition games.
Houtteman marked his return to the Tigers' rotation on May 21, 1949, but he lost his first three decisions. His performance improved, however, as he began to earn more victories in the 1949 season. These wins included a five-hit 2–1 victory over the New York Yankees on July 23. Over the course of the season, Houtteman beat each American League club at least once and beat the Yankees and Red Sox three times. He finished the season with a 15–10 record, a 3.71 ERA, 13 complete games, and two shutouts. He was placed in most valuable player (MVP) voting, and received three points and finished tied for 22nd with teammate Virgil Trucks. The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association honored him as the year's "Most Courageous Athlete" because of his injury and comeback.
As the 1950 season started, Houtteman was on a high note, pitching all of spring training without allowing a walk. He won his tenth game of the season on June 28, 1950, and became the first pitcher to hit the 10-win mark alongside Bob Lemon. After the game, he told an Associated Press reporter that he was just about convinced that Lady Luck had decided to give him a break after kicking him around for the past two or three years. Houtteman said, "I've been having a pretty good year and it sure feels good after some of the things that have happened to me". A week into July, Houtteman notched his eleventh victory, and only lost five games, in a 6–1 win against the St. Louis Browns. Just a few days later, Houtteman was named to the All-Star roster alongside fellow Tigers including Ted Gray, George Kell and Hoot Evers. In the 1950 All-Star game, Houtteman pitched three innings and batted once. He allowed one earned run, three hits, and one walk, his one earned run coming in the ninth inning on a Ralph Kiner home run that made the game go to extra innings.