Elton P. "Ice Box" Chamberlain (November 5, 1867September 22, 1929) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to . In several seasons, Chamberlain finished in his league's top ten in a number of pitching categories, including wins, earned run average, strikeouts, and shutouts. During one of his best seasons, the 1888 St. Louis Browns won the American Association pennant with a 92–43 record. Although a righthanded pitcher, Chamberlain pitched the last two innings of an 1888 game with his left hand. Chamberlain finished his major league career with 264 complete games out of his 301 games started. After his playing days, he was hired as a baseball umpire and later announced that he was becoming a boxer, but neither venture seems 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. He was one of six children born to veterinary surgeon Irving Chamberlain and his wife Carrie. 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 team in Macon, Georgia. As a 17-year-old pitcher with Hamilton, he earned 18 wins and led the league in strikeouts. Chamberlain made his major league debut with the Louisville Colonels of the American Association on September 13, 1886. In early October, Chamberlain was pitching in a game against the Baltimore Orioles when Louisville players began to complain that 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. In 1887, Chamberlain won 18 games for Louisville. The right-hander, who stood and weighed 168 lbs., earned the nickname "Ice Box". Some sources attribute the nickname to his ability to remain cool when facing tough opposition, but at least one source links the nickname to chronic laziness. On May 9, 1888, while pitching against the Kansas City Cowboys, Chamberlain pitched righthanded for the first seven innings and lefthanded