1881
Born May 19, 1881
Plains, PA, USA
Ed Walsh Marquee Hall of Fame 1946
The spitball was legal when he threw it, and he threw it constantly. In 1908 he appeared in 66 games, started 49, completed 42, and worked 464 innings, still the most in any season since 1901. He went 40-15 with a 1.42 ERA, 11 shutouts, and 269 strikeouts.
Two years later he posted the best ERA of his career, 1.27, and lost 20 games. The 1910 White Sox scored the second-fewest runs in the American League and hit seven home runs all season. Chicago also used him whenever a game was close, and he led the league in saves five times.
The workload ended him. He was 32 in 1913, and from that season through 1917 he managed 191 innings and 13 wins in total. His 195 career wins look small beside his contemporaries. His 1.82 ERA does not: no pitcher with 1,500 innings in the record has finished lower.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 4 | 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | CHW | 18 | 41 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 1 | .220 |
| 1905 | CHW | 29 | 58 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 0 | .155 |
| 1906 | CHW | 42 | 99 | 12 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 28 | 0 | .141 |
| 1907 | CHW | 57 | 154 | 7 | 25 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 44 | 2 | .162 |
| 1908 | CHW | 66 | 157 | 10 | 27 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 38 | 2 | .172 |
| 1909 | CHW | 32 | 84 | 5 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 26 | 4 | .214 |
| 1910 | CHW | 52 | 138 | 12 | 30 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 5 | .217 |
| 1911 | CHW | 63 | 158 | 23 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 29 | 0 | .215 |
| 1912 | CHW | 62 | 136 | 12 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 14 | 41 | 0 | .243 |
| 1913 | CHW | 17 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .156 |
| 1914 | CHW | 10 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .063 |
| 1915 | CHW | 5 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .364 |
| 1916 | CHW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1917 | BSN | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .250 |
| Career | — | 459 | 1088 | 93 | 210 | 38 | 10 | 3 | 68 | 46 | 282 | 14 | .193 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | CHW | 6 | 3 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 110.2 | 90 | 32 | 32 | 57 | 2.60 |
| 1905 | CHW | 8 | 3 | 22 | 13 | 0 | 136.2 | 121 | 33 | 29 | 71 | 2.17 |
| 1906 | CHW | 17 | 13 | 41 | 31 | 2 | 278.1 | 215 | 58 | 58 | 171 | 1.88 |
| 1907 | CHW | 24 | 18 | 56 | 46 | 4 | 422.1 | 341 | 75 | 87 | 206 | 1.60 |
| 1908 | CHW | 40 | 15 | 66 | 49 | 6 | 464.0 | 343 | 73 | 56 | 269 | 1.42 |
| 1909 | CHW | 15 | 11 | 31 | 28 | 2 | 230.1 | 166 | 36 | 50 | 127 | 1.41 |
| 1910 | CHW | 18 | 20 | 45 | 36 | 5 | 369.2 | 242 | 52 | 61 | 258 | 1.27 |
| 1911 | CHW | 27 | 18 | 56 | 37 | 4 | 368.2 | 327 | 91 | 72 | 255 | 2.22 |
| 1912 | CHW | 27 | 17 | 62 | 41 | 10 | 393.0 | 332 | 94 | 94 | 254 | 2.15 |
| 1913 | CHW | 8 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 97.2 | 91 | 28 | 39 | 34 | 2.58 |
| 1914 | CHW | 2 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 44.2 | 33 | 14 | 20 | 15 | 2.82 |
| 1915 | CHW | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 27.0 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 1.33 |
| 1916 | CHW | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2.70 |
| 1917 | BSN | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18.0 | 22 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 3.50 |
| Career | — | 195 | 126 | 430 | 315 | 35 | 2964.1 | 2346 | 598 | 617 | 1736 | 1.82 |
On this day & linked events
1959
Died May 26, 1959
1904
Major-league debut: Ed Walsh
Ed Walsh made a major-league debut on May 7, 1904.
1911
Ed Walsh's No-Hitter
Ed Walsh started as the Chicago White Sox held the Boston Red Sox without a hit on August 27, 1911, winning 5–0.
1917
Final major-league game: Ed Walsh
Ed Walsh played a final major-league game on September 11, 1917.
Image: Paul Thompson, public domain