1896
Born July 27, 1896
Pine City, MN, USA
Rube Walberg Marquee
Ruth hit 17 home runs off him, more than off anyone else, which is what happens to a left-hander who pitches eleven years in the same league as him and works in Philadelphia's small park. Walberg won 20 games in 1931 and 18 in 1929 for the Athletics clubs that won three pennants and two World Series.
Fifteen seasons gave him 155 wins against 141, a 4.16 earned run average, 2,644 innings and 140 complete games. The earned run average is the 1930s American League talking; he was among the better left-handers in it.
He was from Pine City, Minnesota, of Swedish parentage, and was sold to Boston in 1934 with Lefty Grove and Max Bishop when Mack broke up the club. Two writers' ballots gave him one vote each. He died in 1978, at eighty-two.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1 | 1931 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | NYG/PHA | 28 | 42 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 0 | .310 |
| 1924 | PHA | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| 1925 | PHA | 53 | 64 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0 | .156 |
| 1926 | PHA | 40 | 46 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 0 | .152 |
| 1927 | PHA | 47 | 87 | 14 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 1 | .207 |
| 1928 | PHA | 38 | 86 | 10 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 1 | .209 |
| 1929 | PHA | 40 | 103 | 11 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 17 | 0 | .223 |
| 1930 | PHA | 38 | 73 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .164 |
| 1931 | PHA | 45 | 105 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 0 | .124 |
| 1932 | PHA | 41 | 94 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 16 | 0 | .170 |
| 1933 | PHA | 41 | 68 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 0 | .132 |
| 1934 | BOS | 30 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .188 |
| 1935 | BOS | 44 | 37 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 0 | .162 |
| 1936 | BOS | 24 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .156 |
| 1937 | BOS | 32 | 34 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .147 |
| Career | — | 547 | 905 | 78 | 162 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 84 | 48 | 179 | 2 | .179 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | NYG/PHA | 4 | 8 | 28 | 10 | 0 | 120.0 | 126 | 69 | 61 | 39 | 5.17 |
| 1924 | PHA | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 7.0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 12.86 |
| 1925 | PHA | 8 | 14 | 53 | 20 | 7 | 191.2 | 197 | 85 | 77 | 82 | 3.99 |
| 1926 | PHA | 12 | 10 | 40 | 19 | 2 | 151.0 | 168 | 47 | 60 | 72 | 2.80 |
| 1927 | PHA | 16 | 12 | 46 | 34 | 4 | 249.1 | 257 | 109 | 91 | 136 | 3.93 |
| 1928 | PHA | 17 | 12 | 38 | 30 | 1 | 235.2 | 236 | 93 | 64 | 112 | 3.55 |
| 1929 | PHA | 18 | 11 | 40 | 33 | 4 | 267.2 | 256 | 107 | 99 | 94 | 3.60 |
| 1930 | PHA | 13 | 12 | 38 | 30 | 1 | 205.1 | 207 | 107 | 85 | 100 | 4.69 |
| 1931 | PHA | 20 | 12 | 44 | 35 | 3 | 291.0 | 298 | 121 | 109 | 106 | 3.74 |
| 1932 | PHA | 17 | 10 | 41 | 34 | 1 | 272.0 | 305 | 143 | 103 | 96 | 4.73 |
| 1933 | PHA | 9 | 13 | 40 | 20 | 4 | 201.0 | 224 | 109 | 95 | 68 | 4.88 |
| 1934 | BOS | 6 | 7 | 30 | 10 | 1 | 104.2 | 118 | 47 | 41 | 38 | 4.04 |
| 1935 | BOS | 5 | 9 | 44 | 10 | 3 | 142.2 | 152 | 62 | 54 | 44 | 3.91 |
| 1936 | BOS | 5 | 4 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 100.1 | 98 | 49 | 36 | 49 | 4.40 |
| 1937 | BOS | 5 | 7 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 104.2 | 143 | 65 | 46 | 46 | 5.59 |
| Career | — | 155 | 141 | 544 | 307 | 32 | 2644.0 | 2795 | 1223 | 1031 | 1085 | 4.16 |
On this day & linked events
1978
Died October 27, 1978
1923
Major-league debut: Rube Walberg
Rube Walberg made a major-league debut on April 29, 1923.
1937
Final major-league game: Rube Walberg
Rube Walberg played a final major-league game on October 2, 1937.
Image: Goudey, public domain