Stan Coveleski Marquee Hall of Fame 1969

Philadelphia used him in five games in 1912, and he did not pitch in the majors again until 1916. With Cleveland he then won nineteen or more games in each of five straight seasons, finishing 215-142 with a 2.89 earned run average, 224 complete games, thirty-eight shutouts, and 981 strikeouts across 3,082 innings.

The spitball was his pitch, and he was among the pitchers permitted to keep throwing it after the rules outlawed it. He led the American League in shutouts twice, with nine in 1917 and five in 1923, and in strikeouts in 1920 with 133. Cleveland won its first World Series that year.

He moved to Washington for 1925 and went 20-5 for a pennant winner. He grew up in the coal country of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, and his older brother Harry pitched in the majors too. The writers never elected him; his best showing was 34 votes of 266 in 1958. The Veterans Committee chose him in 1969, forty-one years after his last game.