American baseball player (1899-1954)
Baseball player
Earl Whitehill
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/EarlWhitehillGoudeycard.jpg/220px-EarlWhitehillGoudeycard.jpg) |
Pitcher
|
Born:
(
1899-02-07
)
February 7, 1899
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
, U.S.
|
Died:
October 22, 1954
(1954-10-22)
(aged 55)
Omaha, Nebraska
, U.S.
|
|
|
September 15, 1923, for the Detroit Tigers
|
|
September 30, 1939, for the Chicago Cubs
|
|
Win?loss record
| 218?185
|
---|
Earned run average
| 4.36
|
---|
Strikeouts
| 1,350
|
---|
|
---|
|
|
Earl Oliver Whitehill
(February 7, 1899 – October 22, 1954) was an American
Major League Baseball
pitcher
. He played for the
Detroit Tigers
for the most significant portion of his career (1923?1932), and later with the
Washington Senators
(1933?1936),
Cleveland Indians
(1937?38), and the
Chicago Cubs
(1939). Consistently winning in double digits for thirteen years (1924?1936), left-handed Whitehill went on to become one of the
top winning pitchers of all time
. He was born in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
.
Major league career
[
edit
]
"
The Earl
", as many called him, was a handsome and often temperamental pitcher who often showed up in the top 10 in
hit batsmen
, leading the league in his first full year, 1924, when he hit 13 (tied with
George Uhle
).
Whitehill averaged 14 wins each season and he never dipped below 11 wins in a full season (30 starts or more). Whitehill made his debut on September 15, 1923. He was a small left-handed pitcher, who weighed around 174 pounds (79 kg). With Detroit, he came to be known as one of the most consistent pitchers in the league. From 1928 through 1932, he never had an
ERA
higher than 4.62 and never had one lower than 4.08; a difference of only .54 in those years.
In his rookie season, Whitehill was 17?8, with a 3.86 ERA, and two
shutouts
. The Tigers' offensive support helped, as the Tigers finished 1st in most major offensive categories in 1923. Reduced run support became a factor later in his stint with Detroit, which lead some to believe his overall record could have been better. In his early years with Detroit, Whitehill was part of a starting rotation that included
Hooks Dauss
,
Dutch Leonard
, and
Lil Stoner
.
Whitehill, one of the top pitchers of the Roaring Twenties, had a celebrity marriage to Violet Geissinger. Geissinger was a model for Sun-Maid Raisins during the 1920s. She was known as The Sun-Maid Raisin Girl.
[1]
After he was traded to Washington, for
Firpo Marberry
and
Carl Fischer
, Whitehill fit right in there, going a career-best 22?8 in his first year, with a 3.33 ERA (also a career-best, excluding his first year when he pitched in 8 games and had a 2.73 ERA). With Washington that year, he saw his first (and last) postseason action, when the Senators were defeated by the
New York Giants
in 5 games. However, Whitehill did his part, getting the only win of the series for Washington. In that game, he pitched a
complete game
shutout allowing 5
hits
and 2
walks
. Because he didn't start until Game 3, it became his only start of the Series, and his only start of the postseason. Thus, his final postseason ERA was 0.00, tied with many others for a record.
He one-hit the
St. Louis Browns
on July 4, 1932,
Goose Goslin
recording the only hit for the Browns.
[2]
Whitehill also one-hit the
New York Yankees
on May 30, 1934.
[3]
The Yanks'
Ben Chapman
broke up the
no-hitter
in the ninth inning.
[3]
He was traded as part of a three team deal on December 10, 1936. The Senators received
Jack Salveson
from the
Chicago White Sox
, who received
Thornton Lee
from the Indians, which is where Whitehill was headed. In Cleveland, Whitehill had two average years and made a number of relief appearances (mostly in 1937). His final record with the Indians was 17?16.
Whitehill signed with the Cubs in 1939, went 4?7 with a 5.14 ERA there, and was released in October 1939. In 17 seasons, he was 218?185 with a career ERA of 4.36, having given up 1726
earned runs
in 3564
2
⁄
3
innings pitched
. He recorded 1350 career
strikeouts
. He pitched in 541 games, 473 of them starts. His lifetime ERA of 4.36 is higher than any other 200-game winner.
A competent hitting pitcher in his 17 years in the majors, Whitehill compiled a .204
batting average
(264-for-1291) with 107
runs
, 4
home runs
, 98
RBI
and 97
bases on balls
.
Later life
[
edit
]
After serving as a coach for the Indians, the
Philadelphia Phillies
, and in the
International League
in the early 1940s, he became a sales representative for the
A. G. Spalding sporting goods
firm. Whitehill died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in
Omaha, Nebraska
, at the age of 55.
[4]
Quick facts
[
edit
]
- On April 23, 1933, Whitehill knocked
Lou Gehrig
unconscious with a pitch during Gehrig's famed
games played
streak. Gehrig recovered and finished the game.
[5]
- Had highest (worst) earned run average of any 200-game winner with 4.36 (winning answer in 1987 SABR trivia semi-final).
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"The 1920s Detroit Tiger Almanac shows great players and great hitters..."
Archived from
the original
on September 28, 2007
. Retrieved
June 24,
2007
.
- ^
"Detroit Tigers 2, St. Louis Browns 0 (1)"
.
retrosheet.org
. July 4, 1932
. Retrieved
January 1,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Washington Senators 1, New York Yankees 0 (1)"
.
retrosheet.org
. May 30, 1934
. Retrieved
January 1,
2020
.
- ^
Earl Whitehill
at the
SABR Baseball Biography Project
, by Bill Johnson, Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^
"Earl Whitehill"
. Retrieved
June 24,
2007
.
External links
[
edit
]