Books and articles about King Cole

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Cole's 20-4 record with the pennant-winning Cubs in 1910 gave him a league-leading .883 winning percentage. Ring Lardner gave King Cole literary immortality by'W(((writing about him in articles for The Sporting News which later emerged as the Alibi Ike stories. According to Lardner, Cole was a slow-thinking poker player who was threatened with a $50 fine by manager Frank Chance unless he quit spoiling poker games on train trips with his erratic playing. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » October 6, 1909: Chicago Nationals King Cole makes his major league debut a kingly one by stopping the Cardinals, 8-0. » July 31, 1910: Cubs rookie King Cole pitches a seven-inning no-hitter for a 4-0 win over St. Louis. Cole will top the NL with a 20-4 record, but will have only one more winning season. » October 9, 1910: Despite 10 walks by King Cole, the Cubs down the Cardinals, 4–3, scoring the winning run with two outs in the 9th. Cole finishes the year at 20-4, with the ML's best winning percentage and the best by a Cub in the 20th century (Sutcliffe will be 16–1 for Chicago in 1984, but 20–6 overall). » May 22, 1912: In an attempt to shake up the team, the Pirates send veteran Tommy Leach and pitcher Lefty Leifield to Chicago for 29-year-old Solly Hofman and pitcher King Cole. Cole, 40–13 in 2+ years of pitching, will be a no show, eventually pitching in just 17 games for Pittsburgh before ending his career with the Highlanders. » October 2, 1914: In Boston, the Yankees make five errors to help Red Sox rookie Babe Ruth win, 11–5. Ruth, just recalled from Providence, makes his first ML hit, a double, off King Cole. » January 6, 1916: Leonard "King" Cole, who gave up Babe Ruth's first hit in 1914, dies in Bay City, Michigan at age 29. Cole pitched in 10 games with the Yankees last season.