Books and articles about Eddie Plank

Eddie Plank had never played baseball before entering college. He was signed by the Athletics as an elderly rookie of 25 when he graduated from Gettysburg in the American League's first year, 1901. He became the principal lefthander for the first generation of great Athletics teams. Until Warren Spahn, he was the winningest lefthander in ML history. When he jumped to the Federal League's St. Louis Terriers (as Connie Mack, dismantling his 1914 losers, sought to deal Plank to the Yankees), he had won 285 games for Philadelphia - 23% of the team's total victories.

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Like many turn-of-the-century pitchers, Plank threw with finesse, mixing a fastball with a sidearm curve (his "cross-fire") that cut the plate at an angle disconcerting to batters. He had superb control (under two walks per nine innings), low ERA (including 1.79 in his final season, 1917), 69 shutouts (fifth all-time), and 412 complete games.

He was a serious, self-contained man, and annoyingly deliberate on the mound. Although the times of some of his World Series games do not seem slow by today's standards - 1:55, 1:46, and 2:33 for a seven-run, 10-inning contest - he evidently irritated players, fans, and sportswriters.

He had a hard-luck Series record. In four of his five losses, the A's were shut out, and in 1910 he was sidelined by a sore arm and did not pitch at all. The arm recovered by the next spring, enabling Plank to post two of his finest seasons: 23-8 in 1911, and 26-6 in 1912, for winning percentages of .742 and .813.

After winning 21 for the St. Louis Terriers in 1915, the Federal League collapsed, and Plank was assigned to the Browns. In 1918 he was packaged with Del Pratt and $15,000 in a trade to the Yankees for Urban Shocker (and four others) but chose to retire rather than report. (ADS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 27, 1901: 3B Jimmy Burke of Milwaukee makes four errors in the 4th inning, a major-league record tied by Cleveland’s Ray Chapman in 1914 and the Cubs Len Merullo in 1942. The A's score seven times in the frame and Eddie Plank coasts home with an 8-3 win. » April 20, 1903: Since yesterday was Sunday, today is both Opening Day and Patriot's Day in Boston. The Pilgrims play an a.m. game before 8,376 fans beating the A's Rube Waddell, 9–4. The Athletics take the afternoon contest, 10–7, watched by 27,658, behind Eddie Plank and Chief Bender. Cy Young and Long Tom Hughes pitch for Boston. » September 10, 1904: The A's Eddie Plank and Boston's Cy Young face each other, with the Athletics prevailing, 1-0, in 13 innings. » June 30, 1905: At New York, Eddie Plank is removed with no outs in the 9th inning and the A's leading 7–4. Rube Waddell comes in and retires the side to preserve the A's victory. » July 4, 1905: In an a.m.-p.m, doubleheader between Boston and Philadelphia, the A's take the morning game 5-2, using pitchers Eddie Plank, Andy Coakley and Rube Waddell on the mound to beat Jesse Tannehill. The afternoon contest proves a classic as Philadelphia's Rube Waddell bests Cy Young in a 20-inning marathon, when the Athletics prevail, 4-2. Boston outhits the A's, 15 to 13, but the 38-year-old Young loses on an error, hit batsman and two hits. Young walks nobody in the 20 innings, while 1B Bob Unglaub records 31 putouts. Philadelphia C Ossee Schreckengost works 28 innings in one day, a ML record. » October 9, 1905: At Philadelphia, in the first game of a World Series under a 7-game format, two former college rivals square off: Bucknell's Christy Mathewson outpitches 26-game-winner Eddie Plank (Gettysburg College) to win 3-0 in the first game of the all-shutout World Series. Matty allows four hits and walks none. » October 13, 1905: Joe McGinnity surrenders five hits, and Eddie Plank four hits, but two errors deal the A's a 1-0 loss. » September 12, 1908: A day after beating the A's Eddie Plank, 2-1, Washington's Walter Johnson is forced to start again, this time replacing sore-armed Charley Smith. Remarkably, Johnson records his 5th complete game victory in nine days. » September 20, 1908: Frank Smith pitches a no-hitter for the White Sox against the A's, winning 1-0 and giving up just one walk. It is Smith's 2nd no-hitter. The winning run scores in the bottom of the 9th when Freddy Parent, whom Eddie Plank is walking intentionally, reaches out and pokes a sacrifice to short RF. » April 12, 1909: Philadelphia's Shibe Park is dedicated as a record crowd of 31,160 sees 18-year-old John "Stuffy" McInnis make his ML debut at SS. Eddie Plank pitches the A's to an 8-1 win over Boston, allowing six hits. A's catcher Mike "Doc" Powers injures himself going after a foul pop, and after the game complains of intestinal pains (other versions have the pain due to a sandwich or twisting himself in an unusual fashion). The 38-year-old will be operated on tomorrow, but will not survive the month, the first ML death this century caused by an on-field injury. » April 14, 1910: With the weather perfect, President and Mrs. William Howard Taft, along with Veep Sherman, surprise the Nationals by showing up for the season Opener. Jimmy McAleer suggests Taft throw out the first ball, and he becomes the first president to do so. Walter Johnson catches it, then pitches the first of his 14 Opening Day Washington games, striking out 9. An easy fly hit by Frank "Home Run" Baker into the overflow crowd—a ground-rule double—mars his 3–0 pitching gem over rival Eddie Plank. Gabby Street is behind the plate for Johnson, the only opener in which he catches for Walter. » April 23, 1910: At Boston, CF Tris Speaker pulls off his 2nd unassisted DP, the gem occurring in the 2nd inning against the Athletics. Speaker snares a low line drive and beats baserunner Harry Davis back to 2B. The game goes 11 innings with the A's prevailing 5–3. Eddie Plank is the starter and winner over Eddie Cicotte. » October 5, 1910: Connie Mack inserts his son Earle behind the plate in a game against the Highlanders. Earle, who hit .135 in 26 minor league games this year, responds with a single and triple while catching Eddie Plank and Jack Coombs. The Highlanders beat the A's 7–4. Earle will mop up in late seasons games next year and again in 1914, and serve for 25 years as his father's coach. » October 17, 1910: With sore-armed Eddie Plank unavailable, Connie Mack will squeeze five complete games out of two pitchers in the World Series. Chief Bender's 4–1 three-hitter wins game one for the Athletics at Philadelphia. Frank Baker's three hits drive in all the runs needed to beat the Cubs' Orval Overall. » October 16, 1911: The World Series resumes today, Monday, and the pitchers continue to dominate. Rube Marquard and Eddie Plank are in command of a 1–1 game when Philadelphia's Eddie Collins doubles in the last of the 6th and Frank Baker hits one over the RF fence for a 3–1 victory. » October 25, 1911: Before 33,228 at the Polo Grounds, the Giants put three hits together off Coombs in the last of the 9th for two runs and a 3–3 tie. The A's Eddie Plank comes on in the 10th and gives up the winning run in the 4–3 contest. Relief specialist Doc Crandall gets the win after working two scoreless innings. » October 26, 1911: Chief Bender cruises to his second victory, a 4-hit 13–2 breeze. The A's cap the win with a 7-run 7th, battering three tired Giant hurlers, Red Ames, Hooks Wiltse, and Rube Marquard. Overall, the Giants manage just 13 runs and a .175 BA off Chief Bender, Jack Coombs, and Eddie Plank. Because of the NL's extended playing season, this is the latest ending ever for a World Series, until the "Earthquake Series" of 1989. » May 3, 1912: Leading 18–5 after eight innings, A's pitchers give up a record 9th-inning outburst of 10 runs to New York before Eddie Plank stops them at 18–15. » July 4, 1912: Boston's Smoky Joe Wood suffers his worst loss of the year, a 16–4 shellacking at the hands of the Athletics. Eddie Plank beats Wood, who will finish the year at 34–5. Wood will win his next start on July 8th, the first of 16 in a row. » September 27, 1912: Eddie Plank goes 19 innings for the A's against Bob Groom and Walter Johnson of the Nationals, and takes a 5–4 loss when Eddie Collins' wild throw lets the winning run score. Johnson relieves Bob Groom at the end of the 9th, and pitches 10 innings of scoreless relief. » September 22, 1913: In the opener of a doubleheader, the A's Joe Bush tops Detroit, 4–0. In game 2, Herb Pennock, 19, aided by Eddie Plank, blanks the Tigers 1–0 to clinch the AL pennant for the A's. Plank gets the win in relief. » October 8, 1913: Christy Mathewson ties the Series, shutting the Athletics out for 10 innings to beat Eddie Plank 3–0. Mathewson also brings in the winning run with a double in the 10th. In the 9th, Matty is saved twice by pitcher Hooks Wiltse, playing 1B. Wiltse entered the game in the 3rd as a pinch runner for Fred Snodgrass, pressed in to action at 1B. The A's put runners on 2B and 3B with no outs in the final inning, and the next two batters hit shots to 1B. Both times Wiltse guns out a runner at home and Matty gets the last out to send the game into extra innings. Before the game, Walter Johnson (36–7, 243 strikeouts, 11 shutouts) is presented the Chalmers Award, and an automobile, as the AL's MVP. Joe Jackson is 2nd in the voting. » October 11, 1913: John McGraw loses his 3rd straight World Series. In game 5, Christy Mathewson is good, but Eddie Plank is better; his 2-hitter wins the 3–1 finale. Frank Baker at .450 and Eddie Collins at .421 lead a strong A's offense. » October 10, 1914: In game 2, Bill James and Eddie Plank match zeroes for 8. In the 9th, Boston's Charlie Deal doubles, steals 3B, and scores on Les Mann's single. James gives up two hits. » November 1, 1914: Connie Mack begins cleaning house, asks waivers on Jack Coombs, Eddie Plank, and Chief Bender. Colby Jack goes to Brooklyn (National League). Plank and Bender escape Mack's maneuvering by jumping tfo the Federal League. Although all have some life left in their soupbones, they are near their careers' end, and departure is more sentimental than serious. Mack's excuse: retrenchment. Despite the pennant, Philadelphia fans did not support the A's and the club lost $50,000. » February 16, 1915: Home Run Baker, 28, announces retirement following a contract dispute with Connie Mack. He will sit out the 1915 season. Mack will also have salary problems with Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, and Jack Coombs, and rather than compete with the Federal League, he releases the stars. » September 11, 1915: Future Hall of Famer Eddie Plank, pitching for St. Louis (FL) wins his 300th game, beating Newark, 12–5. He is the first lefty to reach the mark. Plank will go into the Hall in 1946. » August 4, 1916: The Browns Eddie Plank allows two hits and tops young Babe Ruth to give the Browns a 6–1 win over the first place Red Sox. For the hot St. Louis Browns, it is their 14th win in a row, but the streak still leaves them in 7th place. » August 6, 1917: Veteran Eddie Plank, 41, hooks up with Washington's Walter Johnson in a brilliant 11-inning duel, won 1–0 by Johnson. For Plank, this is the last game of his oustanding career, and he will announce his retirement in a week, citing stomach problems as the reason. Pitching for the hapless Browns doesn't help as Plank's 1.79 ERA this season results in just a 5–6 record. » August 21, 1917: Now with the Philadelphia Phils, Chief Bender, 34, pitches his 3rd straight shutout, winning 6–0 over the Cubs. In his last active season, Bender will turn in four shutouts and win eight with two losses and a 1.67 ERA. His mound partner from the glory days of the A's, Eddie Plank, will also close out his career, ending the season 5–6 for the St. Louis Browns with a 1.79 ERA. » January 22, 1918: The Yankees trade P Nick Cullop, P Urban Shocker, C Les Nunamaker, 3B Fritz Maisel, and infielder Joe Gedeon to the Browns for P Eddie Plank and 2B Del Pratt. Plank, a 300-game winner, retires, but Pratt gives New York three good years at 2B. Shocker is the gem, posting four straight seasons of 20 or more wins in St. Louis. Maisel, who the Yankees refused to trade in early 1916 for either Boston's Tris Speaker (and cash) or Chicago's Joe Jackson, will hit just .232 in 90 games and be gone. » February 24, 1926: Southpaw Eddie Plank, winner of 327 games in 17 years, dies at 51 in his native Gettysburg, PA. » October 2, 1927: The Phils beat the A's 1-0 for the benefit of the Eddie Plank Memorial Fund. » September 13, 1958: The Braves Warren Spahn becomes the first lefty to win 20 or more games nine times, as he beats St. Louis 8–2. Eddie Plank and Lefty Grove each won 20 games eight times. » April 11, 1963: Warren Spahn's Opening Day, 6–1, victory over the Mets is his first win of the season and the 328th of his career. He thus moves ahead of yesteryear's great Eddie Plank as the all-time winningest lefthander. Except for Duke Snider's home run, no Met gets past 2B.