Ohio farm boy Eddie Wells grew up to enjoy a unique perspective of this century's two greatest ball players. The hard-throwing left-hander pitched five seasons with Detroit and four with New York, making him one of a handful of big-leaguers to have played with both Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth during his career. Wells's best season in Detroit was 1926, when he won twelve games and led the league in shutouts with four.

Wells, who went on to post thirteen- and twelve-win seasons with the Yankees, finished his baseball career in 1937 in the Southern League. He later owned an oil distributorship in Montgomery, Alabama.

Eddie Wells died May 1, 1986, in Birmingham, Alabama.

EDDIE WELLS: It's a funny thing about that baseball bug, slugger. I was born out on a farm outside of Ashland, Ohio, about forty miles southwest of Cleveland. We took the Cleveland Plain Dealer. When I was a kid, about nine, ten years old, I'd keep up with the box scores and, why, I don't know, but I got attached to the playing of Ty Cobb. And I don't know, but he just stood for my hero. I was just crazy about Ty Cobb, I was just crazy about that man. I looked up to that fella. I still got his picture in my den here. in twenty-four years he had an average of .367. Yes sir.

I started pitching semipro ball when I was about fourteen. I was six-feet-one then. I was just born a pitcher. I pitched semipro ball up the Ohio River there -- Steubenville, Pittsburgh, Huntington. Getting one hundred twenty-five dollars a Sunday. In other words, my name got known.

I was going to Bethany College, a little school down in West Virginia about eighteen miles west of Wheeling. Then one day in February of 1922, 1 was up in the chemistry lab on a Monday, and a person from the college came up to me and said, "There's a gentleman outside who wishes to see you."

So I went outside and there's a fella by the name of Billy Doyle who scouted for the Detroit ball club. He talked to me about signing a Detroit contract. I told him, "Listen, I'm in my second year of school here, and I'm on a full scholarship."

"Well," he said, "I'll tell you one thing. Mr. Navin said he'll let you finish school. We'll work it out some way." And we talked and talked. My dad never wanted me to leave the farm, but he told me, "You do what you want to do, son. I can't tell you what to do." Well, Doyle offered me one thousand dollars to sign a contract. Good mercy! At twenty-two, that was a whole lot of money to me. A lot of money. I called my dad on the phone and he said, "Do what you want." Well, I signed. And in about a week here comes a check for one thousand dollars.

After college was out, about June 7, I reported to Detroit. Didn't see Cobb or nobody on the team. I reported to Frank Navin, the owner, in his office. He said, "Ed, between now and when college starts in the fall, you go to Ludington, Michigan, and pitch." That was the Central League. I said, "Well, that's okay. I need that experience." I went up there and won thirteen games, lost ten, had an earned run average of 1.93.

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