Eddie Plank
Eddie Plank | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Born: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. | August 31, 1875|
Died: February 24, 1926 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. | (aged 50)|
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
MLB debut | |
May 31, 1901, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |
Last MLB appearance | |
August 6, 1917, for the St. Louis Browns | |
MLB statistics | |
Win–loss record | 326–194 |
Earned run average | 2.35 |
Strikeouts | 2,246 |
Teams | |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Member of the National | |
Baseball Hall of Fame | |
Induction | 1946 |
Election method | Old-Timers Committee |
Edward Stewart Plank (August 31, 1875 – February 24, 1926), nicknamed "Gettysburg Eddie", was an American
Plank was the first left-handed pitcher to
Plank died of a stroke in 1926. He was posthumously elected to the
Early life
Plank grew up on a farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He was the fourth of seven children born to Martha McCreary and David Plank.[1] His father was a school director and tax collector in Gettysburg.[2] Plank did not play baseball until the age of 17, when he started playing for local teams in the Gettysburg area. He practiced pitching by throwing a baseball against his barn door, drawing lectures from his father for all the dents he left.[3] When Plank was about 22, Frank Foreman, the pitching coach at Gettysburg College, asked him to try out for the school's baseball team.[1][4][3] History books often erroneously state that Plank graduated from Gettysburg College. He attended Gettysburg Academy, a prep school affiliated with the college. However, he played for the college's team without ever being enrolled there.[5]
Career
In 1900, Plank signed with the Richmond Colts of the Virginia League, a minor league. The league folded before Plank could pitch for the Colts.[6] However, next May, Foreman recommended Plank to Connie Mack, the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, who liked what he saw and signed Plank to a contract.[1][7]
Plank made his major league debut for the Athletics on May 13, 1901. As a rookie, Plank pitched well,
By 1911, Plank was the last member of the Athletics remaining from the 1901 team.
During his tenure in Philadelphia, Plank was one of the most consistent pitchers in the game, winning over 20 games seven times.[15] In the four World Series in which he played, Plank earned a 1.32 ERA but only a 2–5 win–loss record. As Plank was one of the best pitchers on the Athletics, Mack would usually match him up against Christy Mathewson, another Hall of Famer, when the Athletics played the Giants in the World Series.[16] Plank pitched complete games in all six of his World Series starts.[17] His quiet personality led to him getting overshadowed in media coverage by other Athletics pitchers such as Hall of Famers Waddell and Chief Bender, but Plank would win more games than either of these.[18]
In November 1914, it was rumored that Plank would be sold to the
When the Federal League folded, Plank applied for free agency but was declared to belong to the
Over his career, Plank amassed a 326–194 record, a 2.35 ERA, and 2,246 strikeouts. He won 305 games in the American League (AL), making him that league's winningest left-handed pitcher. He was the winningest left-hander in baseball history until 1962, when Warren Spahn won his 327th game.[3][24] In addition, he was the winningest pitcher (left or right-handed) in the AL until 1921, when he was surpassed by Walter Johnson.
Plank was known as a finesse pitcher with a good sidearm sweeping curveball. His best-known pitch was nicknamed the "cross-fire." Thrown across his body, it reached home plate at an angle, making it difficult for hitters to track, especially if they were left-handed.[3] Plank was active on the mound before he threw a pitch, even sometimes talking to the baseball before he delivered it. This strange behavior helped to unnerve opposing hitters.[16] His consistent performance and strong work ethic led Mack to use him frequently, part of the reason Plank at times developed sore arms during his career.[16] Plank was also known for his long pauses on the mound, which some claimed lengthened the duration of the games in which he pitched.
Plank was also a good hitting pitcher in his career, compiling a .206
Personal life
Plank married Anna (
Later life
After retirement, Plank opened a Buick dealership in Gettysburg.[16] He pitched the 1918 season for the Steelton club of the Bethlehem Steel League, an industrial baseball league. Steelton was only 40 miles (64 km) from his home and the arrangement allowed him to manage his business during the week.[26]
Plank did not seem to be in ill health after his career, but on February 22, 1926, his wife awoke to discover her husband paralyzed on the left side due to a stroke and suffering garbled speech. Upon arriving at the Plank home, the family physician and Plank's wife decided he should be left where he was for treatment, rather than moved to a hospital. The pitcher showed signs of recovery briefly, then started having bouts of lost consciousness. He lost the ability to speak, and by the 24th, no one expected him to recover. He died at 2:49 P.M. that day.[27][28]
Two days after his death, Plank's funeral was held at Gettysburg's First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. W. C. Space said, "Eddie...was true to his manhood, true to his parents, true to his wife and home, true to his God and church. What better could be spoken of any man?"
Upon hearing of Plank's death, Connie Mack said that he felt like a father who had just lost a son. "Eddie Plank was one of the smartest left-hand pitchers it has been my pleasure to have on my club. He was short and light, as pitchers go, but he made up for the physical defects, if such they were, by his study of the game and his smartness when he was on the pitching peak", he said.[29] Former teammate Jack Coombs said, "I have always been thankful that I was thrown into such intimate contact with so inspiring a man in the days when the majority of ballplayers were of a much lower type than at the present time."[30]
Plank was a
Legacy
Location | Intersection of Carlisle St. & West Lincoln Ave., Gettysburg |
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Coordinates | 39°50′11″N 77°13′53″W / 39.83635°N 77.23134°W |
PHMC dedicated | August 31, 2000[31] |
P is for Plank,
The arm of the A's;
When he tangled with Matty
Games lasted for days.
—
In 1943, former teammate
Gettysburg College began planning for the Eddie Plank Memorial Gymnasium at the college shortly after Plank's death.[34] The gym was completed in 1927 and indoor sports such as basketball and wrestling were played there until 1962.[35] A restaurant in downtown Gettysburg honors Plank's career.[36] A portion of Plank's childhood farm is a housing development known as Plank's Field.[5] Plank is mentioned in the 1949 poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash.
In 2006, a
The first full-length biography of Eddie Plank, Gettysburg Eddie: The Story of Eddie Plank by Lawrence Knorr, was published in 2018 by Sunbury Press.
See also
- 300 win club
- List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders
References
- ^ a b c d e f Eddie Plank | SABR
- ^ "Eddie Plank's Father is Dead". New Oxford Item. June 19, 1930. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Russo, p. 251
- ^ a b Grayson, Harry (October 14, 1943). "Farmer Eddie Plank Ranks Among Great Lefthanded Pitchers". Evening Independent. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c Kuttler, Hillel (June 29, 2013). "Eddie Plank: A Favorite Son of Gettysburg". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ Russo, pp. 251-52
- ^ a b c Russo, p. 252
- ^ "1905 World Series". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "1910 World Series". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ Ryder, Jack (October 20, 1910). "Rain may stop the game". Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-10-12 – via newspapers.com.
- Pittsburgh Press. December 16, 1911. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "1911 World Series". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "1913 World Series". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "1914 World Series". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "Eddie Plank Pitching". Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Russo, p. 253
- ^ "Eddie Plank World Series Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ Russo, pp. 252-53
- ^ "Eddie Plank Will Be Sold to Highlanders". Milwaukee Sentinel. November 13, 1914. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "Eddie Plank Takes Leap; Goes to St. Louis Feds". The Milwaukee Sentinel. December 3, 1914. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- Pittsburgh Press. September 3, 1916. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "Eddie Plank Quits the Box After 17 Years in Major League". Milwaukee Journal. October 13, 1917. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "Warren Spahn Stats". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
- ^ "Eddie Plank's Brother 24 Years at Gettysburg". Milwaukee Journal. June 27, 1936. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ McKenna, Brian. "Bethlehem Steel League". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c Russo, p. 254
- ^ "Eddie Plank Succumbs to Paralysis; Stricken Sunday While Sleeping". Evening Independent. February 25, 1926. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ Duttera, Sharon (July 14, 1986). "Eddie Plank's Death Stunned Connie Mack". The Gettysburg Times. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "Jack Coombs Mourns Inspiring Associate in Death of Eddie Plank". The Daily Princetonian. February 26, 1926. Retrieved August 7, 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Eddie Plank". PHMC Historical Markers. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ "Baseball Almanac". Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ "Eddie Plank, Henry Bream Selected for Pennsylvania Hall of Fame Induction". The Gettysburg Times. September 6, 1972. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "The Eddie Plank Memorial Gymnasium". The Gettysburg Times. June 21, 1926. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "Eddie Plank Gymnasium is Ending Reign". The Gettysburg Times. January 26, 1962. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ "Eddie Plank". Gettysburg Eddie's. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
- ^ a b Harris, Craig. "Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick reveals $2.8 million secret Honus Wagner card". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on September 6, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- Russo, Frank (2014). The Cooperstown Chronicles: Baseball's Colorful Characters, Unusual Lives, and Strange Demises. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-3639-4.
External links
- Eddie Plank at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Retrosheet
- Eddie Plank Documentary film
- Collins Calls Plank Greatest Pitcher; Kept Batters Waiting, by Harry Grayson, April 19, 1943
- Eddie Plank at Find a Grave