Eddie Plank

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left  •  Throws: Left
5-11, 175lb (180cm, 79kg)
Born: August 31, 1875 in Gettysburg, PA
Died: February 24, 1926 in Gettysburg, PA
Buried: Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, PA
High School: Gettysburg Academy (Gettysburg, PA)
School: Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA)
Debut: May 13, 1901 (2,272nd in major league history)
Last Game: August 6, 1917
vs. WSH 10.1 IP, 5 H, 3 SO, 3 BB, 1 ER, L
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1946. (Voted by Old Timers Committee)
Induction ceremony in Cooperstown held in 1947.
View Eddie Plank’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Edward Stewart Plank
Nicknames: Gettysburg Eddie
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1901

Terry Turner
George McBride
Wid Conroy
Hobe Ferris
Jim Delahanty
Germany Schaefer
George Browne
Davy Jones
Matty McIntyre

The Eddie Plank Teammate Team

C:   Wally Schang
1B: George Sisler
2B: Eddie Collins
3B: Frank Baker
SS: Jack Barry
LF: Topsy Hartsel
CF: Socks Seybold
RF: Baby Doll Jacobson
SP: Rube Waddell
SP: Chief Bender
SP: Jack Coombs
SP: Joe Bush
RP: Herb Pennock
M:   Connie Mack

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Notable Events and Chronology

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

August 31, 1875

Eddie Plank is born in Gettysburgh PA

April 20, 1903

On Opening Day, before 8,376 fans at Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, the Boston Americans defeat the Philadelphia Athletics in the morning game of a Patriots’ Day twin bill

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 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 major league record.

October 9, 1905

Christy Mathewson outpitches 26-game winner Eddie Plank and the Philadelphia Athletics, 3 – 0

August 8, 1906

The White Sox edge the A’s‚ beating Eddie Plank‚ 1 – 0‚ in 10 innings. Patsy Dougherty’s hit in the 10th‚ just the second allowed by Plank‚ drives in George Davis with the run. Roy Patterson is the winner.

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 Charlie Smith. Remarkably, Johnson records his 5th complete game victory in nine days.

September 20, 1908

In the bottom of the ninth inning at South Side Park, Freddy Parent, while being walked intentionally by Eddie Plank, reaches out and pokes a shallow sac fly to right field. The unexpected sacrifice scores the winning run in the White Sox’ 1-0 walk-off victory over the A’s and gives Frank Smith, who held the A’s hitless, his second career no-hitter.

April 12, 1909

The 61-year history of Shibe Park begins with the A’s defeating the Red Sox, 8-1

April 14, 1910

William Howard Taft becomes the first U.S. President to throw out a ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day

April 23, 1910

Boston Red Sox centerfielder Tris Speaker pulls off his second unassisted double play

October 16, 1911

1911 – In the World Series, pitchers Rube Marquard of the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Athletics’ Eddie Plank are in command of a 1 – 1 game when Philadelphia’s Eddie Collins hits a RBI double in the 6th inning and Frank Baker bats a home run for a 3 – 1 victory. The Series is even after two games.

May 3, 1912

Leading 18 – 5 after eight innings, Philadelphia Athletics pitchers give up a record 9th-inning outburst of 10 runs to the New York Highlanders 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 22, 1912

Eddie Collins is Hero of the Battle Stealing 6 bases he is the only player in major league history to steal six bases in a game twice

September 27, 1912

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.

October 8, 1913

Giants score 3 in 10th to beat A’s behind Mathewson

October 11, 1913

Philadelphia Athletics win the World Series as Eddie Plank outduels New York Giants pitching great Christy Mathewson

November 1, 1914

 Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack begins cleaning house, asking waivers on Jack Coombs, Eddie Plank and Chief Bender

December 8, 1914

Connie Mack sells Eddie Collins to the White Sox for the hefty sum of $50,000

February 16, 1915

Home Run Baker, 28, announces his retirement following a contract dispute with Connie Mack

September 11, 1915

Eddie Plank of the Federal League’s St. Louis Terriers records his300th victory when he defeats the Newark Peppers 12-5. The future Hall of Famer (1946) is the ninth player and first southpaw to reach this milestone.

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

Walter Johnson out-dueled Eddie Plank, 1-0 in an 11-inning game

August 21, 1917

Now with the Philadelphia Phils, Chief Bender, 34, pitches his third straight shutout, winning 6 – 0 over the Cubs

January 22, 1918

New York Yankees acquire future Hall of Famer Eddie Plank from the St. Louis Browns in a seven-player deal

January 22, 1918

1918 – The Yankees trade catcher Les Nunamaker, third baseman Fritz Maisel, infielder Joe Gedeon, and pitchers Nick Cullop and Urban Shocker to the St. Louis Browns in exchange for pitcher Eddie Plank and second baseman Del Pratt. Plank, a 300-game winner, retires, but Pratt gives the Yankees three good years of services at second. Shocker is the gem, posting four straight seasons of 20 or more wins in St. Louis. Maisel, whom the Yankees refused to trade in early 1916 for either Boston Red Sox Tris Speaker (and cash) or Chicago White Sox Shoeless Joe Jackson, will hit just .232 in 90 games and be gone.

February 24, 1926

Hall of Famer Eddie Plank dies at the age of 50

April 24, 1946

1946 Baseball Hall Of Fame

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

April 11, 1963

Spahn wins his 328th and becomes all time leader for lefthanded pitcher

December 28, 2018

Ed Plank Stats & Facts

December 3, 2022

Ban Johnson’s All-time AL Team

Biography

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.
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.

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Played For
Philadelphia Athletics (1901-1914)
St. Louis Terriers (1915)
St. Louis Browns (1916-1917)

Similar: None

Linked: Chief Bender, Doc Powers

Best Season, 1905
Plank started 41 games and finished every one of them. He finished second in strikeouts to teammate Rube Waddell. Plank’s mark was 24-12 with a 2.26 ERA.

Post-Season Appearances
1905 World Series
1911 World Series
1913 World Series
1914 World Series

Description
Eddie Plank, who pitched from 1901 to 1917, made it to the Hall of Fame using stall tactics, but he didn’t have any routine to go with it. With a batter waiting at the plate, Plank would move an inch forward on the mound, then half an inch back, as if trying to perfect the relationship between himself and the world. When he finally felt the situation was right, he’d pitch, and not a second sooner. When it was wrong, when the arrangement suffered some invisible imbalance, he’d start over. An inch backwards. Three inches to the side. At other times, he would just stand and stare, like a Shaker at an old-time wedding, until the spirit moved him. He’d just stand there. He’d wait so long that batters forgot where they were. Their eyes would water. They’d wonder about their contract, their girl in the next town, the weather on Venus. They’d wonder whether or not Plank had finally succumbed to some kind of cataleptic fit. And then the ball would be behind them. Strike one. Plank’s motive was direct and simple: make the hitter impatient, because impatient hitters swing at bad pitches.

— Kirk Robinson

Milestones

• • September 11, 1915: 300th Win…

• • September 11, 1915: 300th Win…

Transactions
Before 1915 Season: Jumped from the Philadelphia Athletics to the St. Louis Terriers; Before 1916 Season: Jumped from the St. Louis Terriers to the St. Louis Browns; January 22, 1918: Traded by the St. Louis Browns with Del Pratt and $15,000 to the New York Yankees for Les Nunamaker, Fritz Maisel, Nick Cullop, Urban Shocker, and Joe Gedeon.

Data courtesy of Restrosheet.org

The Death of Doc Powers
For virtually eight seasons, from 1901 to 1908, Doc Powers was Eddie Plank’s personal catcher. Powers didn’t hit much, but he was a decent defensive receiver with a strong, accurate arm. Plank and Powers were good friends. On April 12, 1909, the A’s played their first game in new Shibe Park. Plank was on the mound and Powers was behind the plate. In the seventh inning, with Philadelphia leading the visiting Red Sox, Powers chased a foul pop fly in back of the plate and collided with the grandstand wall. Though he lay dazed for several minutes, Powers remained in the game, which Plank won, 1-0. After the game Powers was hospitalized and underwent three operations to stop internal bleeding. He died on April 26.

Mack Compares His Three Southpaws
Connie Mack managed some of baseball’s greatest left-handed pitchers. He saw the best come and go, but in 1931, he compared his top three southpaws for an article in The Sporting News.

“Waddell was a remarkable pitcher. We all know that. But he wasn’t dependable. He didn’t take care of himself. Grove isn’t that way. Lefty’s always in condition. He’s as dependable as the tides… He’s faster than Waddell, too.”

“Don’t think now that I’m taking anything away from Rube. He had the most perfect overhand delivery I have ever seen on a lefthander. When he delivered the ball he brought his hand down right alongside his head. he threw his curve that way as well as his fast one.”

Mack didn’t forget about one of his favorite big-game pitchers, either.

“Eddie Plank was a side-arm pitcher.Occasionally, he’d throw a fastball overhand. Grove, I’d say, has a delivery sort of in netween Waddell’s and Plank’s – half overhand, half side-arm.

“I put Lefty above Plank not becaue he is more dependable, for Eddie was a mighty careful-living fellow, but because Lefty is stronger. he can stand more work than Eddie, who was frail and light.”

Best Strength as a Player
Control. Plank walked just over two batters per nine innings.

Largest Weakness as a Player
This isn’t really a weakness, but Plank was a notorious headhunter in his day, leading the league in hit batsmen twice, and finishing among league leaders several times. He loved to brush batters off the inside of the plate.