Highlighted Year: Ed Walsh, 1906

Pitcher, Chicago White Sox

Age: 25 (May 19)

3^rd season with White Sox

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 193 

Prior to 1906:

A native of Plains, Pennsylvania, Walsh was the son of an Irish immigrant father and Welsh mother and attended parochial school up to age 12 at which point he went to work for the Lackawanna Coal Company. After briefly attending Fordham University at age 18, he returned to Pennsylvania and began pitching for a company baseball team in 1901. In 1902 he signed with the Meriden Silverites of the Connecticut State League. Walsh posted a 16-5 record and a 2.32 ERA before joining Wilkes-Barre of the Pennsylvania State League, where he finished the season. Returning to Meriden in 1903, he went 11-10 with a 2.14 ERA before moving on to the Newark Sailors of the Eastern League, where his record was 9-5 with a 2.31 ERA the rest of the way. Following the season, Walsh’s contract was purchased by the White Sox for 1904 at a cost of $750. Tall, which resulted in his nickname of “Big Ed”, walsh relied on a fastball and curve, although he was taught by his roommate Elmer Stricklett how to throw a spitball, a legal pitch at the time, which he did not use during his first two seasons with the White Sox. As a spot starter and reliever in 1904, his record was 6-3 with a 2.60 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 110.2 innings. In 1905 he produced an 8-3 tally and 2.17 ERA with 71 strikeouts over 136.2 innings. Walsh began to use the spitball regularly in 1906, having finally mastered the difficult pitch.

1906 Season Summary

Appeared in 42 games

P – 41, PH – 2

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 41 [6]

Games Started – 31 [13, tied with Addie Joss]

Complete Games – 24 [16, tied with Jack Chesbro & Chief Bender]

Wins – 17 [12]

Losses – 13

PCT - .567 [14]

Saves – 2 [3, tied with seven others]

Shutouts – 10 [1]

Innings Pitched – 278.1 [12]

Hits – 215 [20, tied with Fred Glade & George Winter]

Runs – 83

Earned Runs – 58

Home Runs – 1

Bases on Balls – 58 [19]

Strikeouts – 171 [3]

ERA – 1.88 [7]

Hit Batters – 7

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 11 [2, tied with George Mullin & Harry Eells]

League-leading shutouts were +1 ahead of runner-up Addie Joss

Midseason Snapshot: 4-6, ERA – N/A, SO - 53 in 111.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 12 (in 11 IP) vs. Phila. A’s 9/17

10+ strikeout games – 2

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) vs. Cleveland 5/6, (in 9 IP) vs. Bos. Americans 8/3

Batting

PA – 107, AB – 99, R – 12, H – 14, 2B – 3, 3B – 2, HR – 0, RBI – 4, BB – 3, SO – 28, SB – 0, CS – N/A, AVG - .141, GDP – N/A, HBP – 1, SH – 3, SF – N/A 

Fielding

Chances – 144

Put Outs – 30

Assists – 108

Errors – 6

DP – 2

Pct. - .958

Postseason Pitching: G – 2 (World Series vs. Chi. Cubs)

GS – 2, CG – 1, Record – 2-0, PCT – 1.000, ERA – 0.60, SV – 0, ShO – 1, IP – 15, H – 7, R – 6, ER – 1, HR – 0, BB – 6, SO – 17, HB – 1, BLK – 0, WP – 2 

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The White Sox went 93-58 to win the AL pennant by 3 games over the New York Highlanders. The pitching staff led the league in shutouts (32), fewest runs allowed (460), and fewest walks issued (255). The “Hitless Wonders”, relying on pitching and defense while lacking offensive punch, proved masterful at manufacturing runs by playing “small ball”. In fourth place in early August, they put together a 19-game winning streak to move into first and stayed at or near the top until taking over first place to stay on Sept. 25. Won World Series over the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 2. An 8-6 Game 5 win by Walsh (who gave up all 6 runs, only one of which was earned thanks to an uncharacteristic four errors behind him) put the White Sox in position to seal the upset of the Cubs in the only all-Chicago World Series to date.

Aftermath of 1906:

Strong, fiercely competitive, and extremely self-confident, Walsh began to throw hard on a regular basis in 1907, rather than easing up to conserve his strength. It paid off as he produced a 24-18 record and league-best 1.60 ERA with 206 strikeouts over a league leading 422.1 innings. He also topped the American League in games pitched (56), complete games (37), and saves (4). In 1908 the White Sox were in a hot pennant race and “Big Ed” put together a record of 40-15. In addition to leading the league in wins, he topped the circuit in games pitched (66), complete games (42), shutouts (11), saves (6), innings pitched (464), and strikeouts (269). Whether throwing the spitball or a different pitch, Walsh always brought the ball to his mouth prior to each delivery. In throwing his spitball, he only applied moisture to an area about the size of a square inch (he was later critical of pitchers who applied too much moisture to the ball in throwing the spitter), and he threw the ball with great force which produced a pitch that behaved much like a modern split-fingered fastball. Late in the 1908 season, with the pennant on the line, Walsh pitched five complete games and relieved twice in a nine-day period totaling 51.2 innings and he lost a four-hitter against Cleveland in which opposing pitcher Addie Joss threw a perfect game and Walsh gave up only one unearned run. The White Sox finished third by only 1.5 games despite Walsh’s heroics. Feeling the effects of his prodigious workload, Walsh appeared in only 31 games in 1909 and produced a 15-11 tally and 1.41 ERA with 127 strikeouts over 230.1 innings. In 1910 the White Sox dropped to sixth place and Walsh led the AL with a 1.27 ERA and in losses due to an 18-20 record. He topped the circuit in games pitched (45) and completed 33 of his starts while compiling 258 strikeouts over 369.2 innings pitched. Although his ERA rose to 2.22 in 1911, his record improved to 27-18 and he again led the league in games pitched (56), innings pitched (368.2), strikeouts (255), and due to his numerous relief appearances between starts, also in games finished (19) and saves (4). He finished second in league MVP voting. Walsh remained a workhorse in 1912, posting a 27-17 tally and 2.15 ERA while leading the AL in games pitched (62), games started (41), games finished (20), saves (10), and innings pitched (393). He also accumulated 254 strikeouts. Again, “Big Ed” placed second in league MVP balloting. The years of carrying a heavy load began to take its toll in 1913 as he appeared in only 16 games (14 of them starts) and finished with an 8-3 record and 2.58 ERA. He pitched sparingly for the White Sox until released after the 1916 season. He signed with the Boston Braves in 1917 but pitched in only four games, thus wrapping up his major league career, although he later appeared with minor league and semipro teams. For his major league career, Walsh posted a 195-126 record (195-125 with the White Sox) with a record low 1.82 ERA. He pitched in 430 games (426 with the White Sox) with 250 complete games, 57 shutouts, 35 saves, and 1736 strikeouts over 2964.1 innings. He led the American League in games pitched five times and in innings pitched four times. Walsh’s appearances in the 1906 World Series marked his only postseason performances. “Big Ed” was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Following his playing career, Walsh served as a coach for the White Sox and at Notre Dame, where his son, also named Ed, pitched prior to joining the White Sox for parts of four seasons. Financially wiped out by the Great Depression, he conducted a baseball school for six years under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Walsh died of cancer in 1959 at age 78.   

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category will also include Misc. players who don’t otherwise qualify but received MVP votes or were contributors to teams that reached the postseason.