Eddie Plank

Edward Stewart Plank won 326 games over 17 major league seasons, the most by any left-handed pitcher until Warren Spahn passed him decades later. He spent the core of his career with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics and pitched in four World Series. He never led the league in wins or ERA in any single season, but he won 20 or more games eight times and maintained a level of consistency that placed him among the most productive pitchers of the dead-ball era.

Gettysburg to Philadelphia

Plank was born on August 31, 1875, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He attended Gettysburg Academy and did not reach the major leagues until age 25, older than most rookies of his era. Connie Mack signed him directly from college for the Athletics' inaugural American League season in 1901, and Plank won 17 games as a rookie.

He won 20 games in 1902 and became the left-handed anchor of a pitching staff that also included Chief Bender and Rube Waddell. Waddell threw harder. Plank was steadier. The two left-handers gave Mack a pair of starters who could compete with any pitching combination in the league.

Consistency

Plank won 23 games in 1903, 26 in 1904, and 24 in 1905. He pitched with a deliberate tempo that infuriated opposing batters. He fussed with his cap, adjusted his uniform, and fidgeted on the mound between pitches, extending at-bats and testing the patience of everyone in the ballpark. The delay was strategic. Batters who tried to rush him or grew frustrated by the pace hit his crossfire delivery into the ground.

He helped the Athletics win pennants in 1905, 1911, 1913, and 1914. In the 1905 World Series against the Giants, every game was a shutout, and Plank lost Game 1 to Christy Mathewson 3-0, then lost Game 4 to Joe McGinnity 1-0. He won Game 2 of the 1911 World Series against the Giants and Game 5 of the 1913 World Series against the same opponent.

After Mack broke up his championship team following the 1914 World Series loss to the Boston Braves, Plank jumped to the Federal League and pitched for the St. Louis Terriers in 1915. When the Federal League folded, he joined the St. Louis Browns for the 1916 and 1917 seasons before retiring at age 41.

The Record

Plank finished with a career record of 326-194 and a 2.35 ERA. He held the record for most wins by a left-handed pitcher for nearly half a century. He pitched 69 career shutouts and completed 410 of his 529 starts. He threw with remarkable efficiency, relying on control and movement rather than overpowering velocity, and his approach wore well across 17 seasons.

He died on February 24, 1926, in Gettysburg, at age 50, after suffering a stroke. The Old Timers Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1946, twenty years after his death.