Edward A. Walsh (1881-1959)
Plains Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1946. As a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, "Big Ed" Walsh averaged 24 victories a year during a seven-year span, 1906-12. He twice pitched over 400 innings in a single season. In 1908, he won 40 games, pitched 11 shutouts, and won both games of a doubleheader as a starting pitcher. Walsh finished his playing career in 1920 with a 1.82 earned run average. He was born nearby in Plains on May 14, 1881.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
The hard-coal towns of the Wyoming Valley turned out more than their share of major-league ballplayers, and Plains-born "Big Ed" Walsh was among the greatest. Pitching for the Chicago White Sox, he averaged 24 wins a year across 1906–12 and, in his astonishing 1908 season, won 40 games with 11 shutouts—including both ends of a doubleheader. Master of the spitball, he retired with a career earned-run average of 1.82, still among the lowest ever, and entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.
Why it matters
Walsh reflects how Pennsylvania's immigrant coal communities became a nursery for the national pastime in baseball's early golden age.
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Related people
- · Ed Walsh
Themes & tags
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