Rube Waddell

Rube Waddell
Waddell in 1901
Pitcher
Born: (1876-10-13)October 13, 1876
Bradford, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died: April 1, 1914(1914-04-01) (aged 37)
Elmendorf, Texas, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 8, 1897, for the Louisville Colonels
Last MLB appearance
August 1, 1910, for the St. Louis Browns
MLB statistics
Win–loss record193–143
Earned run average2.16
Strikeouts2,316
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1946
Election methodOld-Timers Committee

George Edward Waddell (October 13, 1876 – April 1, 1914) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-hander, he played for 13 years, with the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Orphans in the National League, as well as the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns in the American League. Born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and raised in Prospect, Pennsylvania, Waddell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.

Waddell is best remembered for his highly eccentric behavior, and for being a remarkably dominant strikeout pitcher in an era when batters were expert at making contact. He had an excellent fastball, a sharp-breaking curveball, a screwball, and superb control; his strikeout-to-walk ratio was almost 3-to-1, and he led the major leagues in strikeouts for six consecutive years.