- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Sox
- League: American League
Edward Victor “Knuckles” Cicotte (1884-1969) won 208 games and a World Series with the White Sox in 1917. The Sporting News said in 1918 that “Perhaps no pitcher in the world has such a varied assortment of wares….” But it was Eddie’s first pitch of the 1919 Series that plunked Morrie Rath and signaled the fix was in. No one was ever convicted of the infamous Black Sox scandal but Cicotte, with seven teammates, never played ML ball after his tearful confession following the ’20 season.
- Cicotte, Shoeless Joe, and other banned Sox players went on to barnstorm under false names
- His mastery of the knuckleball led to a transformation of his career. His control improved to the point of walking only 89 in 572 innings in 1918/19 combined.
- Series: Pilgrims
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Sox
- League: American League
Guy Harris White (1879-1969) lived a long life and, at the end of it, had the grace to congratulate the Dodger pitcher who finally exceeded his shut-out record that had stood for 68 years. Doc White began his adult life as a dental surgeon and ended it as an itinerant evangelist. He was a gifted musician and songwriter, a minor league owner, a prize-winning horticulturalist, a college coach and mentor to young athletes. And to the end, he bemoaned the lack of discipline among major league pitchers who couldn’t go a few innings without issuing a walk. And he knew something about that: for 13 seasons Doc pitched for the Phillies and White Sox (the “No-Hit Wonders”) winning 189 games with a 2.39 ERA and better control than most pitchers in history. He threw 24 1-0 games, winning 13. He dueled Walter Johnson, besting him in 11 innings and, 5 days later, grinding to a 1-1 tie after 17 more.
- Helped the Sox to their first World Series championship in 1906 going 18-6
- The following year he won 27, and was always at or near the top in walks per game
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Cartophilia
T201 Mecca Canvas: Ed Killian
- Series: Pilgrims
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Sox
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Edward Augustine Walsh (1881-1959) still holds the ML record for ERA with 1.82 lifetime and hurled himself into the Hall of Fame as one of the most dominant and durable pitchers of the early 20th century. He needed a year off in 1913 but felt the White Sox needed him more. He ruined his arm and effectively ended his career demanding more of that right arm than it could give after 195 wins and 1,736 SOs.
- Reputed to have guided the owner’s architect into shaping the AL park to Walsh’s liking, making Comiskey Park a “pitcher’s park” for 80 years
- Earned “workhorse” status with an average of 395 innings per season 1907-1912
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1946
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Cartophilia
T201 Mecca Canvas: Ed Walsh
- Series: Pilgrims
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Sox
- League: American League
Harry Donald Lord (1882-1948) was groomed for Jimmy Collins’ third base position on the Boston Americans (soon to become Red Sox.) Highlights of his stellar ’09 season included leading a triple steal against the Athletics. Walter Johnson broke Lord’s finger, leading to a trade to the White Sox. From there he joined the Federal League before leaving MLB.
- Voiced regret he had left Chicago before 1919, believing he could have thwarted the affair
- In 1910, Lord was one of ten future MLB managers on the Red Sox, most ever
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Cartophilia
T201 Mecca Canvas: Harry Lord