Eddie Plank
Edward Stewart Plank (August 31, 1875 – February 24, 1926), nicknamed "Gettysburg Eddie", was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, Plank played in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 through 1914, the St. Louis Terriers in 1915, and the St. Louis Browns in 1916 and 1917.
For the 1970s pitcher, see Ed Plank.Eddie Plank
Plank was the first left-handed pitcher to win 200 games and then 300 games, and now ranks third in all-time wins among left-handers with 326 career victories (13th all time) and first all-time in career shutouts by a left-handed pitcher with 66. Philadelphia went to the World Series five times while Plank played there, but he sat out the 1910 World Series due to an injury. Plank had only a 1.32 earned run average (ERA) in his World Series career, but he was unlucky, with a 2-5 win–loss record in those games.
Plank died of a stroke in 1926. He was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946 by the Veterans Committee.
Early life[edit]
Plank grew up on a farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He was the fourth of seven children born to Martha McCreary and David Plank.[1] His father was a school director and tax collector in Gettysburg.[2] Plank did not play baseball until the age of 17, when he started playing for local teams in the Gettysburg area. He practiced pitching by throwing a baseball against his barn door, drawing lectures from his father for all the dents he left.[3] When Plank was about 22, Frank Foreman, the pitching coach at Gettysburg College, asked him to try out for the school's baseball team.[1][4][3] History books often erroneously state that Plank graduated from Gettysburg College. He attended Gettysburg Academy, a prep school affiliated with the college. However, he played for the college's team without ever being enrolled there.[5]
Personal life[edit]
Plank married Anna (née Myers) in 1915. They had a son, named Edward Stewart Plank Jr.[1] According to baseball historian Frank Russo, he was "as solid a family man as you could ever find."[16] Plank's brother Ira was the baseball coach at Gettysburg College for more than 20 years.[25] Friendly by nature, Plank did the unusual by taking time to mentor the rookie pitchers on the Athletics' staff, and he befriended Louis Van Zelst, a hunchback who served as the team's mascot.[16]
Later life[edit]
After retirement, Plank opened a Buick dealership in Gettysburg.[16] He pitched the 1918 season for the Steelton club of the Bethlehem Steel League, an industrial baseball league. Steelton was only 40 miles (64 km) from his home and the arrangement allowed him to manage his business during the week.[26]
Plank did not seem to be in ill health after his career, but on February 22, 1926, his wife awoke to discover her husband paralyzed on the left side due to a stroke and suffering garbled speech. Upon arriving at the Plank home, the family physician and Plank's wife decided he should be left where he was for treatment, rather than moved to a hospital. The pitcher showed signs of recovery briefly, then started having bouts of lost consciousness. He lost the ability to speak, and by the 24th, no one expected him to recover. He died at 2:49 P.M. that day.[27][28]
Two days after his death, Plank's funeral was held at Gettysburg's First Presbyterian Church. The Rev. W. C. Space said, "Eddie...was true to his manhood, true to his parents, true to his wife and home, true to his God and church. What better could be spoken of any man?"[27] He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg.[5] Anna lived 29 more years before her death in 1955.[27]
Upon hearing of Plank's death, Connie Mack said that he felt like a father who had just lost a son. "Eddie Plank was one of the smartest left-hand pitchers it has been my pleasure to have on my club. He was short and light, as pitchers go, but he made up for the physical defects, if such they were, by his study of the game and his smartness when he was on the pitching peak", he said.[29] Former teammate Jack Coombs said, "I have always been thankful that I was thrown into such intimate contact with so inspiring a man in the days when the majority of ballplayers were of a much lower type than at the present time."[30]
Plank was a Freemason and a member of Good Samaritan Lodge No. 336 in Gettysburg.
Location
Intersection of Carlisle St. & West Lincoln Ave., Gettysburg
August 31, 2000[31]