Ed Willett

Who was Ed Willett?

Robert Edgar Willett was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played with the Detroit Tigers of the American League and the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia, USA and threw right-handed.

He began his playing career in the Western Association, pitching one season with the Wichita Jobbers in 1905. He joined the Detroit Tigers in 1906. In his first two seasons in Detroit, Willett had a record of 1–8 in 9 starts. However, Willett won at least 13 games in each of the next 6 seasons.

His best season was 1909 when he had a record of 21–10, ranking 3rd in the American League in wins and 5th in winning percentage. He had an earned run average of 2.34 for the season and was among the 1909 American League leaders in games, innings, games started, complete games, bases on balls and hits allowed, as well as wild pitches and hit batsmen.

In two games of the 1909 World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Willett pitched 7 and 2/3 innings, allowing no runs and three hits.

On January 20, 1914, Willett jumped from the American League to the Federal League where he finished his career with the St. Louis Terriers. In two seasons with the last-place Terriers, Willett had a record of 6–19.