Eddie Plank

Who was Eddie Plank?

Edward Stewart Plank, 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.

Plank is 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 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 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 elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.