Oddball On The Mound

Oddball On The Mound

Connie Mack, the baseball player turned Hall of Fame manager, once said that Rube Waddell had "...more stuff than any pitcher I ever saw." And Mack should have known as he, himself, played for 11 seasons and amazingly managed for another 50.

George Edward Waddell known almost exclusively as "Rube Waddell" had a short life of 37 years, but his exploits on the ball-field and wacky life antics made him the stuff of legend. Is it any wonder that he was born on Friday the 13th, 1876 and died on April Fool's Day 1914? Coincidence, maybe?

His eccentric behavior started quite early in his life. When he was three years old, he snuck into a local fire station and somehow stayed there for three days. Why the firemen never alerted Rube's worried parents has never been explained, though it is said that they found the child "...amusing kind of like a monkey in a cage."

Waddell's short attention span (which some have theorized was a severe case of ADHD if not autism) led to other distractions which opposing teams would attempt to leverage. Their fans soon found out that Rube was fascinated with puppies and he would often jump the ballpark railing to pet them.

Waddell wandered through a number of teams. He first pitched for Louisville in 1897. When the season ended, he was loaned to the Detroit Tigers though he had to skip town after he failed to pay his apartment rent. Soon thereafter he had short stints with Columbus in the Western League then Grand Rapids before re-joining Louisville. When the National League reduced down to eight teams for the 1900 season, Louisville ownership bought the Pittsburgh franchise and the Louisville team was terminated. Louisville's top players, including Waddell, Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke were assigned to the Pirates.

Rube's pitching repertoire mainly consisted of only two pitches, a lightning fastball and and a hard curve. However, on occasion he threw slow curves, screwballs, "fadeaways" and even a "flutterball".

In 1900, Waddell lead the National League in ERA, although by 1901 his erratic behavior resulted in the Pirates selling his contract to the Chicago Cubs. Problems, mostly with excessive alcohol binges, soon lead to his suspension and a temporary roster spot on a cavalcade of teams in short succession such as Racine, Kenosha and the Los Angeles Loo Loos (a name which seemed to suit Waddell).

In June of the 1902 season, Connie Mack who was desperate for pitching, hired two Pinkerton agents to coerce Rube to Philadelphia where Waddell was instrumental in the Athletics American League crown. Mack was the stability that Waddell needed and under his tutelage for six straight years, Rube's uncontrollable behavior was somehow steadied.

An interesting side note is that few people know that Connie Mack (for a couple of years) was also a manager of one of the earliest U.S. football teams which was also located in Philadelphia. Waddell was recruited to play quarterback but it was apparent that his rough style would lead to injury and Mack took him off the team. For a couple of games Rube also played goalkeeper for the only professional soccer league in the U.S. Not to be outdone, he then took a job with the circus in the off-season to wrestle alligators.

But back to baseball, Waddell soon established himself as one of the sport's premier pitchers and fan interest grew. He signed contracts that displayed his name and likeness on cigars, soap and liquor (seemingly his favorite activity). In the 1903 season, he won 22 games for the Athletics with 302 strikeouts which was 115 more than runner up Bill Donovan. He then toured the nation in a vaudeville play called The Stain of Guilt for which he never learned his lines. Around the same time period, it was said that he also saved a woman from drowning, accidentally shot a friend in the hand with a prop pistol and was bitten by a lion

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In 1904 he won 25 games followed by 27 in 1905. In his 13-year career, he was 193 and 143 with 2,316 strikeouts. Regrettably, drinking and tuberculosis took its toll on the man who is often referred to as one of baseball's strangest players.