Rube Waddell- Rube played 4 years prior to the Replay League. He only spent 10 more years playing, as he retired at age 33 in 1910.....but that's actually when he retired in real life as well! He spent his whole career with the Pirates.
Waddell's numbers were-
195-139, 4 Saves, 3065.2 IP, 2.32 ERA (8th), 1.13 WHIP (T-24th), 2142 K (91st), 6.3 K/9, 76.9 WAR (37th)
Much like Ed Plank, Rube made the most of his relatively short career. He won 20+ games 4 times, leading the league once. He led the league in strikeouts 6 out of the 7 years from 1903-1909. It likely would have been all 7, but he suffered a torn rotator cuff in 1908 that kept him out 5 months. He led in K/9 nine times and ERA three times. He often made relief appearances between starts and led the league in games with 51 in 1904. His best season is a tough call between that 1904 season and 1907. In 04, he went 25-17 with 2 saves, a 1.75 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 286 Ks and 9.8 WAR in 359.2 IP. In 07, he went 28-12 with a 1.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 223 Ks and 8.4 WAR in 357 IP. In his injury-riddled 1908 season, he was off to a great start at 7-2 with a 1.61 ERA.
Waddell was a 5-time World Series winner, 7-time All-Star and 3-time Cy Young Award Winner. 1916 was his first year of consideration for the HOF and he got right in with 91.7% of the vote.
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"The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879
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