Baseball fans can flock to Cooperstown to praise the legends of the game in the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame. While they are likely plenty of players they enjoy seeing, there are also several plaques with names they have never encountered. One of those names is Rube Waddell, who is one of the crazier characters in baseball history.
The Basics
Waddell’s life can get a little crazy, so starting with the facts about his life is probably the easiest thing to do before going into the legendary stories about the famous hurler.
A left-handed pitcher, Waddell was born on October 13, 1876 in Bradford, Pennsylvania. He had a unique childhood, but that fits into more of the story part. Waddell started playing professionally for Louisville, but also had stops in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Philadelphia and St. Louis.
In his career, he had a 193-143 record and a 2.16 ERA. He won the pitching triple crown in 1905, which was his best season. His stat line was 27-10, 1.48 ERA and 287 strikeouts.
In 1904, he had even more success striking out hitters, doing it better than anyone else in history up to that point, with 349. Jack Chesbro was second in strikeouts that season with 239.
His career only lasted 13 years, but had he taken better care of himself, he may just be a name that was more revered in history like Cy Young, who he had plenty of famous matchups with.
Childhood Stories
Waddell often missed school, but had some excuse for it as he helped on his family’s farm. He wasn’t interested in school, but was interested in firetrucks and once walked to the fire station by himself and was missing for days. Waddell was three at the time.
He started playing sports with other classmates. A lot of times he was forced to play catcher because the other kids didn’t want their hands to hurt after catching some of Waddell’s pitches. He strengthened his arm by throwing rocks at birds and throwing potatoes into the family barn. It was a foreshadowing to an odd career.
Odd Stories from his Professional Baseball Playing Days
Waddell would often disappear without notice. Most of the time it would be to fish or hunt, but also to drink. There were other events that happened when he did eventful things as well.
Connie Mack, his manager for his seasons in Philadelphia, knew that coaching Rube was a game of give and take. When he was on, he was the toughest pitcher in the game to make contact on. But he also had to put up with incidents that no one would believe. One of the tamer requests he received was from Waddell’s personal catcher Ossee “Schreck” Schreckengost, who made his manager agree to have Waddell not eat animal crackers in bed because crums got everywhere. Mack agreed and then had to break the bad news to Waddell.
When pitching, Waddell was easily distracted. Fans and even opposing managers would bring out puppies because Waddell would want to go play with them instead of pitch. If he heard a fire truck go by, he would strip and run to help the firemen. He often helped save plenty of lives during his career and was a hero to many.
At different points in time, Waddell joined plays and was actually quite good unless he was asked to do stage combat. He was rather rough with the other actors. He randomly led a marching band in a parade. Another time he was threatened by an emu farmer for riding one of his birds. He wrestled an alligator and was bitten by a lion.
In one instance, a bartender wanted to leave to go watch the “great Rube Waddell” pitch. Waddell offered to take over the bar so the bartender could go watch the game. Only when he returned did he find out that Waddell was the pitcher he wanted to see.
Another time a staffer had to go find him before his set start. He was across town trying to sell hot dogs for a vendor. Waddell wouldn’t leave until the hot dogs were all gone. The staffer paid for the hot dogs.
If they couldn’t find him, a lot of times he was out drinking or playing with kids. He missed a game because kids were having too much fun playing baseball with him.
Post-Baseball
After pitching for the Browns in 1910, his shenanigans caught up to him. He pitched in the lower-level leagues for a few seasons, but was a shell of himself. Waddell always drew a good crowd though and was worth keeping around.
Unfortunately, he caught pneumonia after helping the community of Hickman, Kentucky deal with a flood. The next year, 1913, another flood hit and another case of pneumonia cost him the rest of his playing days. Shortly after that, he died of Tuberculosis. His catcher, who he hadn’t played with in several years, Shreck died shortly after and said that life just wouldn’t be as fun without Waddell.
He was elected into the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946 with many baseball historians naming him one of the most talented pitchers they had ever seen.
Waddell may be forgotten by the masses, but there isn’t a professional baseball player with more entertaining stories. He is worth remembering for his play and for his eccentricities.
For More Rube Waddell Stories
There are plenty more stories to enjoy concerning the playing days of Waddell. His Wikipedia page is a good start. W.G. Braund wrote a biography and so too did Alan Levy.
Check out our MLB page for more stories like Rube Waddell: The Craziest Hall of Famer!
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