Ed Summers

Oron Edgar Summers (December 5, 1884 – May 12, 1953), nicknamed "Kickapoo Ed," due to his Kickapoo ancestry. was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played five seasons with the Detroit Tigers (1908-12).

Summers was born in Ladoga, Indiana, and attended Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Indiana. He began his baseball playing career in the American Association before joining the Tigers in the American League in 1908.

In his rookie season, Summers emerged as the Tigers' best pitcher, finishing with a 1.64 ERA in 301 innings pitched and a 24-12 win-loss record. On September 25, 1908, the Tigers were 2 games back of the Cleveland Naps for the AL pennant and were scheduled to play a doubleheader. Summers threw two complete game victories, winning the second game 1-0 after throwing 10 shutout innings. [ [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats24.shtml Baseball-Almanac.com] ] The Tigers went on to win the pennant and returned to the World Series for a rematch against the Chicago Cubs. In the 1908 World Series, Summers pitched in Games 1 and 4, losing both times to Three Finger Brown. That season his 24 wins placed him tied for second place in the AL behind Ed Walsh's 40, and his 1.64 ERA remains the Tigers' single season record.

On July 16, 1909, Summers pitched 18 scoreless innings of a tie game against the Washington Senators at Bennett Park. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,890612,00.html Time Magazine] ] He finished the 1909 season at 19-9 and the Tigers recaptured the pennant. In the 1909 World Series, he could not escape the first inning of Game 3, allowing five unearned runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He returned for Game 5 but lost to Babe Adams.Summers only played three additional seasons before rheumatism finally ended his playing career at age 27. In 138 career games, he had a 68-45 record with a 2.42 ERA, including 79 complete games and 9 shutouts in 999 innings.

He died from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 68 in 1953 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Trivia

* Ed Summers and Justin Verlander are the only Tigers rookie pitchers to start a game in the World Series. [ [http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/mlb_probable_pitchers.jsp?ymd=20061021 MLB.com] ]

* Summers gave up six consecutive hits in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 1908 World Series. That is the most hits allowed in a row by one pitcher in one World Series game.

ee also

* 1909 Detroit Tigers season

External links

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References