Ed Irvin

William Edward Irvin (1882 - February 5, 1916) was a 30-year-old replacement player for the Detroit Tigers on May 18, 1912, after the regular team went on strike to protest the suspension of Ty Cobb following Cobb's attack on a handicapped fan in New York.

Irvin made the most of his day in the major leagues, hitting two triples in three at bats against the Philadelphia Athletics. Irvin was the only member of the replacement Tigers to get a hit in an embarrassing 24-2 loss.

Irvin's performance at third base was not as strong. Though he was credited with only one error, Allan Travers, the pitcher for the replacement Tigers, later recalled: "I was doing fine until they started bunting. The guy playing third base had never played baseball before." [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1937&pid=14325]

Irvin did not play another game in the major leagues. He finished his major league career with a .500 fielding percentage at third base, but impressive numbers as a batter: .667 batting average, 2.000 slugging percentage, and 2.667 OPS.

According to "The Baseball Necrology", Irvin died in 1916 from injuries suffered when he was "thrown through a saloon window" in Philadelphia. ("The Baseball Necrology: The Post-Baseball Lives and Deaths of Over 7,600 Major League Players and Others", by Bill Lee.)

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/i/irvined01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com]
* [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1937&pid=14325 SABR Biogaphy of Replacement Tiger]