Chicago White Sox pitcher Red Faber. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images) /
No position in the series of creating mythical Mount Rushmores for the Chicago White Sox was more daunting than narrowing a field of 41 starting pitchers to four.
This large group included four members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and All-Star selections from the beginning of the midsummer classic in 1933 to the present era.
So how does one compare a pitcher who won 40 games in the 1910s to a guy who started 32 in the 2010s? Fortunately, statisticians have found a variety of ways to help normalize the numbers and the rest just has to go by feel.
Two of the Hall of Famers did not make the cut for this particular mountain face, though Ted Lyons, a stalwart for the White Sox from the early 1920s to the 1940s was one of the final cuts. A pair of contemporary left-handers, Chris Sale and Mark Buehrle, were also in that group.
Related Story. Mount rushmore of White Sox middle relief. light
The other Hall of Famer not selected, Early Wynn, did the bulk of his career work with the Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians, though Wynn did help pitch the White Sox into a World Series in 1959.
The qualifying standards were a minimum of 1,000 innings pitched while appearing in at least 60 percent of their appearances as the starting pitcher. There were 40 who met that standard, plus the special case of Wilbur Wood — closer for four years, starter for another eight. Here are those qualifiers:
Nick Altrock (1903-09)
Wilson Alvarez (1991-97)
James Baldwin (1995-2001)
Floyd Bannister (1981-87)
Joe Benz (1911-19)
Ted Blankenship (1922-30)
Mark Buehrle (2000-11)
Britt Burns (1978-85)
Eddie Cicotte (1912-20)
John Danks (2007-16)
Bill Dietrich (1936-46)
Dick Donovan (1955-60)
Richard Dotson (1979-87, 1989)
Red Faber (1914-33)
Alex Fernandez (1990-96)
Gavin Floyd (2007-13)
Jon Garland (2000-07)
Orval Grove (1940-49)
Joe Horlen (1961-71)
Tommy John (1965-71)
Thornton Lee (1937-47)
Ted Lyons (1923-42, 1946)
Jack McDowell (1987-88, 1990-94)
Frank Owen (1903-09)
Roy Patterson (1901-07)
Gary Peters (1959-69)
Billy Pierce (1949-61)
Juan Pizarro (1961-66)
Jose Quintana (2012-17)
Johnny Rigney (1937-42, 1946-47)
Reb Russell (1913-19)
Chris Sale (2010-16)
Jim Scott (1909-17)
Eddie Smith (1939-43, 1946-47)
Frank Smith (1904-10)
Tommy Thomas (1926-32)
Ed Walsh (1904-16)
Doc White (1903-13)
Lefty Williams (1916-20)
Wilbur Wood (1971-78)*
Early Wynn (1958-62)
*NOTE: Wood spent four years as a reliever and eight as a starter for the White Sox and his career stats have been split into those two sections.
Mount Rushmore of White Sox starting pitchers: Eddie Cicotte
Eddie Cicotte becomes the second of the eight Chicago White Sox banned in 1921 for their roles in throwing the 1919 World Series, but Cicotte gets the nod because of his work pitching the club to a championship in 1917 and for his overall standout performance over his eight-plus seasons in Chicago.
Cicotte was acquired from the Boston Red Sox in July 1912 in a straight cash deal and for years, he was money for the White Sox. Cicotte led the American League with a 1.53 ERA and 0.912 WHIP in 1917 and twice led the league in wins, innings pitched and fewest walks per nine innings.
While pitching in an era during which the home run was not in vogue, Cicotte worked 269.1 innings in 1914 without surrendering even one. It wasn’t unique, but it was uncommon just the same.
Cicotte started twice and relieved once in the six-game victory over the New York Giants in the 1917 World Series, posting a 1.57 ERA and 1.087 WHIP in 23 innings. Even in the tainted 1919 series against the Cincinnati Reds, Cicotte won one of his three starts and had an ERA of 2.91 in 21.2 innings.
Like the other suspected fixers, Cicotte was pulled from competition in late September 1920 and never pitched in the majors again. In parts of nine seasons, Cicotte had a 2.25 ERA and 1.112 WHIP in 2,322.1 innings over 353 games, 258 of them starts, with 183 complete games and 28 shutouts.
He struck out only 3.7 batters per nine innings, indicative of the era, but walked just 2.1 per nine in that time.
Cicotte earned a tryout with the Detroit Tigers in the spring of 1905, signing the 21-year-old and optioning him to Augusta in the Class-C South Atlantic League. Playing both semipro and low-minors ball in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The Red Sox purchased Cicotte’s contract from Detroit at the end of the 1907 season and he became a regular in their rotation the following season.
Cicotte died in Detroit in May 1969 at the age of 84.
Mount Rushmore of White Sox starting pitchers: Red Faber
Red Faber’s road to Chicago started in his home state of Iowa, where he began his career with the Dubuque Dubs in the Class-B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League in 1909. In September of that year he was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Rule 5 draft. The Pirates held his rights for two years before he was sold to Des Moines of the Class-A Western League.
In August 1913, the Chicago White Sox purchased Faber’s contract from Des Moines and he broke camp with the team to start the 1914 season, beginning a 20-year career with the club.
Faber made three starts and a relief appearance, working a whopping 27 innings in Chicago’s six-game win over the New York Giants in the 1917 World Series, posting a 2.33 ERA and 0.889 WHIP.
He missed much of 1918 after enlisting in the Navy to serve during World War I, spending his entire tour at Great Lakes Navel Base near Chicago. During the 1919 season, Faber struggled to keep weight on and was benched for the 1919 World Series. It turned out he battled the Spanish flu outbreak as well as injuries to his arm and ankle.
When the ball livened in 1920, Faber adjusted well, remaining as one of the last pitchers to legally throw a spitball. In 1921 and 1922, he led the AL in ERA, WHIP and complete games, holding opposing lineups to a major-league best 8.0 hits per nine innings in 1921. He topped 300 innings three straight seasons, 1920-22, while completing 91 of his 116 starts over that span.
He never quite hit that same level of durability for the remainder of his career, but he pitched as a starter through the 1930 season, when he was 41, and worked primarily in relief for another three seasons. At age 45, the White Sox released Faber in February 1934.
After retirement, Faber sold cars and real estate with mixed results before buying a suburban Chicago bowling alley. From 1946-48, he was the White Sox pitching coach.
He was selected by the Veterans Committee to the Hall of Fame in 1964. A smoker from the age of 8, he had two heart attacks and died in September 1976 at the age of 88.
Mount Rushmore of White Sox starting pitchers: Billy Pierce
A native of Detroit, Billy Pierce got his start in professional baseball when he signed with the hometown Tigers shortly after graduating from high school in 1944 and he started the 1945 season on the big-league roster at the age of 18. He spent most of the season at Double-A Buffalo in the International League, where he pitched all of 1946-47.
The Chicago White Sox acquired Pierce along with $10,000 cash from the Tigers in November 1948 for catcher Aaron Robinson after struggling to a 6.34 ERA in 22 appearances for Detroit that season.
The White Sox plugged Pierce into the rotation and there were struggles early. But the 5-foot-10 left-hander put it together in 1953, earning the first of seven All-Star appearances while leading the American League in strikeouts.
In 1955, Pierce posted a 1.97 ERA, the best in baseball, also leading the bigs with a 1.099 WHIP. His 2.45 strikeouts-to-walks ratio led the American League as well. He led the AL in complete games three straight seasons, 1956-58, but slipped to 14-15 with a 3.62 ERA in 33 starts with the pennant-winning club in 1959.
He was relegated to the bullpen for the World Series, even though team vice president Chuck Comiskey pleased with manager Al Lopez to start Pierce. But Lopez said he wanted to pitch right-handers against the Los Angeles Dodgers because of their power from the right side of the plate.
He made his final All-Star appearance in 1961 and was traded in November of that year to the San Francisco Giants in a six-player swap. The GIants released Pierce in December 1963, re-signed him in April 1964 and released him again at season’s end.
While with the Sox, Pierce threw four one-hitters and just missed becoming the first left-hander in major-league history to throw a perfect game. After retiring 26 straight hitters on June 27, 1958, Washington Senators pinch-hitter Ed Fitz Gerald broke up the gem with a double.
Pierce retired to the Chicago area and worked 23 years for Continental Envelope Company. Though he was one of his era’s best pitchers, Pierce has not been selected for the Hall of Fame.
In 13 years for the Sox, Pierce had a 3.19 ERA and 1.261 WHIP in 2,931 innings, working in 456 games and starting 391, with 183 complete games and 35 shutouts. He twice led the AL in strikeouts per nine innings and posted 5.5 per nine over his time in Chicago.
Pierce is one of 11 White Sox to have his number retired. He died from cancer in July 2015 at the age of 88.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Walsh in 1909. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images) /
Mount Rushmore of White Sox starting pitchers: Ed Walsh
Even in an era when pitchers threw 16 innings, dipped their arm in lukewarm water and did the same thing a few days later, Ed Walsh of the Chicago White Sox was an anomaly for his durability.
The White Sox purchased Walsh’s contract from Class-A Newark of the Eastern League after the 1903 season and he worked as a spot starter for Chicago the next two seasons.
He took a more regular return in the rotation in 1906, leading the majors with 10 shutouts, but what he did over the next six years would defy physiology, logic and perhaps the laws of physics.
From 1907-12, Walsh appeared in 316 games, started 237, completed 197 and threw 2,248 innings. He led the league in innings pitched four times and in 1908 pitched a ridiculous amount — 66 games, 49 starts and 464 innings.
He is one of two players in the modern era to win 40 games in a season, going 40-15 in 1908. Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders in 1904 was the other.
He wasn’t used as much in 1909, simply because he was still recovering from the previous season.
Walsh’s effectiveness waned after the 1912 season. He was still solid, but needed lengthy rest periods between starts, and was released by the White Sox after the 1916 season, during which he appeared just twice, working 3.1 innings.
He got a brief stint with the Boston Braves in 1917, and made cameos in the minor leagues with Milwaukee in 1919 and Bridgeport, where he managed, in 1920.
Walsh coached for the White Sox for several years and also was a pitching coach at Notre Dame University, where his son pitched.
In 13 years with the White Sox, Walsh had a 1.81 ERA in 2,946.1 innings, striking out 5.3 per nine innings while walking 1.9. He led the AL in strikeouts twice (1908 and 1911) and in WHIP twice (1909-10).
His 1.82 career ERA is the best in major-league history and is likely a record never to be broken.
Next. The No. 1 White Sox prospects of the 21st century. dark
Walsh was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946 after being selected by the Old Timers Committee, but struggled financially after the Great Depression. He died at age 78 in May 1959 after a lengthy bout with cancer.
