Leonard Leslie "King" Cole (April 15, 1886 – January 6, 1916) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player in the early 20th century. He started his baseball career as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

with the Chicago Cubs of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) in 1909. With the 1910 Cubs, Cole had a record of 20–4 and helped the team win the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

pennant. On July 31 of that season, he pitched all seven innings in a 4–0 Cubs win over the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, without giving up a hit. It was the second game of a doubleheader: the teams had agreed to end the game at 5 p.m. so they could catch their trains. Due to a 1991 change to the official MLB definition of a no-hitter—it must last at least nine innings—Cole's effort is not recognized by as a no-hitter by MLB. Cole's 20–4 record in 1910 was the third-best single-season

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

(.833) for a Cubs pitcher in the 20th century. Cole was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in May 1912, did not play in the major leagues in 1913, then played for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in 1914 and 1915. On October 2, 1914, Cole gave up a double to

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

, then a pitcher for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

, for Ruth's first hit in the major leagues. In 1915, Cole was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

; he died in January 1916.

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wo ...

wrote about Cole in articles for ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. Lardner compiled the stories into the '' Alibi Ike'' stories.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, King 1886 births 1916 deaths Chicago Cubs players Pittsburgh Pirates players New York Yankees players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Iowa National League ERA champions Bay City (minor league baseball) players Columbus Senators players Deaths from lung cancer People from Toledo, Iowa Deaths from cancer in Michigan

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