Edward William "Rube" Kinsella (January 15, 1880 – January 17, 1976) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

. He stood at 6' 1" and weighed 175 lbs."Ed Kinsella Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-06.

Career

Kinsella was born in

Lexington, Illinois Lexington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,090 at the 2020 census. There are two theories regarding the etymology of the city name. One says it was named for the Battle of Lexington, where General Gridl ...

, and attended

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teachin ...

. He pitched for the school's baseball team. He then started his professional baseball career in 1904 with the Bloomington Bloomers of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Class B level Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymo ...

."Ed Kinsella Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-06. During his second season, he went 17–14 on the mound and was then purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kinsella made his major league debut in September and pitched 17 innings for the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club during the final month of the campaign. He was the first player to make the major leagues from Illinois State University. In 1905, Kinsella was fired from his offseason job as a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

when he took a day off to watch a baseball game. Kinsella was purchased by Toledo of the American Association in December. The following March, the ''

Toledo News-Bee ''The Toledo News Bee'' is a defunct newspaper that served Toledo, Ohio, and much of northwestern Ohio in the early part of the 20th century. It was formed from the 1903 merger of ''The Toledo News'' and ''The Toledo Bee'', and was published unti ...

'' reported that he was a "most likely looking young fellow." However, Kinsella did not pitch for Toledo that year, instead going to the Springfield Senators. In 1906, Kinsella joined the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

. He made an immediate impact, winning 21 games with a 2.29

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and leading the team in both categories. The following season, he pitched well again; he won 23 games and set a career-high with 380.2

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

in the long Pacific Coast League schedule. Kinsella then went to the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for six seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, 1886–1887, and 1891. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by t ...

's Portland Colts for 1909. He won over 20 games for the third straight season and went 23–10. Kinsella was purchased by the St. Louis Browns in August 1909 and had his second stint in the majors in 1910. In April, the ''

Telegraph Herald The ''Telegraph Herald'', locally referred to as the ''TH'', is a daily newspaper published in Dubuque, Iowa, for the population of Dubuque and surrounding areas in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in ...

'' reported that, "All who have seen Kinsella have been impressed by his work. Even the players bank on the big fellow when he goes to the mound..." Despite this praise, Kinsella appeared in just 10 games for the Browns. He went 1–3 with a below-average ERA, and he played his last major league game on August 10. The following season, he went back to the minors with the Western League's Denver Grizzlies and pitched for a pennant-winning team. The 1911 Grizzlies have been called the 22nd greatest minor league team of all-time."1911 Denver Grizzlies"
''minorleaguebaseball.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-06. In 1912, Kinsella went 22–11 for Denver. He moved up to the Pacific Coast League in 1913 but struggled and played part of 1914 in the Class D

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. The Central Association began play in 1908, evolving from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association played continuously through 1917 before folding. The league reforme ...

. That was his last year in organized baseball. Kinsella finished his career with 144 minor league victories in 10 seasons but had only one major league win. He died in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

, two days after his 96th birthday.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Ed 1880 births 1976 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Bloomington Bloomers players Springfield Senators players Portland Beavers players Portland Colts players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Sacramento Sacts players Ottumwa Packers players Rock Island Islanders players Des Moines Boosters players Galesburg Pavers players Waterloo Jays players Baseball players from McLean County, Illinois People from Lexington, Illinois Illinois State Redbirds baseball players Sportspeople from Bloomington, Illinois