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

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), ...

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 (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

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 Gridley' ...

, and attended

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

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

Bloomington Bloomers The Bloomington Bloomers were a minor League baseball franchise based in Bloomington, Illinois that played between 1889 and 1939. They were affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals (1935), Cleveland Indians (1938) and Chicago Cubs (1939). They playe ...

of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

."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 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 s ...

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 not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

when he took a day off to watch a baseball game. Kinsella was purchased by Toledo of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in December. The following March, the '' Toledo News-Bee'' 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 ...

. 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, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

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 five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

Portland Colts The Portland Colts were a minor league baseball team based in Portland, Oregon for five seasons (1909, 1911–14) in the Class B Northwestern League. The Colts served as an unofficial farm team for the Portland Beavers and the Cleveland Indians. ...

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. The newspaper is the result of a 1901 merger of th ...

'' 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. It began operations in 1908, as it was essentially renamed from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association ran continuously through 1917. It was reorganized thirty yea ...

. 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 and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

, 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 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 Illinois People from Lexington, Illinois Illinois State Redbirds baseball players People from Bloomington, Illinois