Edward Nicholas Crane (May 27, 1862 – September 20, 1896), nicknamed ''Cannonball'', was an American right-handed

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 ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

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 eight seasons. He played for the Boston Reds (1884),

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...

(1885),

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

(1885),

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

(1886),

New York Giants (NL) The New York Giants were a Major League Baseball team in the National League that began play in the season as the New York Gothams and were renamed in . They continued as the New York Giants until the team Relocation of professional sports tea ...

(1888–89, 1892–93),

New York Giants (PL) In 1890, the short-lived Players' League included a team called the New York Giants. This baseball team was managed by Hall of Famer Buck Ewing, and they finished third with a record of 74-57. Besides Ewing, who was also a catcher on this team, ...

(1890),

Cincinnati Kelly's Killers Kelly's Killers were a Major League baseball team that played in Cincinnati, Ohio during the 1891 baseball season. The team played in the American Association, which was a major league from 1882 to 1891. The team nickname By contemporary news ...

(1891),

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

(1891), and

Brooklyn Grooms The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Califo ...

(1893). Crane was the first pitcher in the history of major league baseball to record 4 strikeouts in a single inning (New York Giants, 1888), and is one of the few players to play in four major leagues: the

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

, 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 ...

, the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

, and 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 ...

. Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Cannonball Crane was a man of uncommon strength. In his prime, he was described as "a giant in physical strength and proportions."
He reportedly could throw a baseball 135 yards, farther than anyone else who played the game in his era. After his playing career ended, he died from what was officially declared an accidental overdose but was reported by others to have been a suicide.

Early years (1884–87)

Cannonball debuted in April 1884 with the Boston Reds of the

. He played in 101 games for the Reds, including 57 as an outfielder and 42 as a catcher. As a rookie, he was among the UA league leaders in most batting categories, with 12 home runs (2nd in the UA), a .451 slugging percentage (4th in the UA), 193 total bases (4th in the USA), 41 extra base hits (5th in the UA), 59 runs (7th in the UA), 122 hits (8th in the UA), and a .285 batting average (10th in the UA). After a promising rookie year, Crane moved to the National League where he did not fare as well. In 1885, Crane played in the National League for the

and

but appeared in only 14 games, all as an outfielder. In 1886, he played in 80 games for the

, including 68 games as an outfielder and 10 games (70 innings) as a pitcher. His performance as a batter dropped off dramatically, as his batting average plummeted to .171 and he struck out 54 times. He did not fare much better as a pitcher, with a record of 1–7, an

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 ...

of 7.20 and an

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

of 45. With a dismal performance in 1886, Crane did not find a spot in the major leagues in 1887. Instead, Crane went to Canada and had a tremendous season for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in 1887. He won the

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

batting title in 1887, hitting for a .428 average (bases on balls counted as hits for the 1887 season in the Int’l League.) His .428 average in 1887 still stands as the highest batting average by a pitcher in professional baseball. He also set the all-time Maple Leafs’ record with 33 wins, as he led the Maple Leafs to their first

pennant. On one occasion in 1887, Crane won both games of a Saturday doubleheader and also hit the game-winning home run in the second game.

The New York Giants and Spalding's World Tour (1888–90)

After a great showing for the Maple Leafs, Crane signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

where he played in 1888 and 1889. In the 1888 season, Crane was 5–6 for the pre-modern World Series champion Giants. Crane accomplished two baseball firsts in 1888. On September 27, 1888, Crane became the first player in New York Giants’ history to throw a no-hitter. In a seven-inning game that was called due to darkness, Cannonball Crane held the Senators hitless in a 3–0 victory at the Polo Grounds. Crane retired six batters on ground balls to himself and struck out five Senators. The following week, on October 4, 1888, Crane became the first pitcher in major league history to strike out four batters in one inning. In the 1889 season, Crane pitched in 29 games (25 as a starter) and had a much improved record of 14–10 and

of 2.43 in 230 innings. Crane's career reached its pinnacle in the 1889 World Series, as Crane was the hero on the mound and at the plate. On the mound, Crane started 5 games and won 4, pitching 38 innings with a 3.79 ERA. At the plate, Crane had 5 RBIs, a .611 slugging percentage, scored 3 runs, a double, a triple, and a home run. An October 1889 newspaper account in ''

The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

'' described Crane's World Series performance as follows: "Ed Crane, fat and jolly, went into the pitcher's box for New York... Ed shot them in with terrific speed and brought joy to the New Yorkers, who saw the Grooms .e., Brooklyn Bridegroomssuccumb, one after another, to his invincible 'curves' and 'shoots'." The newspaper's reference to Crane as "fat and jolly" was not the first such reference to Crane's girth. He won the nickname "Cannonball" due to his large size. He reportedly loved to eat and weighed 204 pounds at 5'10". (Tom Schott, Nick Peters, "''The Giants Encyclopedia''", p. 406.) Another book described Crane as a "prodigious eater" whose favorite snack consisted of "an order of a dozen soft-boiled eggs served in a soup bowl, which he liked to top off with an order of two dozen clams." (Lee Allen, "''The Cincinnati Reds'' (1948)", p. 43) After reaching the high point of his career in the 1889 World Series, Crane's life began a downhill spiral that fall. After the 1889 season, Crane traveled on the famous

Spalding World Tour The Spalding World Tour was a baseball tournament financed by the sports company Spalding. The tour began in October 1888 to April 1889, the baseball tour group travelled to Egypt, Italy, France, England, Ireland and the United States T ...

where he developed a taste for alcohol. The tour included 20 of the best players in baseball and covered Asia and Europe, lasting until early April 1890. One newspaper reported: "Until then, he never drank, but when the aggregation reached Paris Crane fell. . . . When he reached America again not only could he drink champagne but he had acquired a taste for less expensive drinks." The world tour was reportedly the "turning point" in Crane's life, as drinking eventually left him "without employment and incapacitated for work." A full account of Crane's time on the Spalding world tour can be found in the Mark Lamster book, "''Spalding's World Tour: The Epic Adventure that Took Baseball Around the Globe—and Made It America's Game''." After returning from the Spalding tour, Crane joined the

movement (a competing league formed by the players in 1890) and played with many of his former teammates for the newly formed

of the

. He had a record of 16–19 and an ERA of 3.68 in innings. Starting in 1890, Crane's control began to fail, as he gave up walks at a historic pace. In 1890, he gave up 210

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

—the 13th highest single season total in major league history. He followed with 203 walks in 1891 and 189 in 1892—both years ranking among the highest single season totals of all time.

Later years and death (1891–96)

In 1891, Crane played for Kelly's Killers and led the

with a 2.45 ERA (

of 169) and 25 complete games in 250 innings. He spent the last part of the 1891 season with the

and finished the year with an 18–22 record. He followed in 1892 with a 24-loss record for the

. His major league career ended in 1893 as the 31-year-old Crane split the season between the Giants and the

. After being released by Brooklyn, Crane played with Toronto and then with Providence and Rochester. The 1896 season proved to be his last, and playing for Rochester, "he proved to be a failure but played the season out." According to his obituary, "his arm was in poor shape", and he was released by Rochester. He was then picked up by Springfield, where he "fared no better." He umpired a few games for Rochester but was released by the league president. After his final release, the 34-year-old Crane spent the last few weeks of his life "going about the country" picking up odd jobs and "drinking harder and harder." On the day before his death, he was given notice that he would have to vacate his room (in a

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

hotel) the next day. He had been drinking heavily all day, and when he retired "seemed to be very gloomy." The next morning, Crane was found dead in his bed. A coroner's inquest was conducted, and the official verdict was an "accidental death from taking a

chloral Chloral, also known as trichloroacetaldehyde or trichloroethanal, is the organic compound with the formula Cl3CCHO. This aldehyde is a colourless oily liquid that is soluble in a wide range of solvents. It reacts with water to form chloral hydrate ...

prescription for nervousness." Despite the coroner's verdict, others reported that Crane committed suicide by drinking acid. Crane was survived by a wife and child.

Cannonball Crane in modern literature

In 1996, Canadian poet Bruce Meyer published a book "''Goodbye Mr. Spalding''", which includes a story titled "Sunlight Park."

Sunlight Park Sunlight Park was the first baseball stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The all wood structure was built in 1886 at a cost of $7,000 by the International League baseball team the Toronto Baseball Club (renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1902). ...

was the name of the first ballpark in Toronto. Meyer chronicles Cannonball Crane's performance in leading the Maple Leafs to Toronto's first baseball championship in 1887 pennant and, a century later, a grieving father's drive to uncover the events surrounding Cannonball's death. Unable to confront the death of his teenage son, the father chooses, instead, to unravel the secret of Crane's final days. His desire to learn the truth transports him through time to an imagined meeting with Cannonball. Their "interview" resolves the mystery of Crane's apparent suicide and helps the father accept the death of his son.

References

External links