Ed Wells
Edwin Lee Wells

Bats Left
Throws Left
Height 6'1.5
Weight 183

Born June 7, 1900
Ashland, OH
Died May 1, 1986
Birmingham, AL

Pitching  

 Year Ag Tm    W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR  ERA  lgERA ERA+
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 1929 29 PAW  15  10  .600   0  28  28   7      207.2             59   88   57      2.56  3.64  142  
 1930 30 PAW   2  13  .133   0  20  20   1       78.1             54   31   18      6.20  4.27   69  
 1931 31 PAW   8   9  .471   0  21  21   0   0  121.2  139   63   56   51   16      4.14  3.62   87  
 1932 32 PAW   0   1  .000   0   1   1   0   0    6.0    6    4    4    3    1      6.00  3.20   53  
 1933 33 NDA  14   6  .700   0  27  27   8   2  199.1  196   83   71   43   42  14  3.21  4.15  129  
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
  5 Seasons   39  39  .500   0  97  97  16   2  613.0  341  263  244  216  134  14  3.58  3.90  109 
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 154 Gm  Avg  13  13  .500   0  33  33   5   1  205.0  226   88   82   72   45  17  3.58 
 Career High  15  13  .700   0  28  28   8   2  207.2  196   83   71   88   57  14  2.56            
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 4 Yrs.  PAW  25  33  .431   0  70  70   8   0  413.2  145  180  173  173   92      3.76  3.81  101  
 1 Yr.   NDA  14   6  .700   0  27  27   8   2  199.1  196   83   71   43   42  14  3.21  4.15  129  
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 Year Ag Tm    W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR  ERA  lgERA ERA+

Postseason Pitching

 
 Year Tm  OPP WLser   W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR   ERA  
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+
 1929 PAW MON   L     1   1  .500   0   2   2   1   0  15.0   12    4    4    6    7   1  2.40
 1933 NDA HAR   W     0   1  .000   0   1   1   0   0   2.2    9    4    4    1    1   0 13.50
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+
               1-1    1   2  .333   0   3   3   0   0  17.2   21    8    8    7    8   1  4.08
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+

WLser shows whether the player's team Won or Lost the series.


Appearances on Leaderboards and Awards  

Stats are Year-Value-Rank

ERA
1929-2.56-5
1933-3.21-6

Wins
1929-15-6
1933-14-9

Losses
1930-13-9


Player of the Week, Week 14, 1929.
Rookie of the Year, 1929.



Transactions

January 1, 1929: Drafted 1st round (5th overall) by Pawtucket.


Biography
Ed Wells holds the unique distinction of being one of a handful of major leaguers who were teammates of both Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. In his 11-year career, Wells, a left-handed pitcher, played with the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees for the majority of his career before finishing with the St. Louis Browns. Armed with a hard fastball and a wicked slow curve, Wells had some very effective seasons in his big-league tenure, and won a World Championship with the Yankees in 1932.

Born on June 7, 1900 in Ashland, Ohio, Edwin Lee Wells was an Ohio farm boy who grew up following baseball in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and idolizing Ty Cobb. The baseball-loving Wells spent his childhood like most youth in the Midwest; helping out on the family farm and playing ball in his spare time. At age fourteen, Wells was playing semipro ball on weekends and his performances were reaching the ears of major league clubs.

Wells went to Bethany College in West Virginia upon graduation from high school. During his sophomore year, he was approached by a scout from the Detroit Tigers who offered him a $1,000 signing bonus. The arrangement allowed Wells to continue to attend school and pitch during the summers.

On June 7, 1922, Wells reported to the Tigers and he was farmed out to Ludington, Michigan in the Central League. While there, Wells finished 13-10 with an earned run average of 1.93.

The next season, after school was out, Wells reported directly to the Tigers, who were playing in Boston. Wells realized a boyhood dream by spending his first day in the majors eating breakfast and going to the ballpark with his idol Ty Cobb. Cobb, who was also the Tiger manager, put Wells in the game that very afternoon and he responded with a perfect one-inning performance. Wells finished the 1923 season in the minors gaining experience before he was brought up to the Tigers to stay in 1924. Wells went 6-8 in his first full major league season splitting time starting and relieving.

Wells experienced mixed success in his time with the Tigers, but did not receive guidance to help him through slumps. As Wells told writer Richard Bak in Cobb Would Have Caught It, when Wells went to his idol to ask him to help him through a slump, the Georgia Peach responded, "Ed, that’s something I know nothing about, pitching."

Despite this, Wells had nothing but praise for the Peach, a rarity among the men Cobb managed. In 1925, Wells was 6-9 with a 6.23 earned run average, but pitched well in 1926. During the 1926 campaign, Wells was 12-10, led the American League in shutouts, (4) and had a thirty-three inning scoreless streak.

However, during spring training in San Antonio in 1927, Wells mysteriously hurt his arm on the first day of practice. He stayed with the Tigers until July when he was traded to Washington. He never appeared in a game with the Senators, who immediately sent him to Birmingham, where his sore arm, later diagnosed with tendonitis, was cured by the hot Alabama summer.

The Washington Senators did not have plans for Wells and sold him outright to Birmingham in 1928. Wells had an outstanding season, winning twenty-five games. This performance won him a ticket back to the major leagues when the New York Yankees bought Wells for $20,000.

Returning to the major leagues in 1929, the lefthander was assigned a locker between Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium. Wells pitched well in 1929, going 13-9 and followed that up with a 12-3 performance in 1930.

While in New York, Wells split most of his time between the bullpen and starting assignments. His career reached a pinnacle in 1932, when the New York Yankees swept the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series. In his later years, Wells would retell the story of Babe Ruth’s "called-shot" home run and nsisted that the Babe did indeed call the homer.

When the Yankee management decided to infuse their pitching staff with younger arms, the 33-year old Wells was traded to the St. Louis Browns after the World Series. Wells spent two seasons in St. Louis and he was released by the Browns after the 1934 season.

Wells continued to play organized baseball, bouncing around the minor leagues before finishing his career in 1937 in the Southern League. In his major league career, Wells won 68 games, lost 69 and produced a 4.65 earned run average in 1,232.1 innings pitched.

Upon his retirement, Wells owned an oil distributorship in Montgomery Alabama. Ed Wells died on May 1, 1986 in Birmingham, Alabama. He was 85 years old.



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