Scott Fennessy asked if this card would be considered a Monster Card. Given the numbers the current pros are putting up, I would say yes. Scott is currently replaying the 1907 season.
The stats behind the card
I had to plead ignorance about Ed Killian and had to look him up. A J-0 pitcher who was graded A AND could hit? I guess I could forgiven a little. Killian was a good pitcher but 1907 was definitely his career year and he lasted for eight years (1903-1910) in the American League. He led the league in only one stat in his career (eight shutouts in 1905).
That said, Killian did win 20 games twice in his relatively short career. In 1905, he went 23-14. For 1907 and this card shown, he upped his record to 25-13. He sported a nifty 1.78 ERA in 314 innings. He almost had as many walks (91) as he did strikeouts (96).
| Year | W | L | W-L% | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907 | 25 | 13 | .658 | 1.78 | 42 | 34 | 29 | 3 | 314.0 | 286 | 103 | 62 | 2 | 91 | 96 |
That’s not the full story. Killian played three games in the field and pinch hit three times. All told, he batted for a total of 132 plate appearances, not an insignificant amount of times. “Twilight Ed” batted .320 while collecting five doubles and three triples.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907 Totals | 46 | 132 | 124 | 16 | 39 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 8 | .315 | .341 | .419 |
The card breakdown
He was no Ted Williams but Ed Killian knew how to help his team.
Yes, he has three zeros and one, two, three, four… five 7s. What goes unnoticed is that he has a 15-10 and two 31s. No 32-13 for Killian, he only has three 13s on his card (old man shouts at cloud!).
Not often you see a 61-36 on a pitcher’s hitting card.
Of course, Killian’s purpose on the field was a pitcher. Due to his 1.78 ERA he rightly is graded an A pitcher. He received no other letters. His total of 91 walks seems high but over the course of 314 innings, the rate would not warrant a W.
A bit of trivia about Killian’s 1909 season
Researching this, I found out some interesting things about Killian. This struck me about his 1909 season two years later.
Late in the season, he was asked to start the first game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox. He took a no-hitter into the 8th inning and won the game 5-0, then went back to the mound for the nightcap and won again, this time by a score of 8-3 to effectively clinch the pennant. It’s not sure what exactly Jennings was thinking when he used a pitcher with a recent history of arm trouble for two complete games in one day, but the resulting fatigue may explain why Killian was reduced to the role of onlooker when Detroit faced the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series
from Baseball Reference Bullpen
Thanks Scott!
Photo by George Graham Bain – Library of Congress, Public Domain
Another well written article Tom. And fun to boot! Thanks for the pleasant read.