Player notes: Frankly, I've never understood why Reulbach did not receive serious consideration for the Hall of Fame. He was a great pitcher on a great team, with some significant accomplishments that still stand in the record books. He lead the NL in winning percentage for three years running (1906 -1908); the only other pitcher to accomplish that was the great Lefty Grove. He is the only pitcher to ever pitch a doubleheader shutout by himself, a feat almost certainly never to be duplicated in major league baseball. He did it on September 26, 1908 against Brooklyn, during the stretch run of one of the most famous pennant races in history (won by the Cubs over the Giants in a one game playoff). He threw the first one-hitter in World Series history (in 1906). He also owns the longest complete game victory in history, a 20 inning win, and had winning streaks of 14 (in 1909) and 12 (in 1906). The guy was a major, major pitcher in the early years of this century, yet he's practically invisible and unknown.

To the extent that he is remembered, he's usually compared unfavorably to the recognized great pitchers of his era: Christy Mathewson, teammate Three Finger Brown, Ed Walsh. Well, those three are legitimate Hall of Famers, but when you look at what they accomplished, Reulbach is not that far behind them. He had a better winning percentage than Walsh, and the eleventh best lifetime ERA among pitchers. "Big Ed" Reulbach is perhaps one of the most under-appreciated stars of the early modern era.