Earl Whitehill

Born: 2/7/1899 in Cedar Rapids, IA, USA

Died: 10/22/1954 in Omaha, NE, USA

MLB Debut: 1923-09-15 | Final Game: 1939-09-30

Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 5'9" | Weight: 174 lbs

Full name: Earl Oliver Whitehill

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Biography

Earl Whitehill, born in 1899, was a prominent pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1923 until his retirement in 1939. Known for his durability and skill on the mound, Whitehill finished his career with a record of 218 wins and 185 losses, alongside an earned run average of 4.36. His career spanned a transformative period in baseball, as he witnessed the transition from the deadball era to a time of heightened offensive output. Over the course of his time in the league, he struck out 1,350 batters and recorded 11 saves, establishing himself as a reliable presence in the pitching rotation. Whitehill was recognized for his ability to adapt and evolve with the game, often showcasing a strong fastball complemented by effective breaking pitches. His contributions to various teams, including the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators, made him a respected figure in the sport. Earl Whitehill's legacy as a consistent and competitive pitcher remains a notable chapter in baseball history, reflecting the resilience and talent required to thrive in the ever-changing landscape of the Major Leagues.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
10.0	10.0	1.0	3.0	0	0	0	0	0	1.0	0	0.300	0.300	0.300	0.600

Pitching

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA
13.0	0	0	4.0	2.0	0	0	0.0	33.0	16.0	4.0	1.0	0	0	1.12

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season	PA	AB	R	H	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1929	4.0	4.0	0	1.0	0	0.250	0.250	0.250	0.500
1930	2.0	2.0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
1935	4.0	4.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	0.500	0.500	0.500	1.000

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season	W	GS	CG	H	R	ER	HR	ERA
1929	4.0	1.0	1.0	3.0	0	0	0	0.00
1930	6.0	2.0	1.0	19.0	10.0	0	0	0.00
1935	3.0	1.0	0	11.0	6.0	4.0	1.0	4.00

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
218	185	541	473	226	16	11	3564.7	3917	1726	192	1431	1350	4.36	0

Career ERA 4.36 vs. league average 4.28 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1923	DET	AL	2	0	8	3	1	0	0	33.0	22	10	15	19	2.73	4.03 (+32%)	-227.5
1924	DET	AL	17	9	35	32	16	2	0	233.0	260	100	79	65	3.86	4.13 (+6%)	-929.8
1925	DET	AL	11	11	35	33	15	1	2	239.3	267	124	88	83	4.66	4.55 (-2%)	-1832.7
1926	DET	AL	16	13	36	34	13	0	0	252.3	271	112	79	109	3.99	4.11 (+3%)	3370.4
1927	DET	AL	16	14	41	31	17	3	3	236.0	238	88	105	95	3.36	4.08 (+18%)	793.5
1928	DET	AL	11	16	31	30	12	1	0	196.3	214	94	78	93	4.31	4.13 (-4%)	1280.7
1929	DET	AL	14	15	38	28	18	1	1	245.3	267	126	96	103	4.62	4.60 (-1%)	241.3
1930	DET	AL	17	13	34	31	16	0	1	220.7	248	104	80	109	4.24	4.80 (+12%)	2964.6
1931	DET	AL	13	16	34	34	22	0	0	271.3	287	123	118	81	4.08	4.10 (+1%)	-6148.3
1932	DET	AL	16	12	33	31	17	3	0	244.0	255	123	93	81	4.54	4.13 (-10%)	-2871.4
1933	WSN	AL	22	8	39	37	19	2	1	270.0	271	100	100	96	3.33	3.86 (+14%)	-
1934	WSN	AL	14	11	32	31	15	0	0	235.0	269	118	94	96	4.52	4.29 (-5%)	-
1935	WSN	AL	14	13	34	34	19	1	0	279.3	318	133	104	102	4.29	4.35 (+1%)	-
1936	WSN	AL	14	11	28	28	14	0	0	212.3	252	115	89	63	4.87	4.59 (-6%)	-
1937	CLE	AL	8	8	33	22	6	1	2	147.0	189	106	80	53	6.49	4.34 (-50%)	-2631.8
1938	CLE	AL	9	8	26	23	4	0	0	160.3	187	99	83	60	5.56	4.35 (-28%)	-4884.8
1939	CHC	NL	4	7	24	11	2	1	1	89.3	102	51	50	42	5.14	4.28 (-20%)	-

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
548	1291	107	264	23	7	4	98	3	97	216	0.204	0.261	0.242	0.503	-6830.3

Career AVG .204 vs. league average .281 across their career seasons — 27.2% below league average.

Career OBP .261 vs. league average .344 across their career seasons — 24.2% below league average.

Career SLG .242 vs. league average .397 across their career seasons — 39.0% below league average.

Career OPS 0.503 vs. league average 0.741 across their career seasons — 32.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1923	DET	AL	8	11	2	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	0.364	—	—	—	—	0.0
1924	DET	AL	37	89	11	19	1	1	0	7	0	9	18	0.213	.283 (-25%)	.345 (-17%)	.389 (-37%)	.734 (-27%)	-413.1
1925	DET	AL	36	87	7	19	1	0	0	7	1	8	11	0.218	.288 (-24%)	.349 (-19%)	.407 (-44%)	.756 (-32%)	-476.2
1926	DET	AL	36	91	6	23	1	3	0	10	0	6	24	0.253	.279 (-10%)	.345 (-14%)	.390 (-15%)	.735 (-15%)	-248.0
1927	DET	AL	41	78	4	16	2	1	0	3	0	5	9	0.205	.282 (-27%)	.344 (-24%)	.392 (-35%)	.736 (-30%)	-408.0
1928	DET	AL	31	67	4	13	0	0	0	3	0	5	11	0.194	.280 (-31%)	.342 (-27%)	.395 (-51%)	.737 (-40%)	-447.0
1929	DET	AL	38	90	10	23	2	0	3	11	0	6	17	0.256	.289 (-12%)	.353 (-15%)	.415 (-9%)	.769 (-12%)	-194.3
1930	DET	AL	34	83	3	16	1	0	0	7	0	3	14	0.193	.293 (-34%)	.354 (-38%)	.429 (-52%)	.784 (-46%)	-686.8
1931	DET	AL	34	97	7	15	0	1	0	5	0	3	10	0.155	.276 (-44%)	.338 (-47%)	.388 (-55%)	.726 (-51%)	-851.6
1932	DET	AL	33	90	9	22	4	0	0	7	0	4	19	0.244	.275 (-11%)	.335 (-18%)	.391 (-26%)	.726 (-22%)	-341.4
1933	WSN	AL	40	108	7	24	2	1	0	11	0	6	14	0.222	.270 (-18%)	.329 (-20%)	.377 (-31%)	.707 (-26%)	-475.3
1934	WSN	AL	35	85	12	17	2	0	1	8	0	11	17	0.200	.278 (-28%)	.340 (-14%)	.392 (-34%)	.733 (-25%)	-345.4
1935	WSN	AL	34	104	10	19	4	0	0	3	0	8	11	0.183	.279 (-35%)	.342 (-30%)	.399 (-45%)	.742 (-38%)	-682.5
1936	WSN	AL	28	77	8	13	2	0	0	4	0	8	11	0.169	.283 (-41%)	.349 (-29%)	.404 (-52%)	.753 (-41%)	-551.3
1937	CLE	AL	33	49	6	11	1	0	0	6	1	5	7	0.224	—	—	—	—	-216.8
1938	CLE	AL	26	56	0	7	0	0	0	6	0	7	13	0.125	.272 (-54%)	.341 (-35%)	.392 (-68%)	.734 (-53%)	-492.5
1939	CHC	NL	24	29	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	0.103	—	—	—	—	0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1933	WS	WS1	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	1	1	0	9.0	5	0	2	2	0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1933	WS	WS1	1	0	1	1	0	9.0	5	0	2	2	0.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
P	541	0	166	701	47	31

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
1923	DET	P	8	1	7	2	0
1924	DET	P	35	14	53	4	3
1925	DET	P	35	13	52	5	2
1926	DET	P	36	12	54	2	2
1927	DET	P	41	5	47	7	3
1928	DET	P	31	17	40	1	3
1929	DET	P	38	15	49	4	0
1930	DET	P	34	8	32	1	1
1931	DET	P	34	20	62	2	5
1932	DET	P	33	9	44	2	1
1933	WS1	OF	1	0	0	0	0
1933	WS1	P	39	8	51	7	2
1934	WS1	P	32	2	47	1	2
1935	WS1	P	34	13	60	3	4
1936	WS1	P	28	10	35	2	0
1937	CLE	P	33	9	33	2	0
1938	CLE	P	26	9	21	2	3
1939	CHN	P	24	1	14	0	0