If you’ve ever been to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, then you’ve probably heard the name “Gettysburg Eddie” a time or two. Perhaps you’ve even dined at the namesake restaurant or happen to be well-versed in local baseball players of great acclaim. The fact remains that Edward S. Plank (Gettysburg Eddie) was indeed an actual person. He was a real-life professional baseball player, born and raised in the heart of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In fact, his 150th birthday was just this past Sunday!
Throughout his life and career as a professional baseball player, Plank accomplished many milestone feats. As a latecomer to the game, there’s plenty to be said about his overall origin story as well. That’s why for this Flashback Friday Feature, I’m recounting his unique backstory, from growing up in a small community to making it big as a major league baseball player of national renown.
The Early Years
Born on August 31, 1875, in the rural town of Gettysburg, Edward Stewart Plank was the fourth of seven children in his family. His parents were Martha McCreary Plank and David Plank, who worked as both a school director and a tax collector for the town. Both were natives of Adams County, Pennsylvania, and lived on a family farm that was passed down. They worked the land, their children alongside them.
One of the most fascinating facts about Eddie Plank is that he wasn’t a lifelong baseball player. In fact, he didn’t even get into it until around the age of 17. That was the time when he and his brothers started playing for local teams throughout the greater Gettysburg region. Plank soon proved to be especially skilled as a pitcher, and a lefthanded one at that. It was only a matter of time before his talent drew the attention of Frank Foreman, the then-pitching coach at Gettysburg College. At just 22 years old and not enrolled at the college, but rather at Gettysburg Prep School (also known as Gettysburg Academy, Classical Preparatory School, and the Gettysburg Gymnasium), Plank started playing for the team at Gettysburg College.
On the Rise to the Big League
With the turn of the 20th century came a turn of events in the budding baseball career of Eddie Plank. In 1900, he signed on with the Richmond Colts of the Virginia League. However, the minor league team folded before Plank even had the chance to pitch for them. That following May, though, under Coach Foreman’s recommendation, Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack signed Plank to a contract.
Plank went on to play for the Philadelphia Athletics between 1901 and 1914. In 1915, he signed on with the St. Louis Terriers before joining the St. Louis Browns in 1916 and 1917.
Major League Milestones
Throughout his tenure as a Major League Baseball Player, Eddie Plank set a host of impressive milestones. Among these acclaimed callouts is the fact that he was the first left-handed pitcher to win 200 and then 300 games. Plank now ranks third in all-time wins among left-handers with 326 career victories (13th all-time) to his credit and the honor of being the first all-time in career shutouts by a left-handed pitcher with 66.
When he played for them, the Philadelphia Athletics won the World Series five times. Let it be known, however, that Plank had to sit out the 1910 World Series due to an injury.
Plank also holds the honor of being one of just 351 players ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was elected posthumously by the Veterans Committee in 1946.
Beyond Baseball
While baseball is what defines Edward Plank as his most highly hailed claim to fame, let it be known that he had a life beyond the game. As previously stated, Plank grew up as a good American farm boy from a big family. He married his wife, Anna Myers, in 1915 and had a son whom they named Edward Stewart Plank, Jr. Family always came first, even at the height of his career. He even found time to visit with and mentor players under his brother Ira’s direction at Gettysburg College. Ira Plank served more than 20 years as a baseball coach for the college.
Aside from Gettysburg College, Eddie Plank was known to mentor pitchers on the Athletics’ staff. He also became great friends with Louis Van Zelst, who history remembers as a hunchback “bat boy” who served as the team’s mascot.
Upon his retirement from baseball, Plank even opened a Buick dealership in the heart of his hometown of Gettysburg. During this time, he still pitched for the Steelton club of the Bethlehem Steel League during the 1918 season, as it was only 40 miles from his home. This meant that he would still be able to juggle his dealership business and baseball interests accordingly.
His Lasting Legacy
Edward S. Plank died of a stroke on February 24, 1926. But the lasting legacy he left lives on to this day. He’s been honored, praised, and reminisced about by former players time and again. Former teammate Eddie Collins even declared him the greatest pitcher in baseball. “Not the fastest. Not the trickiest, and not the possessor of the most stuff, but just the greatest.” Even the legendary Babe Ruth declared Eddie Plank to be the hardest pitcher to hit.
In addition to being elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946, Plank was voted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.
Among hometown tributes, in 1927, Gettysburg College created a memorial gymnasium in his honor. A portion of his family farm was also developed into Plank’s Field. Then, there is the obvious callout of that praised and highly popular downtown restaurant, Gettysburg Eddie’s, which pays homage to the hometown hero and his famed career.
On the literary side of things, Plank was even referenced in the Ogden Nash poem “Line-Up for Yesterday: An ABC of Baseball Immortals,” published in 1949. Also, as recently as 2018, Lawrence Knott published what is the first full-length biography of Eddie Plank, titled Gettysburg Eddie: The Story of Eddie Plank.
The memory of Gettysburg Eddie and his lasting legacy as a national and local celebrity endures to this day—just as it always has and always will.