Ed Crane

Edward Nicholas Crane (May 27, 1862 – September 20, 1896), nicknamed Cannonball, was an American right-handed pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball for eight seasons. He played for the Boston Reds, Providence Grays (1885), Buffalo Bisons (1885), Washington Nationals (1886), New York Giants (NL) (1888–89, 1892–93), New York Giants (PL) (1890), Cincinnati Kelly's Killers (1891), Cincinnati Reds (1891), and Brooklyn Grooms (1893). Crane was the first pitcher in the history of major league baseball to record 4 strikeouts in a single inning (New York Giants, 1888), and is one of the few players to play in four major leagues: the Union Association, the National League, the Players' League, and the American Association.

Born in Boston, Cannonball Crane was a man of uncommon strength. In his prime, he was described as "a giant in physical strength and proportions." He reportedly could throw a baseball 135 yards, farther than anyone else who played the game in his era. He also set the all-time Maple Leafs’ record with 33 wins, as he led the Maple Leafs to their first International League pennant. On one occasion in 1887, Crane won both games of a Saturday doubleheader and also hit the game-winning home run in the second game. The following week, on October 4, 1888, Crane became the first pitcher in major league history to strike out four batters in one inning.

In the 1889 season, Crane pitched in 29 games (25 as a starter) and had a much improved record of 14–10 and earned run average of 2.43 in 230 innings. Crane's career reached its pinnacle in the 1889 World Series, as Crane was the hero on the mound and at the plate. On the mound, Crane started 5 games and won 4, pitching 38 innings with a 3.79 ERA. At the plate, Crane had 5 RBIs, a .611 slugging percentage, scored 3 runs, a double, a triple, and a home run. An October 1889 newspaper account in The World described Crane's World Series performance as follows: "Ed Crane, fat and jolly, went into the pitcher's box for New York... Ed shot them in with terrific speed and brought joy to the New Yorkers, who saw the Grooms [i.e., Brooklyn Bridegrooms] succumb, one after another, to his invincible 'curves' and 'shoots'."

The newspaper's reference to Crane as "fat and jolly" was not the first such reference to Crane's girth. He won the nickname "Cannonball" due to his large size. He reportedly loved to eat and weighed 204 pounds at 5'10". (Tom Schott, Nick Peters, "The Giants Encyclopedia", p. 406.)

After reaching the high point of his career in the 1889 World Series, Crane's life began a downhill spiral that fall. After the 1889 season, Crane traveled on the famous Spalding World Tour where he developed a taste for alcohol. The tour included 20 of the best players in baseball and covered Asia and Europe, lasting until early April 1890. One newspaper reported: "Until then, he never drank, but when the aggregation reached Paris Crane fell. . . . When he reached America again not only could he drink champagne but he had acquired a taste for less expensive drinks."

After returning from the Spalding tour, Crane joined the Players' League movement (a competing league formed by the players in 1890) and played with many of his former teammates for the newly formed New York Giants of the Players' League. He had a record of 16–19 and an ERA of 3.68 in innings. Starting in 1890, Crane's control began to fail, as he gave up walks at a historic pace. In 1890, he gave up 210 bases on balls—the 13th highest single season total in major league history. He followed with 203 walks in 1891 and 189 in 1892—both years ranking among the highest single season totals of all time.

Later years and death (1891–96) In 1891, Crane played for Kelly's Killers and led the American Association with a 2.45 ERA (Adjusted ERA+ of 169) and 25 complete games in 250 innings. He spent the last part of the 1891 season with the Cincinnati Reds and finished the year with an 18–22 record. He followed in 1892 with a 24-loss record for the New York Giants. His major league career ended in 1893 as the 31-year-old Crane split the season between the Giants and the Brooklyn Grooms.

After being released by Brooklyn, Crane played with Toronto and then with Providence and Rochester. The 1896 season proved to be his last, and playing for Rochester, "he proved to be a failure but played the season out." Crane was survived by a wife and child.

Cannonball Crane in modern literature In 1996, Canadian poet Bruce Meyer published a book "Goodbye Mr. Spalding", which includes a story titled "Sunlight Park." Sunlight Park was the name of the first ballpark in Toronto. Meyer chronicles Cannonball Crane's performance in leading the Maple Leafs to Toronto's first baseball championship in 1887 pennant and, a century later, a grieving father's drive to uncover the events surrounding Cannonball's death. Unable to confront the death of his teenage son, the father chooses, instead, to unravel the secret of Crane's final days. His desire to learn the truth transports him through time to an imagined meeting with Cannonball. Their "interview" resolves the mystery of Crane's apparent suicide and helps the father accept the death of his son.