George Kaiserling

George Kaiserling (May 12, 1893 – March 2, 1918) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. Born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, he played in the Federal League in for the Indianapolis Hoosiers, moving with them to New Jersey in 1915 where they became the Newark Peppers. Kaiserling won 17 games for pennant-winning Indianapolis in 1914 and finished seventh in the Federal League with a 2.24 earned run average (ERA) in 1914. After pitching for a minor league team in 1916, he contracted tuberculosis the following year, dying of the disease at age 24 in 1918.

Early life George Kaiserling was born on May 12, 1893, in Steubenville, Ohio, to Fred and Johanna Kaiserling, who had immigrated from Germany. Fred supported the family's eight children by working for a steelmaking company as a millhand, while Johanna focused on raising the children. Little is known of Kaiserling's early life, but the 1910 United States census reports that he still lived with his family in Steubenville and had not married. Later, when he registered for World War I, he indicated on his draft card that he was married; however, no marriage certificate has ever surfaced. His statistics with the teams are incomplete. By August, fans and reporters considered him a league star, bestowing him with the nickname, "Der Kaiser" (or "The Emperor", in English). In 29 games, he had an 11–16 record and a 4.75 earned run average (ERA) in 220 innings pitched.

Starting on June 11, Kaiserling won five starts in a row, going 7–1 overall from June 11 through July 19. The Hoosiers had moved into first place on a 15-game winning streak from June 11 through 24. His 2.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranked ninth among Federal League pitchers, his .630 winning percentage ranked sixth, and his 2.354 walks per nine innings pitched ranked eighth. He led the Federal League with 17 hit batsmen. This prompted The Washington Times, in reference to the ongoing war in Europe, to quip, "When looking for gunners how did Wilhelm of Germany miss Kaiserling of the Hoosiers, who hit 17 batters last season?"

Newark Peppers (1915) Despite winning the pennant, the Hoosiers struggled financially. After the season, co-owner Harry Ford Sinclair bought out his partners and moved the team to Newark, New Jersey, where it became known as the Newark Peppers. Kaiserling initially held out for more money, then signed his contract for the 1915 season on December 14, 1914. He was one of 176 major leaguers featured in the 1915 Cracker Jack baseball card set.

With the Peppers in the pennant race, Kaiserling pitched in 14 games in September. Only six were starts, but he pitched in games on back-to-back days on four separate occasions. He allowed just two hits on September 19 in a 4–0 shutout of the Packers, one day after taking the loss to them in relief.

In 41 games (29 starts) for the Peppers, Kaiserling had 75 strikeouts and 73 walks in innings. Kaiserling's 3.0 WAR was tenth among Federal League pitchers, his five shutouts were tied with seven others for fourth, and his 0.034 home runs per nine innings pitched was decimal points behind Eddie Plank's similar total. Pitching their second game of the season on April 19, Kaiserling picked up the victory in a 3–1 triumph over the Milwaukee Brewers. Phillips was impressed with how Kaiserling could throw the spitball and the knuckleball. Using these, Kaiserling could fool the hitters as they tried to guess where his pitches would end up. However, Phillips also said in 1914 that Kaiserling needed to better exploit the hitters' weaknesses and keep base runners from getting too large a lead on the base paths. He thought experience would aid Kaiserling in these areas.