Ed McCreery

“Errors of the hands, mind, feet and errors of omission followed one another in such rapid succession that only a mental genius could keep a record of them,” reported the Detroit Free Press of the Cleveland Naps’ exceedingly poor play in their blowout loss to the Detroit Tigers on August 16, 1914.1 Making the most of his major-league debut in the contest, Tigers starting pitcher Ed McCreery rode the Naps’ ineptness to his lone career victory. Despite appearing in only two other big-league games, the “one-win wonder” nonetheless became a dubious entry in the annals of baseball because of his own dreadful performance in his one and only win.

Esley Porterfield McCreery was born on December 24, 1889, in Florence, Colorado, a railroad town 40 miles southwest of Colorado Springs that was in a boom period as a result of oil discovery there in 1881.2 His mother, Elizabeth (née Gardiner), was a homemaker, and his father, John, was a druggist. Elizabeth’s parents both hailed from Scotland, while at least some of John’s ancestors trace their heritage to Ireland. The couple had one other child, Dale, who was six years his brother’s junior. While McCreery was an adolescent, his family moved 150 miles due north within the Centennial State to Loveland. Reports indicate that he had likely honed his craft on the mound for the semipro Loveland Grays in his late teens.3

After serious legal troubles befell McCreery’s father stemming from the illegal sale of alcohol, the clan relocated in early 1909 to Filer, Idaho, a small town just west of Twin Falls.4 In addition to becoming the proprietor of a drugstore there, the family patriarch quickly became one of the founders of Filer’s baseball association.5 Local baseball enthusiasts expected the embattled druggist’s eldest son to also have an impact on the game upon his arrival. “[McCreery] is a crack baseball pitcher, and expects to join the league,” wrote the Twin Falls Times.6 Indeed, the 19-year-old played semipro ball throughout the ’09 campaign, first with the Twin Falls team before joining the Idaho Falls Sunnylanders. “When big Mack gets on the slab and swings his mighty right he makes them all go way back and sit down,” wrote the Twin Falls News of the popular hurler who had been “pitching winning ball.”7 The 6-foot, 190-pounder was “stingy with hits” during a season in which he tossed a no-hitter against a strong Salt Lake team; his success garnered him a roster spot on the San Diego club of the California Winter League.8

The 1910 season began with both promise and tumult for McCreery. Despite being reportedly signed in February by the Montgomery Climbers of the Class-A Southern Association, numerous stories circulated that the big right-hander had instead joined the Spokane Indians of the Class-B Northwestern League. “Somebody is on a wrong steer,” quipped the Montgomery Advertiser of the mix-up.9 Once the roster confusion was resolved, McCreery received a tryout with the Climbers, but was released during spring training. Returning home to Idaho, he spent the remainder of the campaign toeing the slab back in the independent ranks for Twin Falls.10 McCreery wintered in Southern California as he had done the year before, this time keeping sharp as a member of the independent San Bernardino club.11

Early in 1911, reports surfaced that McCreery had signed with the Vernon Tigers of the Class-A Pacific Coast League and would be summoned by manager Wallace “Happy” Hogan in March; however, for unknown reasons there is no record of his joining the club.12 Instead, McCreery spent the spring battling for a roster spot in Victoria, British Columbia, with the Northwestern League’s expansion Islanders (as the club was locally known). “McCreery did some good work, confirming the opinion of [teammate Ed] Householder that he is improving every day, and is likely to make good,” reported the Victoria Daily Times during spring camp.13 Indeed, “Mac” not only made the team, but became the staff’s workhorse ace. Although posting a substandard 11-23 record in 37 games largely due to poor support from the league’s worst team, McCreery was nonetheless named to the all-star team despite battling poor eyesight and fatigue from overwork.14 Recognizing his talent, the American League’s Cleveland Naps drafted the 21-year-old in September. Because the big-league club had drafted a glut of recruits, McCreery was sent in the offseason to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Double-A American Association.15 Nevertheless, it was quickly “arranged that he wear a Victoria uniform in the pitcher’s box” once again for the following campaign.16

“McCreery will be the leading [Victoria] pitcher, undoubtedly,” proclaimed former minor leaguer and Pacific Coast baseball pundit Elmer Emerson during spring training in 1912.17 Despite the lofty expectations and being labeled the “first pitcher” of the team (now known as the Bees) heading into the season, McCreery suffered control problems – and a sophomore slump.18 Although tossing 249 innings in 37 games as a mainstay within Victoria’s rotation, he finished the “disappointing” year with an 11-14 record, a league second-worst RA919 among regular starters, and a league-most 95 walks.20 Reportedly due in part to the “cold reception on the home grounds” given to the floundering hurler by the fans, the services of the “big, husky fellow” were offered for cash to Spokane in September.21 After that deal fell through, he was traded during the offseason to the league-rival Vancouver Beavers for former big-league moundsman Eli Cates.

Early in the 1913 regular season, McCreery took a leave of absence from the Beavers to return to Idaho upon his father’s passing. Despite the difficult circumstances, he attempted to remain in “midseason form” during his time away by taking the mound for the local Buhl-Filer semipro team.22 In a start against his former Twin Falls team, McCreery was embarrassingly tagged for four runs by the de facto amateurs and picked up the loss; this seemingly foreshadowed his poor pitching after returning to Vancouver.23 In fact, after taking a drubbing in early June, McCreery suffered another thrashing the following week by his old Bees club which turned him into fodder for the media.24 “As per usual, as in the days of yore, our old team-mate McCreery, now of [team owner] Bob Brown’s Beavers, blew up in the sixth inning and the Bees simply romped home with the second game of the series by hitting the ball on the nose for six runs,” wrote the Victoria Daily Times.25 And with Brown boasting a team full of strong arms and “too many men on his payroll,” McCreery was released in early July.26 He completed his stint in Vancouver with a 3-2 record and very subpar 5.25 RA9 in nine games. Demoted to the Butte Miners of the Class-D Union Association, where he finished out the year, McCreery became a rotation regular and appeared in 26 games. Despite posting an 8-7 record with statistics that were middling at best, he was nonetheless praised for his “speed” and called a “best buy” by local media.27

Prior to the 1914 campaign, McCreery indicated that his preference was to remain in the Golden State, where he had spent the offseason pitching for the Urbita Stars of the California Winter League.28 Although the 24-year-old reportedly had an opportunity to join the PCL’s Oakland Oaks, the deal fell through by one account due to the contract not reaching the correct mailing address in a timely manner.29 Despite lobbying the Miners for his release, he “evidently saw that he was to play in Butte or not at all and signed up.”30 Putting “his heart in the game” and the rocky business dealings behind him, McCreery quickly became the ace of the Miners’ staff.31 “He is the only pitcher in the Union Association who can give three balls and then curve the next three strikes,” wrote the Anaconda (Montana) Standard.32 Making a “big impression around the circuit,” McCreery attracted the attention of clubs in the upstart Federal League, a maverick major league operating outside of Organized Baseball.33 However, he spurned reported offers from the Indianapolis Hoosiers and Kansas City Packers, saying he would prefer to “remain in organized baseball, even if only in a class D circuit.”34 Finishing the campaign with a 14-10 record and ranking among the league leaders in nearly all major statistical categories, McCreery was named an all-star by circuit sportswriters.35

During what turned out to be the final few remaining days of Butte’s 1914 season, the American League’s Detroit Tigers were seeking to shore up their “unreliable” pitching and build for the future.36 As such, coach and scout Deacon McGuire was dispatched to Utah to see McCreery take on the Ogden Canners on July 27. McGuire “immediately found himself getting sweet” on “Big Ed,” who held the strong Ogden club “at his mercy” in a 6-2 complete-game victory.37 Immediately after the game, Detroit purchased McCreery’s contract for $1,000 or $2,000 depending on the reports. These funds were viewed as a potential lifeline for the financially struggling Miners, whose players struck a week later for unpaid salaries. However, the money was too little, too late, leading to Butte’s dropping out of the league – and causing the untimely demise of the Union Association itself in early August. This confluence of events nearly left McCreery stranded in Montana without the means to join his new team; he called the difficult situation “the rawest experience he had ever met with in baseball.”38 Ultimately, McCreery was able to wire Tigers manager Hughie Jennings to cover his cross-country railroad expenses.

Described as tall and stout with brown eyes and hair, the youngster made his major-league debut in a road start against last-place Cleveland on August 16.39 Aided by the Naps’ sloppy fielding and mindless blunders in the top of the first, McCreery’s teammates spotted him a four-run lead before he even took the mound. Despite getting off to a shaky start himself in the bottom half of the inning, the rookie Tiger limited the damage to one run on an RBI single by team namesake and future Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie. Cleveland’s “comedy of misplays” in the field resumed in the top of the second, resulting in another four runs and gifting McCreery a comfortable 8-1 lead.40 However, the Naps immediately rallied back in the bottom half of the frame. After allowing a leadoff single, McCreery retired the next two batters. But his debut quickly turned disastrous after the next five Clevelanders reached base safely. Before McCreery was finally able to stop the bleeding, four Naps had crossed home plate to trim Detroit’s lead to 8-5. Although he managed to survive the calamitous second inning, McCreery was done for the day.41 The Tigers ultimately cruised to a 13-6 victory in the error-filled “farce,” with McCreery being credited with what resulted in his one and only career win – despite his “unsatisfactory” work.42

The Naps’ defensive hijinks in the game obscured McCreery’s historically bad outing. Although the official scoring rules of the day enabled him to pick up the victory, he allowed five earned runs, six hits, and three walks in only two innings pitched.43 Since the onset of the Deadball Era (1901), McCreery’s 22.50 ERA and 4.50 WHIP in the contest are both second worst of all time for a winning starting hurler.44 And with only 12 victorious starters ever having tossed fewer innings in a game, McCreery holds the dubious distinction of arguably possessing the most suspect win ever for a pitcher in a starting role – and undeniably ranks as one of the least worthy of all the one-win wonders.

After his shellacking in Cleveland, McCreery tossed two scoreless relief innings over two appearances during the next couple weeks. He was also featured in an early September exhibition tilt against the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the Class-B New York State League, in which he pitched three shaky innings of mop-up duty and was himself interestingly relieved by future Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb.45 And despite pitching well a week later in a complete-game exhibition loss to the Grand Rapids Champs of the Class-B Central League, McCreery was released by Detroit shortly thereafter, ending his brief big-league career.46 Slated to join the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class-A Southern Association, McCreery was ultimately unable to agree on a contract with the club.47 He spent the offseason playing winter ball in California for the independent Coalinga team.48

Signed for the 1915 campaign by the PCL’s Salt Lake City Bees, McCreery was initially praised for his “tremendous speed and good curves,” but was released during spring training by manager Cliff Blankenship due to his arm not being in proper shape.49 Jumping to the newly launched Class-D Rio Grande Association, the 25-year-old became a rotation stalwart for the Phoenix Senators, finishing the season with a fine 11-5 record and ranking among the league leaders in most major statistical categories. However, McCreery’s career in Organized Baseball came to a sudden and disappointing close on July 5 when, after he was shelled for 17 hits in a 13-5 complete-game loss to the Tucson Old Pueblos, “the Rio Grande Association blew into small fragments” and abruptly folded later in the day.50 Although it was reported that McCreery had signed with the Sioux City Indians of the Class-A Western League shortly thereafter, no evidence exists indicating he ever played for the team.51 Despite keeping his postseason promise to “shun professional ball for all time,” he did continue to suit up for semipro teams for as many as a dozen years after leaving the pro ranks.52

Census and city directory information indicates that aside from a decade or so spent in Seattle, McCreery settled in the San Francisco Bay Area upon the conclusion of his professional baseball career. He and Emma (née Supple), his homemaker wife, whom he had married in 1911, had two children, Robert and Jane. From a professional perspective, McCreery spent many years working in engineering and management roles for industrial gas manufacturers before finishing his business career as a manufacturer’s representative for electrical products.53 Outside of work, he held memberships in the Old Timers Association of Oakland, the Elks Club, and the Holy Name Society of Castro Valley, California.54

After having suffered from lung cancer, McCreery died of congestive heart failure in Sacramento on October 19, 1960, at age 70.55 Funeral services were held at the Chapel of the Valley Mortuary in Castro Valley. He was interred at Holy Sepulchre (Catholic) Cemetery in nearby Hayward.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, the author accessed McCreery’s file from the library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York; McCreery’s player contract card from The Sporting News collection; Ancestry.com; Baseball-Reference.com; Chronicling America; Fold3.com; GenealogyBank.com; NewspaperArchive.com; Newspapers.com; Paper of Record; Retrosheet.org; and Stathead.com.

Notes

1 “Tigers Maul Naplanders with Gusto,” Detroit Free Press, August 17, 1914: 8.

2 “Community History,” Florence, Colorado, Chamber of Commerce, web.archive.org/web/20111107182105/http://www.florencecoloradochamber.com/community-history, archived from the original on November 7, 2011, accessed August 8, 2021.

3 “Ball Team Redeems Itself,” Poudre Valley (New Windsor, Colorado), August 15, 1908: 12.

4 “Loveland Druggists Indicted by Jury,” Fort Collins (Colorado) Express, September 18, 1907: 9.

5 “Drug Store Sold,” Twin Falls (Idaho) Times, January 21, 1909: 8; “More Wells in Filer Vicinity,” Twin Falls News, May 21, 1909: 6.

6 “Hotel Building for Filer,” Twin Falls Times, February 11, 1909: 7.

7 “Filer and Buhl Fans to Play,” Twin Falls News, September 24, 1909: 3.

8 “Big New Pitchers for the Indians,” Spokane Spokesman-Review, February 18, 1910: 13; “Filerites Joining Apple Culturists,” Twin Falls News, November 5, 1909: 9.

9 “Bliss to Be Climber Again,” Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser, March 2, 1910: 11.

10 “Lose Three Games – Tie One,” Twin Falls Times, July 7, 1910: 1.

11 “Redlands After a Game with Red Sox,” San Bernardino (California) Daily Sun, January 12, 1911: 10; “Red Sox Win from Redlands,” Los Angeles Daily Times, March 7, 1911: Part III, 2.

12 “Redlands After a Game with Red Sox.”

13 “About Baseball,” Victoria (British Columbia) Daily Times, April 11, 1911: 7.

14 “McCreery Sold to Joe Cohn,” Nanaimo (British Columbia) Free Press, September 9, 1912: 3; “About Baseball,” Victoria Daily Times, October 2, 1911: 9; “About Baseball,” Victoria Daily Times, July 29, 1911: 15; “About Baseball,” Victoria Daily Times, August 17, 1911: 7.

15 “Lacrosse Game Was Disappointing,” Victoria Daily Times, October 10, 1911: 6.

16 “McCreery to Victoria,” Vancouver (British Columbia) World, November 30, 1911: 14.

17 “Veteran Picks Bees for 1912,” Victoria Daily Times, March 30, 1912: 16.

18 “As Seen from the Press Box,” Victoria Daily Times, April 29, 1913: 8; “McCreery to Victoria.”

19 RA9 is similar to earned-run average except that it counts all runs, earned or not.

20 “Bees Exchange with Vancouver,” Victoria Daily Times, October 2, 1912: 6.

21 “Pitcher McCreery Sold to Joe Cohn,” Nanaimo Free Press, September 9, 1912: 3.

22 “Seven Home-Runs Feature Game; Brownies Again Defeat Indians,” Vancouver Sun, May 12, 1913: 11.

23 “Twin Falls Hits League Pitcher,” Twin Falls Times, May 23, 1913: 1.

24 “Beavers Break Even with Tigers on the Week’s Series,” Vancouver Daily Province, June 9, 1913: 10.

25 “M’Creery Does Not Disappoint Fans – Balloon Goes Up in Sixth,” Victoria Daily Times, June 18, 1913: 8.

26 “Diamond Chatter,” Daily Province, July 8, 1913: 14.

27 “Missoula and Butte Open Series Today,” Anaconda (Montana) Standard, July 29, 1913: 3; “Holmes Is Manager Veteran of Game,” Anaconda Standard, October 31, 1913: 2.

28 “Contest Results in Tie,” San Bernardino News, December 8, 1913: 6.

29 “Sport Comment,” San Bernardino News, March 2, 1914: 6; M’Creery Trying to Get Away from Butte,” Anaconda Standard, February 25, 1914: 2.

30 “Ducky Goes South to Get Players,” Anaconda Standard, March 1, 1914: 2.

31 “Gossip of Butte Sporting Circles,” Anaconda Standard, May 11, 1914: 3.

32 “Gossip of Butte Sporting Circles.”

33 “Baseball Opens in Butte at Two O’Clock,” Anaconda Standard, May 26, 1914: 3.

34 “Two Players Are Purchased by Mr. Navin,” Detroit Free Press, July 28, 1914: 12; “Two Butte Players Go to the Tigers,” Anaconda Standard, July 27, 1914: 3; “Big League Scout Buys Pitcher M’Creery,” Salt Lake Evening Telegram, July 27, 1914: 6.

35 “How Sport Writers Figure Stars of the Union Association of ’14,” Butte Miner, September 17, 1914: 9.

36 E.A. Batchelor, “May Pitch Coombs in Big Series,” Detroit Free Press, August 13, 1914: 10.

37 “Big League Scout Buys Pitcher M’Creery”; “Scout’s Presence Doesn’t Bother Him,” Salt Lake Evening Telegram, July 27, 1914: 6.

38 “Butte Ball Players Mobilize in Union Association and Declare War,” Missoulian (Missoula, Montana), August 5, 1914: 6; “Union Association Is One Dead, Dead Corpse,” Anaconda Standard, August 6, 1914: 2.

39 Information from McCreery’s World War I Draft Registration Card.

40 “Tigers Maul Naplanders with Gusto.”

41  “Tigers Maul Naplanders with Gusto.”

42 “This Was a Farce,” Ann Arbor (Michigan) Daily Times News, August 17, 1914: 6; “Aided by Naps, Tigers Grab a Weird Contest,” Detroit Times, August 17, 1914: 6.

43 The modern rule requiring starting pitchers to pitch a minimum of five innings to qualify for a win (except in certain infrequent and unusual circumstances) was adopted before the start of the 1950 season.

44 The worst ERA in a game of all time by a winning starting pitcher was 36.00 posted by Duster Mails of the Cleveland Indians, who allowed four earned runs in one inning pitched on September 1, 1920, against the Washington Senators. The worst WHIP in a game of all time by a winning starting pitcher was 5.40 posted by Harry Courtney of the Washington Senators, who allowed four hits and five walks in 1⅔ innings pitched on May 3, 1920, against the Philadelphia Athletics.

45 “Tigers Wallop Minor Leaguers,” Detroit Free Press, September 4, 1914: 12.

46 “Tiges Shut Out by Grand Rapids,” Lansing (Michigan) State Journal, September 10, 1914: 8.

47 “Diamond Notes,” Billings (Montana) Daily Tribune, November 19, 1914: 6; “Stove League Chatter,” Salt Lake City Evening Telegram, February 3, 1915: 12.

48 “Coalinga Easy Victim of Porterville Nine,” Porterville (California) Daily Recorder, November 23, 1914: 8.

49 “McCreery Coming,” Salt Lake Tribune, February 4, 1915: 8; “McCreery Coming,” Salt Lake Tribune, March 18, 1915: 8.

50 “Rio Grande League Dies in Phoenix,” Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), July 6, 1915: 3.

51 “Diamond Dust,” Salt Lake Telegram, July 6, 1915: 8.

52 “Amateur Baseball,” Oakland Tribune, January 9, 1916: 23; “Baseball Gossip,” Oakland Tribune, July 27, 1919: 29; “Eight Runs in 8th Frame Win for West Side,” Seattle Daily Times, September 5, 1927: 17.

53 Jeff Littleboy, “Oxygen Plant Here Fills Gap in Trade,” Hanford (California) Daily Sentinel, April 1, 1941: 5.

54 “Deaths,” Oakland Tribune, October 21, 1960: 53.

55 State of California Department of Public Health Certificate of Death for Esley Porterfield McCreery.