ED KILLIAN
Pitcher, 1904-1910
"Twilight Ed"
--Class of 1925--
Bats - Left
Throws - Left
Born - 11/12/1876
Died - 7/18/1928
Biography:
"Twilight" Ed Killian was a vital starting lefty for each of the Tigers’ first three pennant winning seasons in 1907-1909. His best season was in 1907, when Killian posted a 25-13 mark and a 1.78 earned run average. He also won both games of a doubleheader during that season. He earned his nickname "Twilight" because he pitched in a great number of extra-inning games. Killian also became known for another thing – his ability to avoid giving up the gopher ball. Playing his entire Tiger career during the deadball era, he once pitched 1,001 straight innings without allowing a single four-bagger. Killian didn’t get along with Ty Cobb, totally ignoring him during Cobb's rookie campaign. When he didn’t ignore him, the result was normally turmoil. One time Killian reportedly smashed all of Cobb’s bats. He also was known to throw at Cobb’s ankles during batting practice, claiming – as Cobb would recall in later years – that the pitch got away from him.
Pitching:
Code:
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP ERA ERA+ WHIP
1904 27 DET AL 14 20 40 34 32 4 6 1 331.7 293 118 90 0 93 124 17 6 1364 2.44 104 1.164
1905 28 DET AL 23 14 39 37 33 8 2 0 313.3 263 108 79 0 102 110 13 4 0 2.27 120 1.165
1906 29 DET AL 10 6 21 16 14 0 5 2 149.7 165 71 57 0 54 47 5 4 0 3.43 81 1.463
1907 30 DET AL 25 13 41 34 29 3 7 1 314.0 286 103 62 2 91 96 13 2 1302 1.78 146 1.201
1908 31 DET AL 12 9 27 23 15 0 4 1 180.7 170 78 60 3 53 47 8 1 736 2.99 81 1.234
1909 32 DET AL 11 9 25 19 14 3 4 1 173.3 150 45 33 1 49 54 6 4 691 1.71 147 1.148
1910 33 DET AL 4 3 11 9 5 1 1 0 74.0 75 38 25 2 27 20 6 1 313 3.04 86 1.378
YR From To W L WL% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA+
TOTALS 7 1904 1910 99 74 .572 2.38 204 172 29 142 19 6 1536.7 1402 561 406 8 469 498 109