Ed Cole

Edward William Cole
born Edward William Kisleauskas

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut April 22, 1938
• Final Game September 24, 1939
• Born March 22, 1909 in Wilkes-Barre, PA USA
• Died July 28, 1999 in Nashville, TN USA

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Biographical Information

Pennsylvania native Ed Cole spent fifteen active seasons in professional baseball in a career that spanned over 20 years, 1931 to 1951.

Ed tied for the 1932 Interstate League lead with seven wins. Three years later, he pitched the first Texas League perfect game, blanking the Tulsa Oilers. After spending his first six seasons in the minors with three double-digit win seasons, he was taken, on October 5, 1937, by the Cleveland Indians from the St. Paul Saints of the American Association in the 1937 Rule V Draft. He was then traded, along with Roy Hughes and Billy Sullivan Jr., to the St. Louis Browns for Rollie Hemsley on February 10, 1938.

The right-hander made his debut with the Browns on April 22, 1938. For the season, appeared in 36 games, with a 1-5 record and 5.18 ERA while pitching 88 2/3 innings. Cole received one more look in late 1939, appearing in six games with an 0-2 record and 7.11 ERA; he made his final appearance on September 24, 1939. In the bigs, he was 1-7 with a 5.31 ERA in 42 outings. He spent the rest of his career in the minors with eight different clubs in seven different leagues. He added six more double-digit win seasons, giving him nine for his career. He won 18 games three times in this run. One could say his best year came in 1939 when he went 16-10 with a 2.70 ERA, giving up only 77 earned runs while pitching 257 innings for the San Antonio Missions of the Class A1 Texas League. Cole finished his career at 42 in 1951 with the Port Arthur Seahawks of the Class B Gulf Coast League. He left the game with a 166-159 record while pitching 2,726 innings in 435 games.

Ed spent four years (1942-1945) with the United States Army during World War II. He passed away on July 28, 1999 in Nashville at 90.