Ed Conwell

Edward James Conwell
(Irish)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 155 lb.

• Debut September 22, 1911
• Final Game September 22, 1911
• Born January 29, 1890 in Chicago, IL USA
• Died May 1, 1926 in Chicago, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Conwell... was considered the premier third sacker in the Ohio State League." - from Ed Conwell's obituary, quoted here [1]

"On the pennant-winning Portsmouth Club Pete Childs will have... Irwln . . . play first, Childs second, Hornung short and Conwell third, the old stonewall infield of 1910." - Sporting Life, April 8, 1911

Ed "Irish" Conwell played six seasons for the Portsmouth Cobblers, during which time he came up for one game with the 1911 St. Louis Cardinals. He played three innings at third base for the Cardinals, striking out in his only at bat against the New York Giants. He is not to be confused with a player who had a similar name, Ed Cogswell.

Ed was born in Chicago. From 19 to 24, he played for Portsmouth, with his best year being the last when he hit .316 with 10 triples. He moved to the Waco Navigators for three years, the Fort Worth Panthers for part of a year, and the Evansville Evas for one year, during which he hit .318. A biography of Conwell [2] indicates that he was released in 1909 by the Marion Diggers before he caught on with Portsmouth. Various observers predicted the youngster would become a top hitter and that he was already a great third baseman. In 1913, his hitting improved greatly, but he made a lot of errors at third. He had eye surgery in the offseason. He played second base the next season and then was drafted by Waco, eventually becoming the team's shortstop. He went back to third base in 1915 and rumors had it that the Cincinnati Reds wanted him, although no deal ever emerged. Ed did not play in 1920, but was going to play for Evansville in 1921 when he had a "nervous breakdown" which eventually led to "paralysis" and put him in "critical condition" but he recovered sufficiently to move to Portsmouth. He fell ill again, moved back to Chicago to live with his parents, and died a few years later at age 36.