Jimmy Whalen

William L. Whalen
(Jimmy" or "James")

• Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.

• Born ~1880 in San Francisco, CA USA
• Died January 12, 1915 in San Francisco, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jimmy Whalen was a minor league pitcher who won almost 300 games. Whalen was briefly on a major-league roster, early in the 1906 season with the New York Highlanders, but never appeared in a game. He played most of his professional career in California.

Whalen debuted in 1898, going 7-12 in the California League and Pacific Coast League. The next year, he had a 17-22 record in 335 innings in the Cal League. With the 1900 Stockton Wasps, he was 17-18 with a 1.80 ERA. He moved to the San Francisco Wasps in 1901 and would win at least 29 games the next five years for them.

Whalen was 36-23 with a 2.08 ERA in 537 innings and 67 games for San Francisco in 1901. Amazingly, he failed to lead the California League in wins, one behind leader Ham Iburg. Jimmy was 30-26 in 1902, 29-21 in 443 innings in 1903 and 32-23 in 492 innings in 1904. In 1905, he was 32-25 for San Francisco and also won one outing with Stockton. He finally led the PCL in wins, as well as innings (512). He also threw a no-hitter. During 1904-1905, he ran up a steak of 47 consecutive shutout innings.

Moving to the Montreal Canucks in 1906, his first trip east, he sputtered at 12-17 and led the Eastern League with 333 hits allowed (in 246 innings). In 1907, he was 14-8 for the Williamsport Millionaires and 1-1 for the Oakland Commuters.

He joined the Sacramento Senators in 1908 and was 31-8 for them, again dominating out west. He was second in the California League in wins. He was 23-18 for Sacramento in 1908 and 14-22 in 1910, then missed 1911 due to a broken leg. He was 2-4 for the 1912 Vernon Tigers, then retired with a career record of 297-248 in 609 games.

His 7 seasons of 20 wins ties him for 4th in minor league history, behind Spider Baum (9), Tony Freitas (9) and Dick Barrett (8).

While with Sacramento, he was a teammate of youngsters Harry Hooper and Jack Fournier.

Various issues of the Sporting Life in the first half of 1906 mention Whalen's stay in the Highlanders organization but he never appeared in a major league game for the team. He was sent to Montreal in the Eastern League.

The same publication, in its issue of January 29, 1916 called him a noted California pitcher, and said he had died of Bright's disease in San Francisco, CA in 1915 in his 34th year.

He is not the same player as Jimmy Whelan.

Sources include The Minor League Register ed. by W. Lloyd Johnson