Faber, Red
Baseball
b. Sept. 6, 1888, Cascade, IA
d. Sept. 15, 1976
It took Faber quite a while to get to the major leagues but, once he got there, he put in twenty seasons and was the last American League pitcher allowed to throw the spitball legally.
Faber learned the spitball in 1909, his first season as a professional. After five seasons in the minors, he joined the Chicago White Sox in 1914. He had a 24-14 record with a 2.55 ERA in his second season with Chicago.
Although his mark was only 16-13 in 1917, Faber had a 1.92 ERA. He appeared in four games in the World Series that year, winning three of them in Chicago's six-game victory over Cincinnati.
He had a 4-1 record in 1918 before enlisting in the Navy. After World War I, he returned to the White Sox but injuries limited his playing time in 1919, when they won another pennant, and he didn't appear in the "Black Sox" World Series.
With mediocre teams, Faber had an outstanding three-year period from 1920 through 1922, winning 69 games while losing 45. He led the league in ERA with 2.48 in 1921 and 2.81 in 1922.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound right-hander was only an average pitcher after that and was used mostly as a reliever toward the end of his career. He retired after a 3-4 record in 1933. Faber then left baseball until 1946, when he became the White Sox pitching coach for three seasons.
In 669 games, Faber had a 254-213 record with 29 shutouts and a 3.15 ERA. He struck out 1,471 hitters and walked 1,213 in 4,086 innings.