One of the forgotten greats of the peak deadball era...
During the years of 1912-1915, Tesreau averaged 5.2 WAR, a 2.22 ERA, and almost 2x more wins than losses. In the year 1912, his rookie year, Tesreau registered a remarkable ERA of 1.96.
Tesreau was a giant of this period, when Mathewson began to age; assumed the role of lead ace as McGraw's Giants battled Joe Wood and Tris Speaker's Sox for the 1912 title. I've also attached a Type 1 photograph from my archive here that documents the highly anticipated matchup + battle between two of the widely considered (and statistically backed) greats of the 1912 season, Tesreau and Wood. They battled it out three times in the 1912 series, with Wood's Sox getting the better of Tesreau and the NYG in a strange and wild eight games.
Tesreau would go on to consistently articulate himself as one of the best pitchers in the game the following three years, with a WAR total beat only by Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander during that four year period. Tesreau's career would abruptly end when questioned about his whereabouts by manager McGraw; he refused to answer, claiming his whereabouts away from the ballfield were his own business. After leaving baseball at the age of 29, he went on to coach at Dartmouth for 30 years.
"Over the course of his seven-year career he compiled a 119-72 record and 2.43 ERA while holding opponents to a .224 batting average (for comparison’s sake, Walter Johnson‘s career mark was .227, Christy Mathewson‘s was .245, and Pete Alexander‘s was .250, though each pitched considerably longer than Tesreau), leading the National League in that category in each of his first three seasons. “That big fellow has the best spitball in the league,” said Johnny Evers. “I think he is as good with the spitter as Ed Walsh.” -- SABR, Jeff Tesreau (player bio)
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04-30-2025, 02:09 PM
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