Though Overall’s career lasted just seven years, it was brilliant, as his 2.24 lifetime ERA, eighth best in major league history, indicates. Traded to the Cubs in July 1906, after a year and a half in Cincinnati, Overall emerged as Chicago’s top pitcher in 1907, going 23-8 (1.70) and tying Christy Mathewson for the league lead with eight shutouts. In World Series competition, he beat the Tigers once in 1907 and twice in 1908 – including a Series-clinching three-hit shutout in Game Five in which he struck out four men in an inning (the first inning), the only man to do so in WS history. Posting a 1.42 ERA in 1909, he went 20-11, and led the NL with nine shutouts and 205 strikeouts. He had a sore arm in 1910, and in his final WS start was knocked out after allowing the A’s three runs in three innings. He retired for two years, then failed to crack the Cubs’ excellent staff when he attempted a comeback in 1913.
