All-Time Indians: Cy Falkenberg

Cy Falkenberg began his professional baseball career in 1902 and made it to the Majors just a single season later, joining the Pirates in 1903. While he wasn’t a dominant pitcher for the era, he was good enough with Pittsburgh and in the minor league in Canada in 1904 to get a second shot with the Washington Senators in 1905. After three solid seasons in the nation’s capitol, Falkenberg was moved to Cleveland in 1908, beginning what would be the most impressive part of his career.

Falkenberg pitched just eight games at the end of 1908 with the Naps, but he would come back and four full seasons in Cleveland. In his first full year, 1909, he was quickly integrated into what was possibly the greatest Indians starting rotation in club history. Along with Addie Joss, who set the team record for lowest ERA the season before (a record that still stands today), Heinie Berger, Bob Rhoads and quite possibly the greatest pitcher in baseball history, Cy Young made up an amazing group, each of which held an ERA below 3.00 for the season. As a team, the Naps allowed just 532 runs, a number they would not match again in franchise history. While an impotent offense kept them down in the standings, this shouldn’t take away from the impressive pitching season. On an individual level, Falkenberg won ten games in 18 starts with a 2.40 ERA and a team best .214 BAA.

The following season, Joss missed time with the disease that would ultimately lead to his untimely death while Young and Berger would also see decreased roles. Taking advantage, Falkenberg threw 256.2 innings, his most since his second year in Washington back in 1906 and posted a 2.95 ERA. Again, the Indians as a team would struggle, but the addition of Willie Mitchell into the starting rotation would be the start of another stellar rotation to come. Of course, Falkenberg would not be part of it. While Vean Gregg, Mitchell and Fred Blanding were impressing, Falkenberg would struggle, ultimately pitching so poorly that he would spend the entire 1912 season in minor league Toledo.

It was in Toledo that Falkenberg would master the “emery ball” a pitch that was made illegal a few years later. By roughing up one side of the ball, he was able to add enough extra movement to his pitches to become one of the most dominant starters in all of baseball. In 1913, he came back to Cleveland and was the ace for the second time. In 36 starts, Falkenberg won 23 games with a 2.22 ERA, both career bests. As further testament to his increased movement, he struck out 166, his most since 1906 (a K/9 of 5.4, which was a career high) and threw a league high 13 wild pitches.

That would be his final year in Cleveland as he jumped to the ill fated Federal League for the 1914 and 1915 seasons. He would play just one more year in Major League baseball at the age of 37 with Philadelphia, then two more in various minor leagues before retiring for good at the end of the 1919 season. While he didn’t pitch long in Cleveland, his 1913 season remains among the best pitched ever in Indians history and he still managed to rack up more than 50 wins and 800 innings pitched with an ERA of just 2.70. Despite his short period of success, he should always be remembered along side Young and Joss as part of one of the best starters in one of the best rotations in Cleveland history. Cy Falkenberg died in 1961 in California at the age of 81.