Ed Head was born on Friday, January 25, 1918, in Selma, Louisiana. Head was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on July 27, 1940, with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Ed Head baseball stats page.
"In Selma, Louisiana, he was a lean, fast, left-handed high school pitcher, 6 foot, 175 pounds. While riding a bus with a semi-pro team from Pioneer, he was seated with his arm around his boyhood sweetheart when the bus was sideswiped by another bus. Ed woke with his left arm mangled, his girl lying dead next to him. They managed to save the arm but he was told he'd never pitch again. With the optimism of youth he began throwing right-handed and became a fastball pitcher from the other side. 'It was tough at first, but I had fooled around throwing right-handed. It took me about three years before I could throw with any real speed.'" - Author Rudy Marzano in The Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1940s: How Robinson, MacPhail, Reiser and Rickey Changed Baseball (McFarland Publishing, 01/25/2005, Page 75)
Ed Head |
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Biographical Data | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ed HeadEd Head Pitching Stats |
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Year | Age | Team | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD |
1940 | 22 | Dodgers | 13 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 4.12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 39.1 | 176 | 40 | 18 | 21 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
1942 | 24 | Dodgers | 36 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 3.56 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 136.2 | 571 | 118 | 54 | 60 | 11 | 47 | 9 | 78 | 3 | 3 | 0 | - |
1943 | 25 | Dodgers | 47 | 18 | 17 | 9 | 10 | .474 | 3.66 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 169.2 | 741 | 166 | 69 | 75 | 8 | 66 | 8 | 83 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - |
1944 | 26 | Dodgers | 9 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 3 | .571 | 2.70 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 63.1 | 225 | 54 | 19 | 21 | 2 | 19 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
1946 | 28 | Dodgers | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | .600 | 3.21 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 56.0 | 240 | 56 | 20 | 24 | 3 | 24 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
Career | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD | ||
5 Years | 118 | 53 | 34 | 27 | 23 | .540 | 3.48 | 22 | 6 | 11 | 465.0 | 1,953 | 434 | 180 | 201 | 24 | 174 | 24 | 208 | 5 | 3 | 0 | - |
Ed HeadEd Head Hitting Stats |
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Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
1940 | 22 | Dodgers | 14 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .182 | .182 |
1942 | 24 | Dodgers | 36 | 39 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .381 | .359 |
1943 | 25 | Dodgers | 47 | 46 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .152 | .170 | .152 |
1944 | 26 | Dodgers | 9 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .263 | .333 | .263 |
1946 | 28 | Dodgers | 13 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .313 | .353 | .375 |
Career | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG | ||
5 Years | 119 | 131 | 15 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 25 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .244 | .283 | .260 |
Ed HeadEd Head Fielding Stats |
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Team | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
1940 Dodgers | P | 13 | 5 | 118 | 3 | 0.2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 0.69 |
1942 Dodgers | P | 36 | 15 | 410 | 41 | 1.1 | 38 | 9 | 29 | 3 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .927 | 2.50 |
1943 Dodgers | P | 47 | 18 | 509 | 49 | 1.0 | 46 | 6 | 40 | 3 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .939 | 2.44 |
1944 Dodgers | P | 9 | 8 | 190 | 10 | 1.1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 1.42 |
1946 Dodgers | P | 13 | 7 | 168 | 12 | 0.9 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .917 | 1.77 |
Career | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
P Totals | 118 | 53 | 1,395 | 115 | 1.0 | 108 | 21 | 87 | 7 | 4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .939 | 2.09 | |
5 Years | 118 | 53 | 1,395 | 115 | 1.0 | 108 | 21 | 87 | 7 | 4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .939 | 2.09 |
Ed HeadEd Head Miscellaneous Stats |
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Baserunning Statistics | Other Positions | Common Hitting Ratios | Common Pitching Ratios | |||||||||
Team | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
1940 Dodgers | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | n/a | 0.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.72 | 2.97 | 4.12 |
1942 Dodgers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 4.3 | 6.5 | 1.66 | 5.14 | 3.10 |
1943 Dodgers | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 6.6 | 15.3 | 1.26 | 4.40 | 3.50 |
1944 Dodgers | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 3.8 | 19.0 | 0.89 | 2.42 | 2.70 |
1946 Dodgers | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 8.0 | 16.0 | 0.71 | 2.73 | 3.86 |
Career | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
5 Years | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 | n/a | 0.0 | 5.2 | 10.1 | 1.20 | 4.03 | 3.37 |
Ed HeadEd Head Miscellaneous Items of Interest |
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Team | Roster | Uniform Numbers | Salary | All-Star | World Series |
1940 Brooklyn Dodgers | 23 | Undetermined | - | - |
1942 Brooklyn Dodgers | 23 | Undetermined | - | - |
1943 Brooklyn Dodgers | 23 | Undetermined | - | - |
1944 Brooklyn Dodgers | 19 | Undetermined | - | - |
1946 Brooklyn Dodgers | 23 | Undetermined | - | - |
Ed Head Stats by Baseball Almanac |
On July 9, 1944‚ the Pittsburgh Pirates knocked Ed Head off the mound in two short innings and the big righty left the playing field to serve in the United States Army in World War II. On April 23, 1946, Head returned to the mound, for the first time since leaving, and tossed a no-hitter (the sixth Brooklyn Dodger gem) at Ebbets Field versus the Boston Braves:
Ed Head No Hitter | The News-Palladium | April 24, 1946 | Page 6Baseball Almanac Research Library
Ed Head No Hitter. April 23, 1946.
Discharged from the Army the previous November, Ed Head had a sore shoulder in the spring of 1946. He had not pitched for 17 days when he took the mound for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves on Tuesday, April 23, before 26,787 fans in Ebbets Field. His rival was the veteran Mort Cooper.
Head started inauspiciously by walking Connie Ryan on four pitches. Johnny Hopp grounded to second and Billy Herman started a double play via Pee Wee Reese and first baseman Ed Stevens. The Braves went out in order in the second, but Whitey Wietelmann walked with one out in the third. Cooper bunted and Head made a nice play, throwing to Reese at second to force Wietelmann, and Ryan bounced to short to force Cooper.
Bama Rowell led off the fifth with an easy bounder to short and Reese bobbled the ball for the game's only error. Phil Masi sacrificed Rowell to second where he remained as Skippy Roberge grounded to third and Wietelmann flied to left. Rowell was the only Brave to reach second.
Head, normally a fast ball pitcher, was making good use of his slider and change of pace. At the start of the seventh, he threw a slider to Tommy Holmes and he belted a long drive which center fielder Carl Furillo chased almost to the exit gate in deep right center and caught.
With two out in the eighth, Wietelmann came the closest to a hit with a slashing liner toward left field. Third baseman Pete Reiser went to his left, put up his glove and the ball stuck in the webbing.
In the ninth, Chuck Workman was sent to bat for Cooper. Head threw him three straight balls. then Chuck swung at the 3-0 pitch and missed. He finally walked but, as Ryan fanned, catcher Ferrell Anderson fired the ball to Stevens at first and Workman was picked off. Hopp ended the game with a simple grounder to second. Herman tossing him out easily.
The Dodgers, scoring their sixth straight victory, took a 2-0 lead in the third on Dick Whitman's bunt single. Herman's single to left, Reiser's run scoring safety to right and Dixie Walker's single to left, scoring Herman.
In the fifth, Herman walked with one out, Reiser singled to left and both runners scored on Stevens' two-out double off the right field wall. The final run came in the sixth on Anderson's leadoff homer into the lower left field stands on which the Braves futilely claimed a fan interfered.
Head, mauled by his mates and the fans at game's end, had a double reason to celebrate. The night before, his wife presented him with a second son in a Bastrop (La.) hospital. Then, too, his father always gave him an acre of land after every shutout he pitched.
But Head had nothing but trouble from then on in his career as a pitcher. His sore arm returned and he won only three games, but lost two that season.
Researched and written by Rich Westcott (RichWestcott.com / Rich Westcott Books), original text from No-Hitters (McFarland, 02/15/2000, 'Ed Head', Page 152-153).
Ed Head | Brooklyn Dodgers | First Day Cover ArtBaseball Almanac Research Library
Did you know that Ed Head was born a lefty, who at the age of 15, was involved in a vehicle accident that killed his girlfriend and almost resulted in the amputation of his left arm? After hours of surgery, Head’s arm was saved but he could no longer use it to pitch, so he switched and became a right handed pitcher — seven years later, he made his big league debut.
Ed Head notable games: (1) Made his big league debut, July 27, 1940, and struck out the first batter he faced (Pepper Martin). (2) Pitched his first complete game on September 13, 1940, which was coincidentally his first big league win. (3) Pitched his first shutout on September 8, 1942, a 4-hitter at Ebbets Field. (4) Struck out a career high ten batters in a game on August 22, 1943.