Ed Conley, Extra Pitcher

Ed Conley was born to Irish parents in Sandwich, Mass., and settled in Woonsocket, R.I. in the early 1880s.  At the age of twenty, he signed on as a spare pitcher with the 1884 Grays during their pitching crisis.  With Hoss Radbourn on suspension, he was borrowed from the Woonsocket "O.S.R.C." semi-pro team to pitch one game on July 19 against Philadelphia.  He pitched a brilliant two-hitter and won 6 to 1.  The Journal reported that "the strategic and deceptive pitching of Conley, a Woonsocket amateur, was tested for the first time.  Conley is a youth of slender build, but he twirls the sphere with swiftness and accuracy, having it under excellent control, and displaying coolness and self-possession when occasion requires."

After the expulsion of Sweeney and reinstatement of Radbourn, the Grays then decided to stick with Cyclone Miller as their change pitcher.  Miller didn't work out well, and Conley got another shot on August 8 to give Radbourn a day off.  He shut out the Philadelphia squad, 6 to 0.  Two weeks later, he was given a chance to beat last-place Detroit, 4 to 2, exhibiting his "remarkable coolness and good judgement" on August 20.    With a promising back-up such as this, the Grays had no reason to worry, but allowed Radbourn to pitch the next twenty-two games with no relief.  Conley sat on the bench until the pennant was virtually clinched.  He re-appeared on September 25, beating the heavy-hitting Chicago team 6 to 5 in extra innings.  At this point he had a perfect 4-0 win-loss record, and looked like he was on a sure path to the Hall of Fame.

After the pennant was clinched on September 26, Conley pitched just as much as Radbourn.  With the heat of the race gone, he seems to have lost some of his own fire, and was beaten all over the field by Chicago (by a score of 15-10), Buffalo (2-0 and 11-2) and Cleveland (11-2).  The last loss was so ugly that center fielder Paul Hines had to come in to finish things off.  Conley finished up the year with a 4-4 record, and no longer looked like a champion.  He never pitched in the major leagues again.

He died in the village of Valley Falls, in Cumberland, R.I. of pulmonary phthisis (a form of tuberculosis) on October 16, 1894.  His death certificate listed his occupation as "student."  Upon his death, the Woonsocket Evening Call recalled that "Mr. Conley was considered a first class pitcher.  He was well liked in this city.  He retired from the ball field shortly after leaving this city."  He was only thirty years old; though he had been out of baseball for ten years, if he had been given a fair chance, he might still have been winning major league games with "remarkable coolness."

copyright Rick Stattler 2002

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