Harry Coveleski

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Harry Coveleski

Born: April 23, 1886 in Shamokin, Pennsylvania
Died: August 4, 1950 (aged 64) in Shamokin, Pennsylvania
Bats: Both
Throws: Left
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 180 lbs.
Position: Pitcher

 Played For: 

Philadelphia Phillies (1907–1909)
Cincinnati Reds (1910)
Detroit Tigers (1914–1918)

 Biography:

Coveleski was born Harry Frank Kowalewski on April 23, 1886 in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, one of five sons of Polish immigrants Anthony and Ann Kowalewski. Like his younger brother Stan, when Harry entered professional baseball he anglicized his name to Coveleskie–the final “e” was not dropped until after his retirement. Anthony Kowalewski worked as a coal miner in Shamokin, and like his brothers Harry left school at the age of 12 to work in the mines, where he worked as a slate picker for $3.75 per week, also gaining the nickname “Donkey Boy” because he was responsible for driving the mules that carried supplies into and out of the mines.

Given the grueling nature of his work, one would expect Coveleski to have been more eager to escape the mines. In fact, he fell into professional baseball almost by accident. While he was pitching for the Bunker Hills, a sandlot team in Shamokin, a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals spotted the left-handed Coveleski and signed him to a contract for Kane (Pennsylvania) of the Inter-State League in 1907. The league disbanded after Harry won four and lost seven. He then joined the independent Wildwood, New Jersey Ottens, where his brother John played the infield.

Coveleski began his career with the Phillies in 1907. Over a span of five days at the end of the 1908 season, he beat the New York Giants three times, which enabled the Chicago Cubs to catch the first-place Giants in the NL standings and force a replay of the “Merkle’s Boner” game. Thereafter, Coveleski was called “The Giant Killer”. Traded to the Reds after the 1909 season, Coveleski had a disappointing 1910 season, including a game in which he walked sixteen batters, and was out of the Major Leagues for three seasons.

 
More info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Coveleski
http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/b9f0fd85
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/covelha01.shtml