The Shamokin Giant Killer: Harry Coveleski

By the time he was 14, Harry Coveleski. like most of the other young men in the coal region town of Shamokin, PA had followed his father into the mines. Harry got the nickname "Donkey Boy" because he was in charge of the mules who pulled the trucks loaded with coal out of the mines. But Harry, like his younger brother Stan, was lucky enough to ride his talented pitching arm out of the mines and into professional baseball. Stan, a righthander, became one of the best pitchers in the American League and eventually was elected to the Hall of Fame. Harry, a lefthander, had a decent career, that began with a flash of brilliance that earned him a new nickname, "The Giant Killer." 

A St. Louis Cardinals' scout first spotted Harry pitching for a local club in 1907. The scout got Harry signed to play with the Kane (PA) Mountaineers. After two months, when the Kane team disbanded, Harry went to play with his older brother John on a Wildwood, NJ team, where a Phillies' scout signed him for $250 a month. He pitched in four games for the Phillies in 1907 and then spent most of 1908 twirling for the Lancaster (PA) Red Roses of the Tri-State League. After a fine season with Lancaster, Harry was called up to the Phillies for the last two weeks of the season. Harry pitched well in his first two games with the big club, losing to St. Louis 1-0 on a ninth inning error, and beating Cincinnati, 1-0, in a rain shortened three-hitter.

The Phillies were now set to face the pennant contending New York Giants in a home and home series comprising eight games. The Giants were in contention for the pennant. The Phillies were a first division team that year, but were in fourth place, out of the pennant race. After the Phillies lost the first two games at the Polo Grounds, the Giants were tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates just one-half game behind the league leading Chicago Cubs. Phillies manager Bill Murray called a meeting of the pitchers to plan the next few games, when first-baseman Kitty Bransfield stuck his nose into the meeting and said, "Why not give the Polack kid a chance?" And so, 22-year-old Harry got to pitch his first game against the Giants. 

On September 29, Coveleski shut out the Giants on seven hits, winning, 7-0. He was supported by a 12-hit barrage by the Phillies against Giants' pitchers Doc Crandell and Luther "Dummy" Taylor. Bransfield, second baseman Otto Knabe, left fielder Sherry Magee, and center fielder Fred Osborn all hit doubles. Covaleski contributed a triple and scored a run. He was aided by three double plays turned by the Phils. 

Two days later, Covaleski was on the hill again, this time at the Baker Bowl in the second game of a doubleheader. The Phillies had dropped the two games played since Coveleski's shutout. The Giants were now tied for first place in the National League. Harry beat them again, 6-2 on just four hits. Coveleski was a little wild, walking five, but a two-run double by outfielder Mike Donlin was all the Giants could muster. Bransfield, Magee, and right fielder John Titus were the hitting stars for the Phillies. Years later, interviewed while tending his bar in his hometown, Coveleski recalled, "And how [Giants manager John] McGraw worked me in that game. When he tells me to take out my citizenship papers, I get mad, for I'm born right here in Shamokin." 

After just one day's rest, Coveleski took the mound against the Giants on October 3. His mound opponent was Christy Mathewson, the greatest pitcher in the game at the time. "Matty" came into the game with a record of 37-9, and an ERA below 1.50. He was a tired pitcher, though and the Phillies got to him for three runs in the fifth and sixth. In the meantime, Coveleski was masterful. He gave up an unearned run in the first inning, when Magee bobbled a single to left. After that Coveleski blanked the Giants until the ninth. In the ninth, Osborne dropped a Buck Herzog fly ball and Titus allowed a Moose McCormick single to go straight through his legs, scoring one run and sending McCormick around to third with no one out. With the score now 3-2, Coveleski showed his mettle. Donlin popped up for the first out. Cy Seymour tapped a grounder to Otto Knabe at second. Knabe caught McCormick in a run down between third and home for the second out. Coveleski then finished with a flourish by striking out Art Devlin. 

Walking off the field, Coveleski almost came to blows with the cantankerous McGraw, who had been riding him form the bench all game. "When we leave the field, I walk right up alongside McGraw and say, 'So I'm a hunk, am I?', but before we tangle Bransfield steps in and we go to the showers."

Coveleski's heroics knocked the Giants out of the pennant. Although McGraw's team wrapped up the season by winning three of four from Boston, they finished one game behind the pennant winning Cubs. For his exploits the sportswriters of the day dubbed Coveleski, "The Giant Killer."

A combination of wildness and arm miseries meant that Harry was unable to duplicate his 1908 success in subsequent seasons with the Phillies. By 1910 he was back in the minor leagues. He eventually regained his form at Chattanooga in the Southern Association and returned to the major leagues in 1914 with the Detroit Tigers. From 1914-1916, Harry Coveleski was one of the top pitchers in the major leagues, going 65-36 during that stretch. Eventually, the arm problems returned, and he ended his career in 1919 with Little Rock in the Southern Association. 

After his playing days, Coveleski returned to Shamokin, where he eventually opened a bar called "The Giant Killer." From his place behind the bar, Covaleski held court on all manner of baseball topics. Asked about controversial Dodger manager, Leo Durocher, he compared the feisty Leo to his old nemesis, "Durocher's another smartie like John McGraw, he thinks he can win by out-talkin' the other fellow."

Harry Coveleski died in Shamokin on August 4, 1950 at the age of 64.

Harry Coveleski behind his bar, "The Giant Killer" in 1947.

For more on Harry Coveleski's career, read his SABR biography by John Heiselman here.