Orval Overall 1907 Cubs Retrospective
As good as Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown may have been in 1907, Orval Overall may have been even better. After losing 23 games in his rookie season in 1905 and after a rough start in 1906, the Reds traded Overall to the Cubs for Mark Wicker. Even better, the Cubs got $2,000 out of the deal. Wicker was about league average in 1906 and then he never pitched again.
Overall, on the other hand, turned things around. He went 12-3 down the stretch for the Cubs in only 18 games. He showed solid improvements to his ERA and WHIP and looked like a brand new pitcher.
1907 turned out to be a whole season of what the second half of 1906 was for Overall. He finished in the top five in several categories. He was second in wins (23), fifth in ERA (1.68), fourth in WHIP (1.006), and he was fourth with 141 strikeouts. He even saved three games to finish second in the National League and he led the league with eight shutouts. For all of this, Overall was named the Ex Post Facto Cy Young in the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia
Overall also got it done in the playoffs. In two starts and 18 innings he gave up only two runs while he struck out 11.
Here’s a look at Overall’s numbers in 1907:
Wins 23
Losses 8
Games 36
Games Started 30
Complete Games 25
Innings Pitched 268
Hits 201
Runs 62
Earned Runs 50
Walks 69
Strikeouts 141
ERA 1.68
Runs Saved Above Average 26
Shutouts 8
H/9 6.75
BR/9 9.44
SO/9 4.74
BB/9 2.32
SO/BB 2.04
Neutral Wins 21
Neutral Losses 10
