Herb Pennock vs Ed Walsh: Career Stats Comparison

Herb Pennock (1912–1934) and Ed Walsh (1904–1917) — breaking in during the 1910s and the 1900s respectively, so they pitched against very different hitting environments. Herb Pennock compiled 240 wins and 1,227 strikeouts; Ed Walsh put up 195 wins and 1,736 strikeouts. The numbers below run them through identical career and rate-stat lenses.

Herb Pennock

Pitcher · 1912–1934
Wins
240
Losses
162
Strikeouts
1,227
ERA
3.60
WHIP
1.35
IP
3,571
View Herb Pennock's full profile →

Ed Walsh

Pitcher · 1904–1917
Wins
195
Losses
126
Strikeouts
1,736
ERA
1.82
WHIP
1.00
IP
2,964
View Ed Walsh's full profile →

Career Stats Side-by-Side

Every cell below is a career total or career rate. Cells highlighted in green mark the player who leads that line. For pitchers, lower ERA, WHIP, and BB/9 lead; higher K/9 leads.

Statistic Herb Pennock Ed Walsh
Wins 240 195
Losses 162 126
Games 617 430
Games Started 420 315
Complete Games 247 250
Shutouts 35 57
Saves 32 35
Strikeouts 1,227 1,736
Walks 916 617
Hits Allowed 3,900 2,346
Home Runs Allowed 128 23
Innings Pitched 3,571 2,964
ERA 3.60 1.82
WHIP 1.35 1.00
K/9 3.09 5.27
BB/9 2.31 1.87

PIV Comparison

By PIV (Player Impact Value), Ed Walsh outpaces Herb Pennock 62,631 to 29,181 — a gap driven primarily by per-season impact (4,474 vs 1,269 per year). PIV adjusts each season to league baselines, so it's the cleanest way to compare careers across eras.

Herb Pennock
29,181
Career Pitcher PIV · 1,269 per season (23 seasons)
Ed Walsh
62,631
Career Pitcher PIV · 4,474 per season (14 seasons)

How PIV is calculated →

Peak Seasons

The best single seasons each player produced, ranked by ERA among qualified workloads (120+ innings).

Herb Pennock — top 3 seasons by ERA (lower is better)

19282.56 ERA17-6, 53 K in 211 IP
19192.71 ERA16-8, 70 K in 219 IP
19142.79 ERA11-4, 90 K in 151 IP

Ed Walsh — top 3 seasons by ERA (lower is better)

19101.27 ERA18-20, 258 K in 369 IP
19091.41 ERA15-11, 127 K in 230 IP
19081.42 ERA40-15, 269 K in 464 IP

Verdict

On the head-to-head card, Ed Walsh leads in strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, and K/9, while Herb Pennock owns wins and innings pitched. That doesn't settle the era debate, but on the raw scoreboard the edge goes to Ed Walsh. PIV agrees: Ed Walsh grades out higher across their careers. Click through to each profile for the full season-by-season breakdown.

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