Rube Walberg
Born: 7/27/1896 in Pine City, MN, USA
Died: 10/27/1978 in Tempe, AZ, USA
MLB Debut: 1923-04-29 | Final Game: 1937-10-02
Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 190 lbs
Full name: George Elvin Walberg
Biography
Rube Walberg was a notable pitcher in Major League Baseball whose career spanned from 1923 to 1937. Born in 1896, Walberg established himself as a reliable arm on the mound, finishing his career with a record of 155 wins and 141 losses. Over his time in the league, he posted an earned run average (ERA) of 4.16 and accumulated 1,085 strikeouts, alongside 32 saves. His playing style was characterized by a strong competitive spirit and a dedication to his craft, which made him a respected figure in the game during his era.
Walberg played in an important transitional period in baseball, marked by the evolution of pitching techniques and the increasing specialization of roles. He contributed to his teams not only as a starting pitcher but also in relief appearances, as indicated by his saves total. His longevity in the sport and ability to adapt to the changing dynamics of baseball during the 1920s and 1930s underscored his significance in the league. Walberg's career remains a testament to the dedication and skill required to thrive in professional baseball during a time of considerable change.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 155 | 141 | 544 | 307 | 140 | 15 | 32 | 2644.0 | 2795 | 1223 | 163 | 1031 | 1085 | 4.16 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | NY1 | NL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.80 | 0.0 |
| 1923 | PHA | AL | 4 | 8 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 115.0 | 122 | 68 | 60 | 38 | 5.32 | -3040.5 |
| 1924 | PHA | AL | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 12.86 | 0.0 |
| 1925 | PHA | AL | 8 | 14 | 53 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 191.7 | 197 | 85 | 77 | 82 | 3.99 | 460.8 |
| 1926 | PHA | AL | 12 | 10 | 40 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 151.0 | 168 | 47 | 60 | 72 | 2.80 | 1186.8 |
| 1927 | PHA | AL | 16 | 12 | 46 | 34 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 249.3 | 257 | 109 | 91 | 136 | 3.93 | 48.6 |
| 1928 | PHA | AL | 17 | 12 | 38 | 30 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 235.7 | 236 | 93 | 64 | 112 | 3.55 | 973.2 |
| 1929 | PHA | AL | 18 | 11 | 40 | 33 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 267.7 | 256 | 107 | 99 | 94 | 3.60 | -1148.8 |
| 1930 | PHA | AL | 13 | 12 | 38 | 30 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 205.3 | 207 | 107 | 85 | 100 | 4.69 | 3390.1 |
| 1931 | PHA | AL | 20 | 12 | 44 | 35 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 291.0 | 298 | 121 | 109 | 106 | 3.74 | -777.5 |
| 1932 | PHA | AL | 17 | 10 | 41 | 34 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 272.0 | 305 | 143 | 103 | 96 | 4.73 | -253.4 |
| 1933 | PHA | AL | 9 | 13 | 40 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 201.0 | 224 | 109 | 95 | 68 | 4.88 | -2745.7 |
| 1934 | BOS | AL | 6 | 7 | 30 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 104.7 | 118 | 47 | 41 | 38 | 4.04 | 164.2 |
| 1935 | BOS | AL | 5 | 9 | 44 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 142.7 | 152 | 62 | 54 | 44 | 3.91 | -1072.7 |
| 1936 | BOS | AL | 5 | 4 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100.3 | 98 | 49 | 36 | 49 | 4.40 | 568.4 |
| 1937 | BOS | AL | 5 | 7 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 104.7 | 143 | 65 | 46 | 46 | 5.59 | -453.5 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 547 | 905 | 78 | 162 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 84 | 2 | 48 | 179 | 0.179 | 0.220 | 0.232 | 0.452 | -4816.0 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | NY1 | NL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1923 | PHA | AL | 26 | 41 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0.317 | 0.0 |
| 1924 | PHA | AL | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
| 1925 | PHA | AL | 53 | 64 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0.156 | -618.0 |
| 1926 | PHA | AL | 40 | 46 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0.152 | 0.0 |
| 1927 | PHA | AL | 47 | 87 | 14 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 0.207 | -225.3 |
| 1928 | PHA | AL | 38 | 86 | 10 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0.209 | -450.5 |
| 1929 | PHA | AL | 40 | 103 | 11 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 0.223 | -617.6 |
| 1930 | PHA | AL | 38 | 73 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0.164 | -595.8 |
| 1931 | PHA | AL | 45 | 105 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 0.124 | -1052.2 |
| 1932 | PHA | AL | 41 | 94 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 0.170 | -739.9 |
| 1933 | PHA | AL | 41 | 68 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 0.132 | -516.6 |
| 1934 | BOS | AL | 30 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0.188 | 0.0 |
| 1935 | BOS | AL | 44 | 37 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0.162 | 0.0 |
| 1936 | BOS | AL | 24 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.156 | 0.0 |
| 1937 | BOS | AL | 32 | 34 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0.147 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | WS | PHA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1930 | WS | PHA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| 1929 | WS | PHA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14.0 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 1.93 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | WS | PHA | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3.00 |
| 1930 | WS | PHA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3.86 |
| 1929 | WS | PHA | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.00 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 544 | 0 | 113 | 558 | 37 | 18 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | NY1 | P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1923 | PHA | P | 26 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 3 | 2 |
| 1924 | PHA | P | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1925 | PHA | P | 53 | 0 | 10 | 51 | 2 | 0 |
| 1926 | PHA | P | 40 | 0 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 2 |
| 1927 | PHA | P | 46 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 6 | 0 |
| 1928 | PHA | P | 38 | 0 | 9 | 56 | 4 | 3 |
| 1929 | PHA | P | 40 | 0 | 11 | 49 | 0 | 1 |
| 1930 | PHA | P | 38 | 0 | 7 | 34 | 3 | 1 |
| 1931 | PHA | P | 44 | 0 | 13 | 52 | 0 | 1 |
| 1932 | PHA | P | 41 | 0 | 14 | 55 | 4 | 2 |
| 1933 | PHA | P | 40 | 0 | 14 | 45 | 2 | 1 |
| 1934 | BOS | P | 30 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 2 | 0 |
| 1935 | BOS | P | 44 | 0 | 8 | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| 1936 | BOS | P | 24 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 2 |
| 1937 | BOS | P | 32 | 0 | 6 | 17 | 4 | 3 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 544 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | P4 |