Before embarking on a Hall of Fame pitching career, Eppa Rixey attained an educational level reached by few men of his day. Born in 1891, the 6’5″ Rixey earned a chemistry degree from the University of Virginia where he played both basketball and baseball.

During the major leagues’ off season, National League umpire Cy Rigler worked as an assistant coach for the Cavaliers. He spotted Rixey’s talent and urged him to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rixey declined, insisting he wanted to become a chemist.

Eventually Rixey relented and signed with the Phillies in 1912. The native Virginian went straight to the big leagues where he won 10 games. It was the first of 14 seasons in which he posted double-digit win totals.

During the offseason Rixey went back to school, earning a masters degree in both chemistry and Latin.

When the University of Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame opened in 2018, Rixey was among its inaugural class.

In this letter to Hall of Fame pitcher Rixey, a fan writes that he feels it would be an honor to add “…one of the outstanding umpires in the Major Leagues…” to his collection. Rixey responds thusly, “You must have confused me with Cy Rigler, the umpire. I am a pitcher but I am enclosing the autographed cards. Good luck to you, Eppa Rixey”.

Today the much rarer Rigler signature is more desirable to autograph collectors.

Eppa Rixey found stardom in 1917, his fifth year in the bigs. That season he went 22-10 with a 1.85 ERA. Soon afterward Rixey joined the war effort, serving in the Chemical Warfare Division in Europe. His time in World War I wiped away his 1918 baseball season.

Rixey was rusty in his return. In 1919 and 1920 he went a combined 17-34 for Philadelphia.

In November of 1920 the Phillies traded the left-hander to Cincinnati. Rixey’s performance improved immediately. He won 100 games in his first 5 seasons with the Reds, leading the NL with 25 victories in 1922.

Overall Rixey won 179 contests for the Reds – the most in franchise history. By the time his 21-year career was over, Rixey tallied the most victories by a National League lefty. His 266 wins remained the record for more than a quarter century until Warren Spahn surpassed the mark in 1959.

After concluding his playing career in 1933, Rixey went into the insurance business. Here he writes to former outfielder Babe Herman about his policy and dividend statements. Rixey includes this postscript, “P.S. Let me know how you and the family are. My children have grown up and all well. -Eppa”.

Eppas Rixey capped a brilliant career with baseball’s highest honor in 1963 at Cooperstown. The Hall of Fame welcomed Rixey and three peers, expanding membership to ninety four. Elmer Flick, Sam Rice, and John Clarkson completed the celebrated quartet.

The Veterans Committee selected every honoree during a quiet election year. The baseball writers voted only every other year and skipped the 1963 ballot. That absence shifted the spotlight squarely onto baseball’s elder statesmen.

Rice and Flick traveled to Cooperstown on August 4, 1963, to accept their plaques. Clarkson and Rixey joined them in spirit posthumously as the Hall honored their legacies. Rixey’s death in February, five months earlier, lent the ceremony added weight.

In the collection is this signed photo that shows Clarkson’s class of ’63 Cooperstown mate Flick. The caption reads, “Elmer Flick in 1906 was valued more highly than Ty Cobb.” Just below that, Flick adds his signature.

Flick never really gained the stardom that Cleveland management hoped for though he did win the American League batting crown in 1905.

Sometimes the best trades are the ones that never happen. Just ask the Detroit Tigers.

Interestingly, when Cobb died in 1961, the story of the possible trade of The Georgia Peach for Flick reemerged. The renewed interest in Flick’s career ultimately resulted in his unanimous election to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, 65 years after his MLB debut in 1898.