Bert Cole

Albert George Cole (July 1, 1896 – May 30, 1975) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played six seasons in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers (1921–1925), Cleveland Indians (1925), and Chicago White Sox (1927).

Cole began his professional career in 1919 with the Seattle Rainiers and Sacramento Senators. He spent most of 1920 with the Tacoma Tigers, and had a 24-7 win-loss record with them. He was then promoted to the San Francisco Seals and had a 5-1 record and a 1.86 earned run average (ERA) in 16 games.

He made his debut with the Detroit Tigers the following year after they traded Babe Ellison to San Francisco to acquire him, and spent five years with the team as both a starting pitcher and relief pitcher. Cole's most productive season was 1923 with the Tigers. That year, he had a record of 13-5 with a 4.14 ERA in 52 games. His .722 win percentage in 1923 was 3rd best in the American League, and his 52 games was also 3rd best in the league. In one game against the New York Yankees in 1924, Bob Meusel accused Cole of attempting to hit him with a pitch intentionally, causing a fight to break out between both teams. Both Meusel and Cole were suspended for ten days and fined $100.

Partway through 1925, the Cleveland Indians purchased him, and he played in 13 games for them. His major league career ended with the Chicago White Sox in 1927. With them, he had a 1-4 record and a 4.73 ERA in 27 games. After his major league career, Cole pitched for the Mission Reds from 1929 to 1933; the first season he had a 24-12 record. In 1934, he pitched for the Toronto Maple Leafs, then again pitched for the San Francisco Seals in 1935, playing alongside Joe DiMaggio in his final season of professional baseball.