Frank Kitson

[Cowtipper]

Frank Kitson played in the big leagues from 1898 to 1907. In that time, he went 129-118 with a 3.18 ERA, 211 complete games and 19 shutouts. The righty won at least 15 games five times and at least 20 games once, he posted sub-3 ERAs four times and 20+ complete game seasons six times.

Not only could he pitch, he could also hit--he was even used in the outfield 19 times and at first base once in his 10-year career. In 978 career at-bats, he hit .240 with 4 home runs, 95 RBI, 118 runs and 235 hits. He also had 28 doubles, 17 triples and 14 stolen bases.

Kitson led league pitchers in fielding percentage in 1899 and (unofficially) in saves in 1900. He ranks 89th all-time in BB/9 IP, just ahead of Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins. He appeared in the top 10 in that category four times.

Statistically, Kitson is similar to Ray Caldwell, Bob Purkey, Frank Lary, George Mogridge, Harry Staley, Dick Rudolph, Dummy Taylor, Fritz Peterson, Pete Donahue and Nelson Briles. He is ranked #643 by the Fan EloRater, ahead of Alejandro Pena, Takashi Saito and Andy Ashby, but behind John Danks, Yovani Gallardo and Win Mercer.

What do you think about Frank Kitson? Should he be in the Hall of Fame? Did he have Hall of Fame potential?

[KCGHOST]

Decent journeyman performer.

[PVNICK]

To be honest I had sort of heard the name but for the life of me I can't figure out what got Cowtipper curious about him. Frank Killen, Frank Smith from that era OK sort of. Or maybe that's the point.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Yeah, this is a ... baffling choice for discussion. I can't figure it out either. Nothing about him stands out to me as exemplary.

[Freakshow]

Not only could he pitch, he could also hit--he was even used in the outfield 19 times and at first base once in his 10-year career.

This wasn't unusual in Kitson's time.

Highest OPS+, 350+ PA, 1898-1907, at least 25% of G at Pitcher

Rk              Player OPS+ WAR/pos  RC   PA From   To   Age  SB   BA  OBP  SLG       Pos
1          Johnny Lush  108     1.9  78  782 1904 1907 18-21  23 .270 .322 .345     /1398
2          Mike ONeill  102     2.4  42  415 1901 1907 23-29   4 .255 .306 .355      /*17
3          Frank Smith  100     2.9  29  361 1904 1907 24-27   2 .232 .315 .305        *1
4       Jimmy Callahan  100     7.5 223 2248 1898 1905 24-31 110 .269 .314 .350 715/94863
5        George Mullin   99     6.7  87  898 1902 1907 21-26  11 .263 .306 .344  *1/98437
6           Win Mercer   96     2.5 138 1249 1898 1902 24-28  56 .292 .358 .345 1/5689734
7      Jesse Tannehill   94     7.0 122 1247 1898 1907 23-32  15 .259 .310 .348    *1/798
8              Al Orth   87     6.0 135 1382 1898 1907 25-34  22 .264 .289 .350  *1/87963
9    Brickyard Kennedy   85     2.2  54  501 1898 1903 30-35   3 .271 .299 .366        *1
10           Watty Lee   81     1.4  77  838 1901 1904 21-24  13 .242 .300 .338     /9187
11        Chief Bender   76     2.6  40  535 1903 1907 19-23  13 .220 .267 .304   *1/3847
12          Ed Killian   76     2.3  37  476 1903 1907 26-30   6 .230 .254 .304     *1/93
[COLOR="#FF0000"]13        Frank Kitson   74     3.6  86 1034 1898 1907 28-37  14 .240 .274 .316   *1/9873[/COLOR]
14           Doc White   73     3.0  55  812 1901 1907 22-28  18 .220 .293 .264   *1/7894

[Cowtipper]

Was Kitson better or worse than his #1 comp, Ray Caldwell (who is, by the way, a member of the Really Big Hall of Fame [which will be coming back soon])?

How about this: Was Kitson better or worse than the similarly named Frank Killen, whose career overlapped Kitson's and no doubt confused many baseball fans of the day?

[jjpm74]

Caldwell was definitely the better of the two.