Red Faber

Urban Clarence "Red" Faber, an American right-handed pitcher, was born on a farm near Cascade, Iowa, on September 6, 1888, and died on September 25, 1976. Of Luxembourgish ancestry, he spent his childhood in Cascade, where his father managed a tavern and later ran the Hotel Faber, becoming one of the town's wealthiest citizens. As a teenager, Faber attended college prep academies in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa, and by the age of 16 was earning $2 to pitch Sunday games with a local team in Dubuque.

Faber pitched in Major League Baseball from 1914 through 1933, playing his entire 20-year career for the Chicago White Sox. He was a member of the 1919 team but was not involved in the Black Sox scandal, having missed the World Series due to injury and illness. Over his career he won 254 games, a total that ranked 17th-highest in history upon his retirement.

At the time he retired, Faber was the last legal spitballer in the American League; another legal spitballer, Burleigh Grimes, was later traded to the AL and appeared in 10 games for the New York Yankees in 1934. Faber was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.