Coveleski was born as the fourth of five ball-playing brothers in the coal-mining community of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. His oldest brother Jacob died while serving in the Spanish–American War, and his other brothers Frank and John played baseball as well, but never reached the major leagues. His younger brotherStan Coveleski went on become a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Career
Coveleski began his career with the Phillies in 1907. Over a span of five days at the end of the 1908 season, he beat the New York Giants three times, which enabled the Chicago Cubs to catch the first-place Giants in the NL standings and force a replay of the "Merkle's Boner" game. Thereafter, Coveleski was called "The Giant Killer". Traded to the Reds after the 1909 season, Coveleski had a disappointing 1910 season, including a game in which he walked sixteen batters, and was out of the Major Leagues for three seasons. That year A. H. "Rick" Woodward, owner of the Southern Association's Birmingham Barons, bought Coveleski's contract from the Reds for $1,000, putting him on the team that be showcased in his brand-new steel-and-concrete Rickwood Field stadium. Coveleski got the start on the park's August 18, opening day, earning a no-decision in a 3-2 victory against the Montgomey Climbers in front of 10,000 fans. He ended up pitching two no-hitters for the Barons, and won 21 games, including eleven straight decisions, to end the season with a 1.55 ERA. His final appearance for Birmingham was a 1-0 shutout against the league-champion New Orleans Pelicans in which he held their star slugger Shoeless Joe Jackson hitless in four appearances. Following an arm injury, Woodward traded Coveleski to the Chattanooga Lookouts, where he struggled for two seasons, going 25-37, before regaining his composure. In their campaign he led the Southern Association with 28 wins and attracted the notice of the Detroit Tigers' scouts. Coveleski joined the Tigers for the 1914 season, and pitched over 300 innings, completed 23 of his 36 games, and won 22 games, second in the American League only to Walter Johnson. In four of his five seasons with the Tigers, Coveleski's ERA was under three, and his 2.34 ERA with the Tigers is still the franchise's all-time career record.
Legacy
In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter", consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Harry Coveleski was the left-handed pitcher on Stein's Polish team. In the 2008–2009 comic book series and the 2017 film, I Kill Giants, protagonist Barbara Thorson's fantasy world features a war hammer named "Coveleski." Barbara explains that it is named after Harry Coveleski and his performance against the New York Giants.
