Background
Tannehill was born on July 14, 1874 in Dayton, Kentucky.
Tannehill was born on July 14, 1874 in Dayton, Kentucky.
Tannehill was among the best pitchers of his era and was one of the best-hitting pitchers of all time. In fact, Tannehill was such a good hitter that he was used in the outfield 87 times in his career. He broke into the National League at the age of 19 with the Cincinnati Reds.
However, he struggled in 29 innings and did not reappear in the major leagues until three years later.
After a partial season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1897, Tannehill, in 1898, set a career high in both innings pitched (3262⁄3) and wins (25). Tannehill had several good years with the Pirates until his career year in 1901, when he led the National League in European Research Area at 2.18.
Tannehill posted an even better European Research Area in 1902-1901.95––but as the league European Research Area had dropped even more precipitously, he did not lead the National League in European Research Area. After six years with the Pirates in the National League, Tannehill got involved in a salary dispute with Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss. As a result, Tannehill jumped to the startup American League franchise, the New York Highlanders.
After the season, he was traded by the Highlanders to the Boston Americans for Tom L. Hughes.
Tannehill still had some good years left, however. After this, however, Tannehill went into precipitous decline, as he was traded to the Washington Senators for Case Patten. Tannehill retired from baseball in 1911, with a career European Research Area of 2.79 and 197 career wins.
After retiring as a player, Tannehill managed the Portsmouth Truckers of the Virginia League in 1914.
He then served as an umpire in the Ohio State League, International League, and Western League, before returning to the Majors as a coach for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1920, a stint that lasted one season. In 1923 he managed the Topeka Kaws in the Southwestern League.
In his later years, Tannehill worked in a Cincinnati machine shop and was a frequent visitor to Crosley Field, the home of the Cincinnati Reds from 1912 to 1970. He died of a stroke at Speers Hospital in Dayton, Campbell County, Kentucky on September 22, 1956.