Ed Farmer

Edward (E.D.) Joseph Farmer (born October 18, 1949) is a former Major League relief pitcher with an 11-year career from 1971–1974 and 1977–1983. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and Oakland A's, all in the American League, and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League. Farmer is currently the play-by-play broadcaster for Chicago White Sox radio broadcasts.

Baseball career

Farmer (left) speaks with a U.S. Navy officer while broadcasting a White Sox game, 2012

Farmer attended St. Rita High School on the southwest side of Chicago. Farmer's best seasons were with the Chicago White Sox from 1979 to 1981. He was acquired by Chicago with Gary Holle in June of the 1979 season from the Texas Rangers in exchange for Eric Soderholm.^[1] Farmer responded by recording 14 saves for the Sox, 13 of them coming after the All-Star break. A notable feud started between Al Cowens and Farmer early in the 1979 season. On May 8 while playing the Kansas City Royals, a Farmer pitch thrown in the top of the 5th inning fractured Cowens' jaw and broke several teeth;^[2] Cowens would miss 21 games. Farmer also hit Royal Frank White in the same game and broke his wrist^[3] and caused him to miss 33 contests. The next season on June 20‚ 1980 while playing Detroit‚ the now-Tiger Cowens hit an infield grounder against Farmer at Comiskey Park. While Farmer watched his infielder make the play, Cowens ran to mound and tackled the pitcher from behind, instead of running to first base; getting in several punches before the benches cleared and the two were separated.^[3] Cowens was suspended for 7 games and a warrant was issued for his arrest in Illinois‚ forcing him to skip the remainder of the series. Later Farmer agreed to drop the charges in exchange for a handshake‚ and the 2 players brought out the lineup cards before the game on September 1. However, future appearances for Cowens in Chicago were greeted with a "Coward Cowens" banner.

Despite the ongoing feud with Cowens, 1980 would be Farmer's best. He was selected to the American League All-Star team when he compiled 18 saves prior to the break and finished the season with career highs in saves with 30 and wins with 7. Farmer started only 21 games of his career. His other 349 appearances were out of the bullpen. In 370 total games, he holds a 30–43 record with a 4.28 ERA. He accumulated 395 strikeouts in 624 innings pitched. Farmer finished his career with 75 career saves.

Retirement

Farmer was a scout in the Orioles organization for three years between 1988–1990. Afterwards, he became the color commentator on White Sox radio broadcasts, where he became well-known among fans by the nickname "Farmio", from 1991 to 2005, when it was announced that Farmer would be taking over full-time play-by-play duties for the team the following year when longtime partner John Rooney moved to the St. Louis Cardinals Radio Network. Farmer's current broadcast partner is Darrin Jackson.

Broadcast Controversy

On July 18, 2015, as an announcer for the Chicago White Sox radio broadcast, Farmer twice advocated for White Sox pitchers to intentionally hit Kansas City Royals batters during a broadcast. Following a 13th inning home run by Royals batter Lorenzo Cain, Farmer said, "If I'm on the mound and he does that, next time up when I face him he's looking at the sky.".^[4]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube