| Ed Farmer | |
|---|---|
 Farmer with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1982 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1949-10-18)October 18, 1949 Evergreen Park, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: April 1, 2020(2020-04-01) (aged 70) Los Angeles,California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 9, 1971, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1983, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 30–43 |
| Earned run average | 4.30 |
| Strikeouts | 395 |
| Saves | 75 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Edward Joseph Farmer (October 18, 1949 – April 1, 2020) was an American professionalbaseballpitcher, who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for eight different teams, predominantly in theAmerican League, between 1971 and 1983. The team he played the most games for was theChicago White Sox, including oneAll-Star Game appearance. After his retirement as a player, he spent nearly 30 years as a White Sox radio broadcaster.
Farmer had limited success during the first part of his career; however, his fortunes changed dramatically following a mid-career injury. He re-invented himself while toiling for three-plus years, spent mostly in theminor leagues. This led to his best seasons, 1979 to 1981 with the Chicago White Sox, during which he recorded 54 of his 75 careersaves.[1] Farmer started only 21 games in his career;[1] his other 349 appearances were out of thebullpen. In 370 total MLB games, his career statistics include a 30–43 record, with a 4.30earned run average (ERA), 395strikeouts, and 624innings pitched.[1]
Farmer was a 1967 graduate ofSt. Rita High School on the southwest side ofChicago.[2] He was drafted by theCleveland Indians in the fifth round of the1967 MLB draft,[3] and played in theirfarm system from 1967 into the 1973 season,[4] while making 105 major league appearances with the Indians during parts of the 1971–1973 seasons.[1] He also briefly played forChicago State University after high school.[5]
In June 1973, Farmer was traded to theDetroit Tigers, in exchange for pitcherTom Timmermann andinfielderKevin Collins.[3] He made 24 appearances for Detroit through the end of the 1973 season.[1]
In March 1974, Farmer was part of a multi-team trade that sent him to theNew York Yankees; they then sold his contract to thePhiladelphia Phillies, before he played a game for them.[3] Farmer later stated it was because he had refused a minor league assignment with the Yankees.[6] He appeared in 14 games for Philadelphia through the end of the 1974 season.[1] After the season, the Phillies traded him to theMilwaukee Brewers.[3] During the 1975 season, Farmer was limited to 14 appearances for the Brewers'Triple-A affiliate,[4] then was released by the team in April 1976.[3] He did not play professionally during the 1976 season,[4] due to surgery to remove abone spur in his right shoulder.[6]
To this point in his career, Farmer had appeared in 143 MLB games, registering a 12–12 record, with a 5.05 ERA, 14 saves, and 139 strikeouts, in233+1⁄3 innings pitched.
Farmer was with theBaltimore Orioles from March 1977 to March 1978,[3] making just one MLB appearance for the team while otherwise pitching in Triple-A.[4] The Brewers signed Farmer in April 1978 for his second stint with the franchise.[3] Making just three MLB appearance for them during the 1978 season, he again mainly pitched in Triple-A.[4] After the season, the Brewers traded Farmer and first basemanGary Holle to theTexas Rangers in exchange for pitcherReggie Cleveland.[3]
Farmer made 11 MLB appearances for the Rangers during the first half of the 1979 season.[1] A notable feud started between Farmer and outfielderAl Cowens — then with theKansas City Royals — early in the season. On May 8, a Farmer pitch thrown in the top of the fifth inning fractured Cowens' jaw and broke several teeth,[7] causing him to miss 21 games.[8] Farmer later said that Cowens had attempted tosteal signs from thecatcher and thought the pitch would be abreaking ball away, but it was actually an insidefastball.[9] At the start of the same game, Farmer had also hit Royals second basemanFrank White and broke his wrist,[8] which kept him sidelined for a month.[10]
The White Sox acquired Farmer and Holle from the Rangers on June 15, 1979, in exchange for third basemanEric Soderholm.[3] Farmer responded by recording 14 saves for the Sox, 13 of them coming after the All-Star break.[1]
The next season, on June 20‚ 1980, Farmer and Cowens faced each other again; Farmer now with the White Sox and Cowens now with the Tigers. In a game atComiskey Park, with Farmer pitching, Cowens hit a ground ball to shortstop.[11] While Farmer watched his infielders make the play, Cowens ran to the mound rather than first base, and tackled the pitcher from behind, landing several punches before the benches cleared and the two were separated.[8]American League presidentLee MacPhail suspended Cowens for seven games, and Farmer filed acriminal complaint, resulting in awarrant being issued for Cowens in Illinois.[12] Later, Farmer agreed to drop the charges in exchange for a handshake‚ and the two players brought out the lineup cards before a game in Detroit on September 1, and shook hands.[13][14] A later appearance by Cowens at Comiskey Park was greeted by fans with a "Coward Cowens" banner.[15]
In 1980, Farmer was selected to play in theAll-Star Game atDodger Stadium. He faced three batters, recording the final two outs of the sixth inning when he gotPete Rose to ground into adouble play.[16] Farmer compiled 18 saves prior to the break, and finished the season with career highs in saves (30) and wins (7).[1] He took the White Sox to arbitration in 1981, asking for $495,000 while the team offered $300,000. The arbitrator picked Farmer's number.Jim Palmer cited this as an example of the reason for rising salaries in the major leagues: "Since the owners kept paying more and more to mediocre players, the averages kept going up and the arbitrators looked at the averages and usually went with the player's number, which raised the average some more."[17] After spending the 1981 season with the White Sox, registering three wins and 10 saves,[1] Farmer became afree agent in November 1981.[3] In his three seasons with the White Sox, Farmer appeared in 148 games and notched 54 saves while striking out 144 batters in233+2⁄3 innings pitched, with a 3.31 ERA.[1]
The Phillies signed Farmer in January 1982,[3] for his second stint with the team. After pitching in 47 MLB games for them in 1982 and 12 games in 1983,[1] the club released him in August 1983.[3] Shortly thereafter, he signed with theOakland Athletics,[3] appearing in five games for them late in the 1983 season,[1] his last MLB appearances. Oakland released Farmer in March 1984.[3] He finished his career in the minor leagues with Oakland in 1984, with the unaffiliatedClass AMiami Marlins of theFlorida State League in 1985, and with thePittsburgh Pirates' Triple-A team in 1986.[4]
Ed Farmer | |
|---|---|
 Farmer (left) in the broadcast booth in 2012. | |
| Years active | 1991–2019 |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team | Chicago White Sox |
| Genre(s) | Color commentator (1991–2005) Play-by-play (2006–2019) |
| Sport | Major League Baseball |
| Employer | Chicago White Sox Radio Network |
Farmer was ascout in the Orioles organization between 1988 and 1990,[18] and briefly had a White Sox front office role.[19]
In 1991, Farmer took a part-time role on White Sox radio broadcasts, then was a full-timecolor commentator from 1992 to 2005.[19] He became well known among fans by the nickname "Farmio".[20] In 2006, he took overplay-by-play fromJohn Rooney, and served in that role through the 2019 season, with broadcast partnersChris Singleton (2006–2007),Steve Stone (2008), andDarrin Jackson (2009–2019).[18] Farmer served a total of 29 seasons as a White Sox broadcaster;[19] 28 of them full-time, and 14 giving play-by-play.[18]
During his life, Farmer suffered withpolycystic kidney disease, that forced him to get a kidney transplant in 1991. He additionally advocated for people with kidney diseases. He was the board director of the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Foundation, and he spoke to theU.S. House of Representatives in 1995 about polycystic kidney disease. AlongsideJesse White, Farmer contributed to the development of the Illinois' organ donation program.[18]
He died on April 1, 2020, at the age of 70. His final broadcast had been aCactus League game during White Soxspring training in February 2020.[18]