George Edward Waddell, one of baseball’s greatest pitchers, was raised in the little town of Prospect, Butler County.

In the early 1900s, he could match the speeds of the pitching immortals of his day, including Cy Young, Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson. Waddell “threw the best curve ball ever,” said Connie Mack, another baseball immortal who managed Waddell.

In Waddell’s time, because batters played an “inside” game designed to keep a rally going, home runs were rare and so were strikeouts.

But in 1904, Waddell set a remarkable strikeout mark of 349, a number that still stands as the greatest total for an American League lefthander. It stood as a record for all of baseball for 60 years, until Sandy Koufax broke it in 1965.

Waddell also became one of the few pitchers who never walked 100 batters in a season. Part of what made him so phenomenal was that he threw at blazing speed and yet had the control he needed to minimize walks.

Waddell also had a personality that stood out at least as much as his statistics. Known as Rube, his antics defined him.

“No one ever knew exactly the mental process that enabled Waddell to think so clearly and quickly on the field and then do such nonsensical and freakish things off the field,” Giants Manager John Joseph McGraw once mused. “There was never another like him.”

Many stories from the ball fields of Butler County told of Waddell pitching until someone stopped by with some fishing rods. Waddell would drop his glove and head to a nearby stream to catch dinner.

If a fire truck whizzed by a ballfield, Rube would leave to help fight the fire.

One verified Rube Waddell story occurred in Hickman, Ky., where he was in preseason training.

Waddell had a habit of wearing red skivvies under his baseball uniform, so he could dash off the field, strip off his uniform and be instantly ready to face an emergency.

Waddell’s manager in Hickman did not like the red skivvies, and he let Waddell know. One afternoon, a fire alarm blew. Rube dashed into action, stripping off his uniform. He commandeered a horse and galloped through town hollering, “Where’s the fire!?”

Waddell saw smoke spewing from a roof. He grabbed an ax, raced up a ladder, and proceeded to flail away, hacking off a good part of the roof. Then he climbed down, beaming with pride. But not only did he learn the fire had been contained in the chimney, so the roof didn’t need to be hacked, he also discovered he had performed a Lady Godiva: Just a few days prior Waddell had begun heeding his manager’s call to stop wearing those red skivvies.

Rube Waddell’s undeniable pitching skills made him irresistible to team owners and managers. His talents first attracted the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unfortunately, the notorious drill-instructor style of Manager Fred Clarke did not mix with Waddell.

Although Waddell performed brilliantly, he also would often wander off, playing ball, marbles or just hanging out with local children. Other times, he would suddenly disappear for days, even weeks.

Clarke couldn’t stand it, yelling to Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss: “Sell him! Release him! Drop him in the Monongahela! I don’t care; just get him the hell off my ball team!”

Waddell fortuitously drew the attention of Milwaukee Manager Connie Mack in 1900, after Waddell wandered off to Punxsutawney. Mack believed he could get the best out of Waddell and Dreyfuss allowed him to pursue the pitcher.

Mack and Waddell came to terms. Nonetheless, when Mack arrived with Waddell at the Punxsutawney railroad station, his heart sank. The sheriff and townspeople waited.

“We know Waddell is a fine ballplayer, but we think we’d all be better off if he went to Milwaukee with you,” the sheriff said.

This was the only known time that a town turned out to make sure someone left.

Waddell thrived under Mack’s calm, steady management. Mack recognized Rube’s passions and believed fishing to be the least destructive.

So one hot Sunday in August, Mack started Rube in the first game of a doubleheader with Chicago. The game went 19 innings with Rube pitching all the way, as well as stroking a triple in the 19th to win the game.

Before the second game, Mack threw a line to Waddell: “Tomorrow, we’re heading off for a three-game series in Kansas City. Can you pitch the second game today? I’ll excuse you from the Kansas City trip, and you can spend the next three days fishing.”

Waddell shut out Chicago in the second game, then went fishing in Lake Michigan, rewarding his manager with perch and walleye.

The Pirates, who held contractual rights, subsequently decided they’d take Waddell back. Rube again pitched well in Pittsburgh, but he and Clarke continued to butt heads.

Early the next season, the Pirates and Rube parted ways. Waddell played a bit in Chicago and in late 1901 landed in Los Angeles. In June 1902, Mack signed Rube to his new club, the Philadelphia A’s of the new American League.

The A’s sat in fourth place. Between July 2 and Sept. 24 Waddell compiled 24 wins against seven losses, a strikeout total of 210 with 64 walks and batted .286. He became instrumental in the A’s winning the American League pennant. His 2.05 ERA led the AL.

The Pirates won the National League pennant but, refused to play the upstart American League champions. Waddell could not face Clarke and his old team, but with the Pirates’ decision, the A’s claimed the championship.

Before spring training began in February in Jacksonville, Fla., Waddell tallied more antics while wandering around the state.

In central Florida, Rube took to riding ostriches at a farm. He was tossed off the farm. He became an official starter for one race at a motorcycle racetrack. He encountered a traveling circus with a “greaser” — an alligator wrestler. Waddell climbed into the pit. When he reached spring training, Waddell regaled the team with tales of his alligator wrestling.

As training got underway, Waddell wandered off. Several evenings later, while the team gathered outside its hotel, a band began marching up the street. Waddell was drum major, twirling and catching a baton, dancing and wearing a three-foot-high furry hat.

Mack later sent Waddell to Philadelphia with a prescribed set of stiff workouts at a local gym.

In 1903 and 1904, Rube would pitch extremely well, despite a suspension and an injury. In 1903, he had 302 strikeouts and in 1904, 349.

Even as he succeeded, Waddell’s erratic behavior continued. In June 1903, Waddell got married for the second time. Within eight weeks, Rube’s bride sued for nonsupport. Waddell claimed he brought food home, but cross-examination revealed that much of this “support” was Rube taking home half-finished bags of peanuts he found in the ballpark. The couple divorced.

Meanwhile, the A’s struggled to hit and score runs. In 1905, their hitting came alive and Waddell again pitched superbly. The A’s led the league most of the season.

In September, Waddell, who had just completed his 39th consecutive inning of scoreless pitching, got into horseplay with a teammate, injured his left shoulder, and missed several starts.

By the time of the injury, Waddell compiled a record of 27-10, an ERA of 1.48, and 287 strikeouts, all marks that topped the league. The A’s staggered home with the pennant and were to meet the National League champion New York Giants in the World Series.

Waddell’s shoulder had not healed. And, at age 29, stories of his high living abounded. Rumors flew that Waddell had accepted bribes from professional gamblers to stay out of the lineup, giving New York the advantage. The Giants won the Series, 4-1.

The stories about Waddell and corruption were fictitious but such rumors deepened resentments that some A’s players harbored about their “team fool.” By the end of 1907, enough player resentment existed that Mack traded Waddell to the St. Louis Browns.

In his first year in St. Louis, Rube won 19 games. He even beat the A’s, striking out 16 batters to set a record. St. Louis would also finish the AL season ahead of Philadelphia.

The 1908 season would be Rube’s last strong one. His terrible habits had worn him down. In 1909, his record would be 11-14.

Early next season, Rube was hit by a pitch and fractured his pitching elbow. The fracture healed, but by August, Waddell attempted a few starts but showed nothing. The Browns released him.

He put in some stints with minor league clubs in Newark, N.J., and in Minneapolis. Hoping to make it back to the majors, Rube could still not discipline himself to a healthy regimen. He was 33 when the Browns dropped him.

Another marriage failed. And Waddell, who lived near the Mississippi River and who assisted in flood emergencies, became exposed to damp, cold weather and developed major respiratory problems. Doctors prescribed him creosote in small doses but Waddell would gulp the liquid down, badly affecting his lungs.

Waddell still needed money despite his health woes, so in 1913, he signed on with a minor-league team in Virginia, Minn. Several times that summer, he collapsed on the mound in exhaustion.

After the season, Waddell went to St. Louis. That fall he was picked up, a vagrant on the streets. His lung problems were still plaguing him, and he had contracted tuberculosis.

A sister who lived near San Antonio paid his way to Texas, hoping the warmer climate would help. But tuberculosis had taken a toll and Waddell became institutionalized.

That March of 1914, some major league teams were doing spring training in Texas. Several players went to see Rube. By then, Waddell weighed 140 pounds. At six feet 2, he had played at 220.

His sister sent for their parents, who still lived in Butler County. They went to the sanitarium. Rube had died that morning, April 1, 1914 — April Fools’ Day. He was 37 years old.

Several team owners and players pooled cash and paid for a stone at his grave site in Boerne, Texas.

To this day, some fan will occasionally come by and leave a little red fire truck next to Rube’s grave.

Dr. Alan Levy has been a professor of history at Slippery Rock University for 38 years. He is the author of numerous books on American politics, music, and sports. His biography of Rube Waddell, “Rube Waddell: The Zany, Brilliant Life of a Strikeout Artist” (McFarland), is currently under contract with Hollywood Producer Schuyler Helford for possible movie rights.