In 1909 the Philadelphia Athletics rotation was absolutely stacked. Co-aces Eddie Plank and Chief Bender were flanked by Cy Morgan, Jack Coombs and a 20 year-old rookie name Harry Krause. Plank went 19-10 with a 1.76 ERA and Bender was 18-8 with a 1.66 ERA. Morgan won 16 and lost 11 with a stellar 1.65 ERA. Coombs went 12-11 and his 2.32 ERA was just about league-average. Krause managed to outperform all of them. The left-hander went 18-8 and led the American League with a 1.39 ERA.
It comes as no surprise that the American Tobacco Company rushed to include him in the 350 series print run. In 1910, they released not one, but two cards depicting him. We know them as the portrait and pitching poses.
Prior to his incredible 1909 campaign, Krause has only started 2 games in Major League Baseball. Just as quickly as he achieved stardom, he lost it. The Athletics were World Series Champions in 1910 and 1911, but Krause did not play a huge part in either title. Due to arm trouble he started only 11 games in 1910 and his ERA rose to 2.88. In 1911, his last full year in the majors, he went 11-8 with a 3.04 ERA. In 1912, he struggled and was sent to the Minor League Toledo Mud Hens. After a couple months, he was purchased by the Cleveland Naps, where he appeared in 2 games, posting an ERA of 11.57.
He threw his last pitch in the majors in 1912, but went on to have an impressive career in the Pacific Coast League. In 1913, he won 17 games for Portland with an ERA of 2.28. In 1917 he joined the Oakland Oaks, with whom he would play for the next 12 seasons. His stat line from 1917 is hard to believe. He threw an astounding 428.2 innings, winning 28 games and dropping 26. Despite that ridiculous workload, he put up an impressive 2.35 ERA.
When he finally hung up the cleats at the age of 40, he owned a 249-220 record and 3.22 ERA in 16 PCL seasons. After his career ended, he was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.
Thank you to baseball-reference.com for all the stats.