Tannehill was born in
Dayton, Kentucky. 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 set a career high in both
innings pitched () and wins (25) in 1898. Tannehill had several good years with the Pirates until his career year in 1901, when he led the
National League in ERA at 2.18. Tannehill posted an even better ERA in 1902 at 1.95, but as the league ERA had dropped even more precipitously, he did not lead the
National League in ERA. After six years with the Pirates of 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; he was an important part of the
Boston Americans championship team of 1904. Tannehill pitched a
no-hitter against the
Chicago White Sox on August 17, 1904 (his brother
Lee went 0-for-3 for Chicago) and continued to be an above average pitcher until 1907. 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 ERA of 2.79 and 197 career wins. Tannehill was also noted for his strong bat in his 15-year major league career, posting a career .255
batting average (361-for-1414) with 190
runs, 55
doubles, 23
triples, 5
home runs, 142
RBI and 105
bases on balls. ==After baseball==