Waddell had worn out his welcome in Pittsburgh by 1901, and his contract was sold to the
Chicago Cubs, then managed by
Tom Loftus. Despite his previous successes managing Waddell in Columbus/Grand Rapids, Loftus was not given the latitude to cope with Waddell's problems as the Cubs manager. When problems led to his suspension, Waddell left the Cubs to pitch for semi-pro teams in northern
Illinois, as well as
Racine and
Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Frank Chance and
Joe Cantillon then invited Waddell to join a
barnstorming team that traveled to
California, where he was persuaded to stay and joined the
Los Angeles Loo Loos in a league that a year later would become the
Pacific Coast League. Connie Mack, then in Philadelphia, was desperate for pitching; when he learned that Waddell was pitching in California, he dispatched two
Pinkerton agents to sneak Waddell back to Philadelphia, where he led the
Philadelphia Athletics to the 1902 American League crown. Much later, Mack described Waddell as "the
atom bomb of baseball long before the atom bomb was discovered". On July 1, 1902, Waddell became the second major-league pitcher to throw an
immaculate inning, striking out all three batters on nine total pitches in the third inning of a 2–0 win over the
Baltimore Orioles . Shortly after the 1902 baseball season, reports indicated Waddell would play for Connie Mack's
Athletics football team. However, he never played for the football Athletics. Mack later said, "There was a little fellow from
Wanamaker's who asked for the job of quarterback. I don't think he weighed more than 140 [lbs]. Well, the first practice Waddell tackled him and broke his leg. It was the first inkling
John [Shibe] and I had that players could be badly hurt in football. We got Rube out of there without delay. He was supposed to be pretty good, but we never found out." Waddell had requested to play as a
halfback, but even before he was pulled from play, Mack told Waddell that he would not be allowed to play any position other than
guard. Waddell returned to his family's home in Pennsylvania and played with local football clubs there. He played with various football teams in his later years and had a brief stint as a
goalkeeper in the
St. Louis Soccer League. In his prime, Waddell was the game's premier
power pitcher, with 302 strikeouts in 1903, 115 more than runner-up
Bill Donovan. According to baseball historian
Lee Allen in
The American League Story, Waddell began the 1903 season "sleeping in a firehouse at
Camden, New Jersey, and ended it tending bar in a saloon in
Wheeling, West Virginia. In between those events, he won 22 games for the Philadelphia Athletics; [...] toured the nation in a
melodrama called
The Stain of Guilt; courted, married, and became separated from May Wynne Skinner of
Lynn, Massachusetts; saved a woman from drowning; accidentally shot a friend through the hand; and was bitten by a lion." His performance in
The Stain of Guilt was notable in that his co-stars, who had realized that he was incapable of memorizing his lines, allowed him to improvise his lines for every show; the play was critically acclaimed and was much discussed for a scene in which Waddell lifted the actor playing the villain and threw him across the stage with ease. Waddell used his newfound stardom as an actor to negotiate a higher wage for his baseball career. Waddell followed that season with 349 strikeouts in 1904, 110 more than runner-up
Jack Chesbro. No other pitcher compiled consecutive 300-strikeout seasons until
Sandy Koufax in 1965 and 1966. Waddell was the opposing pitcher for
Cy Young's perfect game on May 5, 1904, and hit a flyball for the final out. Waddell's 349 strikeouts represented the modern-era season record for more than 60 years, and remains sixth on the modern list. In 1946, it was initially believed that
Bob Feller's 348 strikeouts had broken Waddell's single-season mark, but research into his 1904 season box scores revealed uncounted strikeouts that lifted him back above Feller. Waddell still holds the AL single-season strikeout record by a left-handed pitcher. In 1905, Waddell won a
Triple Crown for pitching. He finished with a 27–10
win–loss record, 287
strikeouts, and a 1.48 earned run average. It was also his fourth consecutive season with 20 or more wins. Around this time, he was sharing a room with teammate
Ossee Schreckengost, as was customary during the era; Schreckengost later refused to share the room until a contract clause was created which would bar Waddell from eating crackers in bed. Waddell also gained more fame for saving the lives of people inside a department store when he picked up a burning oil stove that had overturned and carried it out of the building before it could start a fire. In
Eliot Asinof's 1963 account of the
1919 World Series fix Eight Men Out (later made into a
film of the same name), mention is made of Waddell being bribed not to pitch in the
1905 World Series against the
New York Giants. Further discussion of the 1905 World Series has taken place at
SABR. ==Later career==