Cunningham appeared in 162 major league games, 123 as a pitcher, compiling a 16–25 win–loss record with a 3.13 earned run average (ERA).

[1] Cunningham began his career in professional baseball in 1914 with Duluth White Sox of the Northern League.

[2] In 1915, Cunningham attended spring training with the Detroit Tigers, but was farmed out on April 2, 1915, to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association.

[2] Despite playing for a team with a losing record, Cunningham led the Southern Association with a .667 winning percentage.

[5] On March 29, 1916, Cunningham pitched a shutout in a spring training game with E. A. Batchelor writing that the spitball was his "most deadly weapon".