Faber was born on a farm near Cascade, Iowa, on September 6, 1888. He was of Luxembourgish ancestry. While Faber was a child, his father managed a tavern and later ran the Hotel Faber in Cascade. His father became one of the wealthiest citizens in Cascade.

Faber enjoyed the greatest success of his career in the early 1920s. The live-ball era was beginning, but he was among the pitchers who made the most successful transition. The spitball was phased out after the 1920 season, with Faber one of the 17 pitchers permitted to use it for the remainder of their careers. He took advantage of Comiskey Park's spacious dimensions, surrendering only 91 home runs--barely one homer per month--from 1920 to 1931. He was one of only six pitchers to win 100 or more games in both the "dead ball" (through 1920) and live ball eras. Faber finished the 1920 season with 23 wins and led the league in games started.  During the summer of 1921, Faber and several other players had to leave a road trip in Washington after receiving subpoenas for the Black Sox trial in Chicago. Faber made the trip but was not asked to testify and he returned to the White Sox without missing a start. In 1921 and 1922, he posted win totals of 25 and 21, respectively, leading the league in ERA (1921-1922), innings (1922) and complete games (1921-1922). He was also among the league leaders in strikeouts each year, while pitching at least 25 complete games and over 300 innings.  In the wake of the Black Sox scandal, winning on a consistent basis became increasingly difficult. After being one of the top teams in the league with a powerful offense in the late 1910s, the White Sox had only two winning seasons in his last 13 years, never finishing above fifth place. In the 1921 season, he earned a 25-15 win-loss record for the post-scandal team that limped to a 62-92 finish; from 1921 to 1929 his record was 126-103. In 1927, Ty Cobb had a 21-game hitting streak which was broken when he faced Faber. Despite the widespread hitting of the era, he did not post an ERA over 3.88 until he was 41. Perhaps his last great performance was a one-hitter at age 40 in 1929.

they started losing?
the White Sox had only two winning seasons in his last 13 years, never finishing above fifth place.