AstrosMike Reply

In an earlier post - I replied to AstrosMike's email about some of the players I may have overlooked in my list of the best pitchers since WWII. I think it is only right to give Mike the last word.

Hi Chris!

To defend my memorables, Reynolds was Allie "Superchief" Reynolds, not Shane. Allie was 7-2 in the WS with four saves in 15 appearances (9 starts) and played on six winning WS teams for the Yanks from 1947-53. His career regular season record was 182-107, 3.30, with 49 saves.

Burdette won 203, going 157-95 from 1953-61, including a no-hitter. He was one of the great spitballers. His 1957 WS vs. the Yanks was incredible with three complete games including two shutouts and a 0.67 ERA. Spahn and Burdette preceded the Koufax and Drysdale combo.

Face was 18-1 in relief in 1959. He would come into the games in the 7th and 8th innings, even with his team down by a run or two, so he was part vulture that year. In those days, there was no such official thing as a "save" in the stats. That stat came in the 60's. He was one of the original split-fingered fastball pitchers with his forkball. In the 1960 WS, in four games, he had three saves of two innings or more and would have been the winner in Game 7 had not Friend and Haddix blown it for him in the ninth, leading up to Maz' HR. He won almost 100 games in relief with almost 200 saves.

Maglie was 119-62 (.657), 3.15 in his career. He was suspended for four years for jumping to the Mexican League in 1946 where he excelled. Add that to his three years in the military during WWII and he almost lost seven years. He joined the Giants at age 33 in 1950, winning 114 games from then until his 1958 retirement. He pitched for all three NY teams. He pitched a no-hitter at age 39 for Brooklyn.

Newcombe was 149-90 (.623) in his career. He was 1949 Rookie of the Year with five shutouts. He missed two plus seasons to military service during the Korean War, that probably cost him close to forty wins. When he came back in 1954 he wasn't sharp (9-8) after winning 20 in 1951. In 1955 and 1956 he was incredible going 20-5 and 27-7 (Cy Young). He was an excellent hitter with a .271 BA and .339 OBP. He would pinch hit when a lefty hitter wasn't available late in a game. He started having alcohol problems after that and his career went down the tubes. He counseled baseball alcoholics while working for the Dodgers in later years.