American baseball player (1914-2004)
Baseball player
Harry Brecheen
|
---|
|
Pitcher
|
Born:
(
1914-10-14
)
October 14, 1914
Broken Bow, Oklahoma
, U.S.
|
Died:
January 17, 2004
(2004-01-17)
(aged 89)
Bethany, Oklahoma
, U.S.
|
|
|
April 22, 1940, for the St. Louis Cardinals
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|
September 13, 1953, for the St. Louis Browns
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Win?loss record
| 133?92
|
---|
Earned run average
| 2.92
|
---|
Strikeouts
| 901
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Harry David Brecheen
(
,
br?-
KEEN
, October 14, 1914 ? January 17, 2004), nicknamed "
the Cat
", was an American left-handed
pitcher
in
Major League Baseball
who played most of his career for the
St. Louis Cardinals
. In the late 1940s, he was among the team's stars, in 1946 becoming the first left-hander ever to
win
three games in a single
World Series
, and the only pitcher ever to win consecutive World Series games. He later led the
National League
in several categories in 1948.
Bracheen's career World Series
earned run average
of 0.83 was a major league record from 1946 to 1976. From 1951 to 1971, he held the Cardinals' franchise record for career
strikeouts
by a left-hander, and he also retired with the fourth-highest
fielding percentage
among pitchers (.983), then the top mark among left-handers.
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Broken Bow, Oklahoma
, Brecheen was acquired by the Cardinals in 1938 from the
Chicago Cubs
after two minor league seasons, but made only three relief appearances during
1940
and did not pitch again at the major league level until
1943
. He was nicknamed "The Cat" because of his ability to cover
bunts
.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
Brecheen appeared in three games, all in relief, in 1940. Exempted from military service during
World War II
with a
4-F classification
due to a spinal malformation and a boyhood ankle injury, he pitched in the
1943
and
1944 World Series
. In 1943, Brecheen pitched in 29 games, starting 13 of them. He went 9?6 with a 2.29
earned run average
in 135 innings pitched. The next season, he went 16?5. Brecheen won game four of the 1944 World Series against the
St. Louis Browns
. He was key to the Cardinals' upset win over the
Boston Red Sox
in the
1946 World Series
as he won three games during the series.
[1]
Brecheen recorded his finest season in 1948, posting a
win?loss record
of 20?7 with 21
complete games
and led the league in earned run average (2.24),
strikeouts
(149) and
shutouts
(7).
[1]
A two-time
All-Star
, Brecheen's overall career record was 133 wins and 92 losses, with a 2.92 earned run average over 12 seasons.
[1]
After breaking
Bill Sherdel
's club record for career strikeouts by a left-hander in 1951, he held the mark until
Steve Carlton
surpassed it in 1971. Brecheen's 25 career shutouts remain the Cardinal record for left-handers. His career World Series ERA of 0.83 stood as the record (with at least 25 innings) until
Jack Billingham
broke it in
1976
with a mark of 0.36.
Playing his entire career for St. Louis teams, Brecheen ended his career in 1953 as a playing coach with the
St. Louis Browns
; it was that team's final season in the city before their move to Baltimore.
[1]
He won his only start of the
1944 Series
, which matched the city's two teams.
As a hitter, Brecheen was better than average for a pitcher, posting a .192
batting average
(129-for-673) with 48
runs
, 2
home runs
, 44
RBI
and 45
bases on balls
.
Brecheen's
screwball
was ranked the eighth-best of all time by
Bill James
and
Rob Neyer
.
[2]
Later life
[
edit
]
Following his playing career, Brecheen remained with the Browns when they became the Baltimore Orioles. His playing career ended in 1954 when he hurt his arm trying to pick up a suitcase, but he remained with the organization as their pitching coach from 1954 to 1967.
[3]
While coaching the Orioles pitchers for the next 14 years, the Orioles’ staff ranked in the top four in ERA. He trained many young pitchers including
Billy O'Dell
,
Jack Fisher
,
Jim Palmer
,
Dave McNally
,
Steve Barber
,
Chuck Estrada
,
Jerry Walker
and
Milt Pappas
; He changed 36-year-old
Hoyt Wilhelm
into a starter in 1959. The knuckleballer led the league with a 2.19 era while winning 15 games and losing 11; With Brecheen's help, washed up Phillies legend
Robin Roberts
, made a comeback with the Orioles.
[4]
Brecheen was let go after the 1967 season after too many promising Orioles pitchers turned up with arm troubles during his long tenure. He was voted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. He died at age 89 in a nursing facility in
Bethany, Oklahoma
.
[1]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"HARRY BRECHEEN; WON 3 GAMES IN 1946 SERIES AGAINST SOX"
.
The Boston Globe
. Associated Press. January 19, 2004. Archived from
the original
on June 11, 2014
. Retrieved
April 3,
2014
.
- ^
James, Bill; Neyer, Rob (June 15, 2004).
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches
. Simon and Schuster. p. 52.
ISBN
9780743261586
. Retrieved
October 3,
2012
.
- ^
Palmer, Jim; Dale, Jim (1996).
Palmer and Weaver: Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine
. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel. p. 135.
ISBN
0-8362-0781-5
.
- ^
Wolf, Gregory H.
"Harry Brecheen"
.
sabr.org
.
Society for American Baseball Research
. Retrieved
February 3,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]