Ned Garver

Ned Garver
Garver in 1956.
Pitcher
Born: December 25, 1925 (1925-12-25) (age 85) Ney, Ohio
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 28, 1948 for the St. Louis Browns
Last MLB appearance
June 4, 1961 for the Los Angeles Angels
Career statistics
Win-Loss	129-157
Earned run average	3.73
Strikeouts	881
Teams
St. Louis Browns (1948-1952) Detroit Tigers (1952-1956) Kansas City Athletics (1957-1960) Los Angeles Angels (1961)
Career highlights and awards
All star in 1951

Ned Franklin Garver (born December 25, 1925) was an American League pitcher playing from 1948 to 1961 winning 129 games in his major league career. Most of his career was spent playing for perennial second-division teams like the St. Louis Browns and Kansas City Athletics.

In 1951, Garver fashioned an outstanding season. Pitching for the St. Louis Browns that season, Garver compiled a 20-12 record,^[1] which was noteworthy considering the Browns lost 102 games that year. Garver also posted a 3.73 ERA that season. Out of the Browns' 52 total wins, Garver accounted for nearly 40 percent of them. Garver also led the American League in complete games with 24 in 1951, and when he pitched, he often batted sixth in the order rather than the customary ninth compiling a .305 batting average with one home run.

Garver remains the only pitcher in American League history and modern baseball history (post-1920) to win 20 or more games for a team which lost 100 or more games in the same season and the only pitcher in Major League history to do so with a winning record.

Garver was the starting pitcher for the American League in the 1951 All-Star Game, which was held in Detroit.

Following the 1951 season, Browns owner Bill Veeck made Garver the highest paid member of the team, with a salary of $25,000.

Ted Williams, perhaps the greatest hitter in the history of baseball, said of Garver, "He could throw anything up there and get me out."

In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postmark in his honor in his hometown of Ney, Ohio, to mark the 45th anniversary of his 20-win season. On September 30, 2011, he was sent a plaque by the Commissioner of Baseball to commemorate the 20th victory, September 30, 1951.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

References

1. ^ Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero, p.105, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4165-8928-2

Sources

• The Baseball Encyclopedia
• Urbana Daily Citizen newspaper
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference

Persondata
Name	Garver, Ned
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 25, 1925
Place of birth	Ney, Ohio
Date of death
Place of death