[Archive]

Posted By: Bob Manning

He did it by being the luckiest closer in the history of the game, at least for one season. A check of Face's stats for '59 shows him with those 18 wins AND JUST 10 SAVES in 57 appearances, all in relief. (The entire staff had only 17 saves for the entire season.) Those Pirates, remember, featured the same starting lineup that won it all the following year, and probably had a better bench. And while they won only 78 games in '59, an impressive number of them were of the come-from-behind variety. It seemed to happen about once a week ... ElRoy would come into a game in which the Bucs either led or were tied, and somehow give up enough to become the pitcher of record. Then a big rally would give him the win. Eighteen of them, before losing his final decision.

I spent the entire summer of '59 listening to Bob Prince and Jim Woods tell me this --- it must have been so.