1939 Washington Senators -- Part 2
(Thanks to Val and Hank for their Vernon inputs. I wondered if Val could come up with something I couldn't -- a pre-war Vernon. Of course he could!)
On September 13, a Joe Cambria (we will introduce Joe shortly) protégé', Early "Gus" Wynn, a 19-year-old righthander from Hartford, Alabama, started on the trail to Cooperstown. Unfortunately, Wynn would not find the right fork in the road until he left Washington, but eventually he too, like Mickey Vernon, would extend his career beyond the 1950s. He managed to play long enough to earn his 300th and final win, thereby guaranteeing immortality in the Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 1972. A scowling type on the mound, Wynn had a live fastball, but indeed never assembled the complementary pitches required for consistency until the Nats traded him to Cleveland at the end of 1948. In retrospect, that deal may well have been the worst the Senators made in their entire history, but for the time being, Wynn lost both his late-season decisions, and he would spend the better part of the next two years in the minors before resurfacing in Washington in 1941. . . .
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