Early Wynn
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Early Wynn was born in Hartford, Alabama. His durability helped him lead the American League in innings three times (1951, 1954, 1959) and propelled him to an AL record for most years pitched (23). Wynn won an even 300 games, highlighted by five 20-win seasons, 2,334 strikeouts, 49 shutouts, and 4,556 innings pitched in 691 games.
Wynn signed with the Senators at age 17, and after only three appearances in 1939 he blossomed in 1941, winning 72 games before being dealt to Cleveland in December 1948. The Indians' pitching coach and former star pitcher Mel Harder, taught him how to throw a curveball, slider, changeup and knuckleball. Wynn assimilated Harder's lessons easily, and after his '49 season adjustment, the next year he won 18 games and led the AL with a 3.20 ERA. In 1950 he had his first 20-win season. By this time he had become part of a strong pitching staff, forming - with Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Mike Garcia - one of the greatest pitching rotations in baseball history. Wynn was traded to the White Sox after the '57 season.
In 1958 Wynn became the first major league pitcher to lead his league in strikeouts in consecutive years with different teams (184 with Cleveland, 189 with Chicago), and he won the Cy Young Award in 1959 at the age of 39, posting a record of 22-10, with 179 strikeouts and a 3.16 ERA to lead the Sox to the pennant. In this decade Wynn had more strikeouts (1,544) than any other pitcher in the majors, and he was capable with the bat as well. A dangerous switch hitter, Wynn hit .270 or better five times, and in his career batted .214 (365 for 1704), with 17 home runs and 173 RBI, with 90 pinch-hit appearances including a grand slam, making him one of five MLB pitchers to clear the bases as a pinch-hitter.
Early Wynn returned to Cleveland in 1963 for a last run. In his career, Wynn was the pitcher off of whom Mickey Mantle hit the most home runs (13). In 1972 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
According to the Baseball Reference website, Wynn is the "most linkable" player in baseball history. (This means that, if a value of 1 is assigned to any player Wynn played on the same team with, and a value of 2 assigned to any player that played on the same team with a player with a value of 1, and so on, and the mean value is found by considering each player in baseball history, Wynn's value is lower than any other player's.)
See also
External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/wynn_early.htm)
- Template:Baseball-reference
- The Top 100 Greatest Indians Roster (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Cleveland_Indians1.stm)
- 1954 Cleveland Indians season (http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/features/topteams/1954indians.stm)
Categories: Baseball Hall of Fame | 1947 American League All-Stars | 1955 American League All-Stars | 1956 American League All-Stars | 1957 American League All-Stars | 1958 American League All-Stars | 1959 American League All-Stars | 1960 American League All-Stars | Chicago White Sox players | Cleveland Indians players | Washington Senators players | Major league pitchers | 1920 births | 1999 deaths