Baseball Pitcher Ned F. Garver has died
He was not on the list.
Ned F. Garver, 91 years, of Bryan, Ohio passed away Sunday
night in the emergency room of Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers-Bryan.
Ned was a former Major League pitcher, pitching for the St. Louis Browns,
Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics and Los Angeles Angels. He was preceded
in death by his first wife, Dorothy. He is survived by his second wife,
Dolores. Arrangements are pending with Oberlin-Turnbull Funeral Home-Lynn
Street Chapel, 206 N. Lynn St., Bryan.
Ned Franklin Garver was born on December 25, 1925, in Ney,
Ohio, to parents Arl and Susie Garver. He was the fourth of five children. The
Garvers lived on a wheat farm, which they tended using horses. Though Garver's
mother wanted him to be a preacher or an undertaker, his father encouraged him
to play baseball; the older Garver was once a successful amateur pitcher.
Ned grew up rooting for the Detroit Tigers, the closest Major League Baseball
(MLB) team to Ney. He recalled awaking at midnight and getting the chores done
early so that his family could arrive early at Briggs Stadium to watch a
doubleheader, something the Garvers did several times during his youth. Because
they did not have enough money to buy concessions at the games, Garver would
bring a picnic basket with sandwiches made from home. Tommy Bridges was one
of his favorite players.
Garver started pitching for his town's local semipro
baseball team, also playing baseball and basketball at Ney High School. As a
senior in 1943, Garver helped the high school baseball team reach the state
championship, where he suffered the loss in a 3–2 defeat.
Garver's performance with the semipro team caused three MLB
teams to be interested in him: the St. Louis Browns, the Pittsburgh Pirates,
and the Washington Senators. He did not think he would be able to take
advantage of any of these opportunities, as he enlisted in the United States
Naval Air Corps in the fall of 1943. However, he was discharged the following
spring because his feet were flat. Garver's manager with the semipro team, P.
L. McCormick, contacted the Browns, who signed Garver to a minor league contract.
Garver began his professional career at age 18 in 1944 with
the Newark Moundsmen, St. Louis' affiliate in the Ohio State League (OSL). On July
19, he threw a no hitter against the Marion Diggers. Garver ultimately pitched
in 32 games for the team, going 21–8. He led the OSL in wins, earned run
average (ERA) (1.21), and innings pitched (245). In the playoffs, he defeated
the Middletown Red Sox three times, ultimately helping the Moundsmen to the
first OSL championship since the league was put on hiatus due to World War II.
The following season, Garver pitched briefly for the Browns'
Single-A affiliate, the Elmira Pioneers of the Eastern League, before being
promoted to the Double-A Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association. In
Toledo, he served as both a starting pitcher and a reliever, starting 15 games
while making 16 relief appearance. He went 5–8 with an ERA of 4.64 and a walks plus
hits per inning pitched (WHIP) figure of 1.712.
In 1946, Garver was sent to the San Antonio Missions,
another Double-A team in the St. Louis Browns organization, and he would stay
there until the end of the 1947 season. During his two years in San Antonio,
Garver went 25–22 with an ERA of 3.43. According to Garver, the Browns nearly
called him up in September 1947 when rosters expanded in September, but they
decided to keep him in San Antonio when Ox Miller had his contract sold to the
Chicago Cubs, as this left the Missions short of pitchers.
Garver attended spring training with the Browns in 1948.
"[He] likes to pitch and know how to pitch," manager Zack Taylor
said, though he was not certain what role he would use Garver in. Garver was
afraid he would be sent back to the minor leagues. However, late in spring
training, Taylor became impatient waiting for pitcher Cliff Fannin to begin
warming up for a start against the Cleveland Indians and chose to start Garver
instead. Garver allowed one hit against a lineup composed mostly of major
league regulars and was named to St. Louis's roster to begin the season.
His MLB debut was not as a pitcher, but as a pinch runner,
on April 28 in a 9–4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. His pitching debut came at
Griffith Stadium when he started against the Senators on May 9. He recalled
Taylor having Sam Zoldak warm up as well before the game. "I guess he
didn’t think I’d make it," Garver said. The pitcher felt nervous and
allowed three runs in the first inning. He followed the first inning with five
scoreless innings but still earned the loss in a 3–1 defeat. After losing his
second start to the Tigers on May 15, Garver won his first game in his third
start, allowing just two unearned runs on May 22 in a 4–2 win over Washington.
Used mainly as a starting pitcher through the end of June,
Garver then made a number of relief appearances in the second half of the
season, although he still started several games. On September 4, he pitched 10
innings, driving in the winning run with a walk-off RBI single against Ed
Klieman in a 2–1 victory over the Cleveland Indians. The Sporting News called
him one of the "cagiest young pitchers in the circuit" in its
September 15 issue. In 38 games (24 starts), Garver had a 7–11 record, a 3.41
ERA, 75 strikeouts, 95 walks, and 200 hits allowed in 198 innings.
In 1949, Garver was named the Browns' Opening Day starter,
the first of four consecutive years in which he would start their first game.
Against the Indians in St. Louis's first game on April 19, he threw a complete
game, outpitching Cleveland starter Bob Feller in a 5–1 victory. Years later,
Garver remembered the victory as "special" because the Indians had
just won the World Series, and "to beat [Feller] was a miracle!"
Again facing the Indians on May 30, he and Gene Bearden entered the 12th inning
having allowed each other's teams to score just once. Garver took the loss when
Ken Keltner hit a game-ending sacrifice fly with two outs in the bottom of the
inning. He threw his first major league shutout on June 29, holding the White
Sox to five hits in a 1–0 victory. In 41 games (32 starts), Garver had a 12–17
record, tying with Paul Calvert and Sid Hudson of the Washington Senators for
the American League (AL) lead in losses, though the low-scoring Browns were
held to three runs or less in 14 of Garver's defeats. He had a 3.98 ERA, 70
strikeouts, 102 walks, and 245 hits allowed in 223+2⁄3 innings.
Against the Tigers on May 13, 1950, Garver and Virgil Trucks
each pitched 10 scoreless innings for their teams before Vic Wertz won the game
in the 11th inning for Detroit with a two-out single.[1] After the Browns were
defeated 20–4 by the Boston Red Sox on June 7 and 29–4 on June 8, it was
Garver's turn to pitch in the final game of the series on June 9. He struggled
in the first inning, and catcher Sherm Lollar suggested that he try to
"loosen" the Boston hitters. Garver responded by throwing brushback
pitches at them in the next inning. He allowed seven runs in seven innings but
earned the victory in a 12–7 triumph, receiving a free steak afterwards from a
grateful manager Taylor.
None of the Browns' relief pitchers had an ERA under 5.00 in
1950, and Taylor allowed Garver to complete 17 of his final 18 starts. The
stretch started with a game against the White Sox on June 30, in which Garver
pitched 12+2⁄3 innings against the White Sox but suffered the loss in a 3–2
defeat when Gus Zernial hit a game-ending home run. In 1950, Garver led the AL
with 22 complete games and finishing with a 3.39 ERA, second to Early Wynn's
3.20.[27] His record was 13–18 with the 58-96 Browns, though the 18 losses only
tied him for third in the AL this time (with Ray Scarborough).
On June 1, 1951, Garver threw a shutout against the Red Sox,
recording two RBI as a hitter as St. Louis won 4–0. Arm soreness caused him to
miss the final two weeks of June, yet Casey Stengel chose Garver to start the
All-Star Game in early July, which Garver later called "one of the biggest
thrills I've ever experienced." He allowed one unearned run in three
innings, receiving a no decision in an 8–3 defeat.
Against the Philadelphia Athletics on August 24, Garver was
the pitcher for the Browns on "Grandstand Managers Night," a
promotion in which the fans held up large placards with "Yes" or
"No" printed on them and made decisions on the team's strategy in the
game against the Athletics. Garver recalled at one point during the game, the
Athletics had runners on first and third base with only one out. He wanted the
team to play the infielders farther to the plate, which would make a double play
more likely. The fans, however, voted twice to play the infield in. Realizing
this was not a good strategy, catcher Sherm Lollar called time and headed out
to the mound to talk to Garver, then started walking around behind home plate
when he returned to his position, to delay the game. Prompted a third time by
the coach as to whether to play the infield in or not, the fans finally changed
their vote to "No." Garver got Pete Suder to hit into a double play
to end the inning, and he pitched a complete game as the Browns won 5–3.
Facing the White Sox in the season's final game on September
30, Garver needed a victory to attain the 20-win milestone. With the score tied
at four in the fourth inning, Garver hit his only home run of the season,
against Randy Gumpert, to put his team ahead. With Garver not pitching well in
the early innings, Lollar suggested that the pitcher rely on his sinking
fastball exclusively for a few innings, then return to throwing all his pitches
later in the game. After allowing four runs through the first four innings,
Garver allowed just one unearned run the rest of the game. The Browns won 9–5,
and Garver won his 20th. The Commissioner of Baseball sent him a plaque to
commemorate the victory.
In 1951, Garver compiled a 20–12 record with a 3.73 ERA, 84
strikeouts, 96 walks, and 237 hits allowed in 246 innings. Offensively, he
compiled .305 batting average with one home run and nine RBI. He was also used
as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. The Browns finished last in the American
League with a 52–102 record, meaning Garver recorded the win in 38% of his
team's victories. He was the first pitcher to win 20 games with a last-place
team since Sloppy Thurston did so for the White Sox in 1924, and he was one of
two pitchers in the 20th century to win 20 or more games for a team which lost
100 or more games in the same season, along with Irv Young, who went 20-21 for
the 51-103 1905 Boston Braves. He led the AL with 24 complete games, the second
year in a row he had thrown the most. In Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award
voting, Garver received the same amount of first-place votes as New York
Yankees players Yogi Berra and Allie Reynolds, though Berra ultimately took the
most shares on ballots and won the award.
Over the 1951-52 offseason, the United States House of
Representatives held hearings on the legality of MLB's exemption from antitrust
laws. New York Representative Emanuel Celler wrote Garver a letter asking him
to testify before Congress on the subject. Garver was unable to appear because
he was on a barnstorming tour with Satchel Paige, but he did write a letter
back to Celler with his views on the subject. Regarding baseball's reserve
clause, Garver felt there was no adequate substitute to prevent one team from
stockpiling all of the good players by offering them the most money. He did
propose an arbitration system, in which player's with at least three years
experience could have a panel determine their salary. "I do not care where
I play baseball as long as I feel I am getting paid what I am worth,"
Garver said in an interview with The Sporting News.
Before the 1952 season, Veeck made Garver the highest paid
member in team history with a salary of $25,000. Brimming with confidence at
the start of the year, Garver threw shutouts in his first two starts, against
the Tigers on April 15 and the White Sox on April 20. As he was throwing batting practice between
that and his next game, he suffered a pinched vertebra in his neck. The injury
affected how he threw, and he battled arm fatigue, suffering further injury to
the arm as he continued to try to pitch.
On June 9, the Browns fired manager Rogers Hornsby, and the
grateful players presented their owner with a trophy for getting rid of the
hated manager. According to Garver, his teammates bought the trophy without his
knowledge, but as their player representative, he was the one to present it to
Veeck. Following his 21st start on August 11, he had a 7–10 record, a 3.69 ERA,
60 strikeouts, 55 walks, and 130 hits allowed in 148+2⁄3 innings pitched.
On August 14, Garver became part of what The Sporting News
called at the time the "biggest ‘waiver’ deal in baseball history"
when he was traded to the Tigers with Jim Delsing, Bud Black, and Dave Madison
for slugger Vic Wertz, Don Lenhardt, Dick Littlefield, and Marlin Stuart.
In his first start of 1954, on April 17 against the
Baltimore Orioles, Garver allowed five hits and no runs, throwing a shutout in
a 1–0 victory. He led the AL in ERA in mid-May 1954, having posted an 0.49 mark
in his first five games. After Garver's second shutout of the year on July 30,
in which he held the Red Sox to four hits in a 5–0 win, general manager Muddy
Ruel observed that the pitcher seemed more confident this season. He threw a
third shutout on August 10, outpitching Wynn in a 4–0 victory over Cleveland
that biographer Gregory H. Wolf called "impressive". In 35 games (32
starts), he had a 14–11 record, 93 strikeouts, 62 walks, and 216 hits allowed
in 246+1⁄3 innings. His 2.81 ERA was seventh in the AL, and his 16 complete
games tied for fifth in the league, with Trucks and Arnie Portocarrero. Though
sabermetrics had not been developed at the time, Garver's 4.4 wins above replacement
was the sixth-best mark among AL pitchers.
The 1955 Tigers were the first winning MLB team Garver had ever played for. On
June 7, Garver pitched all 12 innings of a game against the Yankees, allowing
three runs and earning the victory when Fred Hatfield hit a home run in the
bottom of the 12th inning. In July, Garver allowed 10 runs in 45 innings over
five consecutive starts, each of which he won. Detroit contended for the
pennant until August, when a 12–18 record took them out of competition. Garver,
who had posted a 10–9 record through July 26, lost seven of his final nine
decisions, posting a 5.61 ERA over that span, though the Tigers also did not
score many runs for him. In 33 games (32 starts), Garver had a 12–16 record, a
3.98 ERA, 83 strikeouts, and 67 walks in 230+2⁄3 innings. His 16 losses were
third in the AL, behind Jim Wilson's 18 and Bob Porterfield's 17. Garver led
the AL with 102 earned runs allowed and 251 hits allowed.
Before his first start of the 1956 season, on April 20,
Garver injured his elbow while throwing curveballs in cold weather during
batting practice. The Sporting News reported that his career might be over. He
pitched one game in May, three in July, and one in September. In those six
games (three starts), he had an 0–2 record, a 4.08 ERA, six strikeouts, 13
walks, and 15 hits allowed in 17+2⁄3 innings. On December 5, Garver, Trucks,
Wayne Belardi, Gene Host, and $20,000 in cash were traded to the Kansas City
Athletics for Eddie Robinson, Bill Harrington, Jim Finigan, and Jack Crimian.
As the Opening Day starter for the Athletics in 1958, Garver
held the Indians to seven hits and no runs in a 5–0 shutout victory on April
15. In May, he recorded two additional shutouts, a 3–0 victory over Chicago on
May 15 and a 4–0 triumph over Baltimore on May 25. In the first game of a
doubleheader against the White Sox on August 13, Garver allowed one run in 11
innings, earning the win after a Harry Simpson home run gave Kansas City the
lead in the top of the 11th. Appearing in 31 games (28 starts), Garver had a
12–11 record, a 4.03 ERA, 72 strikeouts, 66 walks, and 192 hits allowed in 201
innings pitched.
Garver was the number two starter in Kansas City's rotation
in 1959, behind Bob Grim. In his second start of the year, he pitched a
five-hit shutout against the White Sox on April 16. Against Baltimore on June
21, Garver pitched a three-hit shutout while contributing offensively, as he
recorded a double, a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI in a 7–0 win.
He had hits in all four of his at bats on July 5 against the White Sox,
including a home run against Barry Latman, but he took the loss after Nellie
Fox singled to score the go-ahead run in the 10th inning of a 4–3 defeat. In 32
games (30 starts), he had a 10–13 record, a 3.71 ERA, 61 strikeouts, 42 walks,
and 214 hits allowed in 201+1⁄3 innings.
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