Willie the Phillie: Veterans Stadium's First Breakout Star

In 1971 the Philadelphia Phillies opened their first new ballpark in more than 60 years - Veterans Stadium. "The Vet", as it immediately became known, was one of the new breed of multi-purpose stadiums built to host baseball, football, and rock concerts. That it did none of these particularly well was not apparent at first. The field featured an artificial grass surface, known as Astroturf, that virtually eliminated rain outs and also insured that balls hit on the ground were turned into missiles and fly balls bounded off the turf like it was a trampoline. 

The opening of the stadium had just about everything, new team mascots, Phil and Phyllis, the first pitch delivered by helicopter to catcher Mike Ryan, a dog sled to bring in Montreal Expos general manager Jim Fanning, and even a new Phillies announcer, Harry Kalas. What The Vet did not have was a good ballclub. The Phillies, coming off a 73-88 fifth place finish in 1970, were destined for a 67-95 last place finish in 1971.

Amidst all the fanfare and the poor play one man emerged as a bright light in the new season and the new ballpark. His name was Guillermo "Willie" Montanez. On the surface Montanez was an unlikely candidate to play the hero. He was only a Phillie by accident. Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, he was one of the players offered to Phillies general Manager John Quinn after Curt Flood refused to report to the Phillies following the 1969 trade that sent Dick Allen to St. Louis. Phillies manager Frank Lucchesi had seen Montanez play in Puerto Rico while he was managing in winter ball down there. He suggested that Quinn take a chance on the line drive hitting, slick fielding first baseman. 

Montanez had broken his leg sliding into a base in the minor leagues and had missed almost the entire 1969 season. In 1970, he played some right field and first base for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate in Eugene, Oregon as his leg strengthened and his running improved. He was recalled by the Phillies at the end of the season and saw action in 18 games. When spring training 1971 rolled around he was considered a long shot to make the team. The Phillies had veteran slugger Deron Johnson at first base and had traded to get minor league phenom Roger Freed to play right. Lucchesi decided to try Montanez in center field. All Willie did was tear up spring training with hit after hit and surprising power. 

As a center fielder Lucchesi described Montanez as "very adequate to good", while at the plate long time hitting coach Wally Moses called Montanez "that guy with the bat that hits line drives." When the season began Montanez was the starting center fielder and the line drives kept on coming. By the end of April, Montanez was hitting .327 with four home runs. 

Things only got better. According to Philadelphia Daily News sportswriter Bill Conlin, in the locker room in Atlanta before a May 16 game with the Braves, Willie boasted that "I am going to take [Braves starter Pat] Jarvis downtown today." A teammate suggested that the way the Phillies were scoring runs he better hit two. "Okay," replied Willie, "Maybe twice." Montanez then proceeded to homer twice, in the fourth and seventh innings off Jarvis. With the game tied at 3-3, Montanez doubled and scored the winning run on a Don Money single. The legend of Willie Wonderful grew.

Along with his talent for hitting line drives, Montanez attracted attention for the flamboyant way he played the game. In the parlance of the day, Willie was a "hot dog." As he walked to the plate he flipped his bat in his hand like a baton. When he removed his batting helmet he tossed it so that it spun like a top. He would snap his glove flashily when catching routine fly balls. Willies' eccentricities could both delight and frustrate fans, teammates, opponents and managers alike. As Conlin pointed out, "There is a thin line that separates a colorful catch from a showboat catch" and Montanez crossed that line a few times during the year, especially when he dropped fly balls because of his glove snap. Still, as long as he kept hitting, occasional lapses could be forgiven. Willie explained, "It's the way I play my whole life. I can't change now." Skipper Lucchesi said, "I know it's around the league that he's a hot dog. They may think he's a hot dog, but my answer to that is give me 25 hot dogs." 

Through the summer months Montanez' batting average slipped a bit, but his power numbers improved. He was leading the team in doubles, triples and runs batted in and batting third in the order. And while he maintained that he was not a home run hitter, his 16 by July 12 were second on the team to Johnson. He was getting attention from around the league and was a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year. In a headline in the Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stan Hochman dubbed him "Willie the Phillie", and the moniker stuck. 

In August, Montanez suffered through an extended slump that saw his average fall to .246. The slump likely cost him Rookie of the Year honors, but he broke out of it with style. On September 13 in St. Louis, Willie went five for five with a double and two home runs. He led off the 10th inning with a home run off Cardinal lefty Don Shaw to win the game. The slump over, Wille finished the season with a flare. On the last day of the season, he notched his 30th home run, breaking Dick Allen's Phillies rookie record. That record still stands today.

Montanez finished second to Atlanta catcher Earl Williams in Rookie of the Year balloting, but his numbers were nothing to apologize for.  He was top 10 in the league in home runs (30), RBIs (99), extra base hits (63), total bases (282), and led the league in sacrifice flies (13). Not at all bad for an unheralded rookie coming off a broken leg, and playing out of position. "Willie the Phillie" was a beacon of light in a dreary first season at The Vet.

Montanez played for the Phillies until May 1975 , when he made his final big contribution to the fortunes of the Phillies. He was traded to San Francisco for a cornerstone of the great Phillies teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s, centerfielder Gary Maddox.

Ken Brett's Home Run Spree: June 1973

Left-handed pitcher Ken Brett is probably best remembered today as the great George Brett's older brother. The elder Brett, however, carved out a pretty good 14-year major league career himself as a journeyman pitcher. Ken and George shared at least one trait on the ballfield. They could both hit. In June 1973, Ken Brett set an all time record for a pitcher by hitting homeruns in four consecutive games. And while that feat is remarkable enough, Brett was also the starting and winning pitcher in those four games. This while pitching for a Phillies team that finished 71-91 and dead last in the National League East Division.

Ken Brett had come up through the Boston Red Sox organization and had indifferent success with them over parts of four seasons. Boston finally gave up on him and traded him to Milwaukee in 1972, where Ken established himself as a starting pitcher. In 1973, the pitching starved Phillies acquired Brett from Milwaukee along with Jim Lonborg and some other minor league arms for Don Money, Bill Champion, and John Vukovich. The trade from the American to the National League was a propitious one for Ken Brett. The American League had just adopted the designated hitter. If he had stayed in the American League, Brett, who had already established himself as a good hitter, if not a great pitcher, would have not been able to bat. 

After starting the season in the bullpen, Brett moved into the Phillies starting rotation to stay in May. He had a 4-2 record and a .312 batting average when, on June 9, he was the starting pitcher against the San Diego Padres and right-hander Bill Greif. In the fifth inning with the score tied at 1-1, Brett led off the inning by hitting his first National League home run to the opposite field in left. The run turned out to be the game winner as the Phillies and Brett won the game 4-1. Brett pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and Bill Wilson picked up the last five outs for the save.

Brett's next start on June 13 turned out to be a laugher. The Phillies scored 12 runs in the first two innings on their way to a 16-3 victory over Tommy John and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brett hit another solo homer in the fifth inning, this time off reliever Charlie Hough. The Philadelphia Daily News' Bill Conlin reported that Brett's home run was the hardest hit ball in a contest where the Phillies sent rockets all over the ballpark. Brett went the full nine innings for the win.

Ken pitched another complete game in his next start on June 18 against the New York Mets. His home run was another solo shot leading off the third inning against left-hander Ray Sadecki. Brett pulled this one into the right field seats at Veterans Stadium. Ken hit a sacrifice fly in the game for good measure. On the mound, Brett was battered for three runs in the first inning, but the Phillies bats, including his own, of course, bailed him out and he won the game 9-6. Reporting on the home run explosion the Philadelphia Inquirer's Bruce Keidan compared Brett to the most famous slugging pitcher ever - Babe Ruth.

Brett's next start was in Montreal on June 23. He carried a shut out and a 3-0 lead into the top of the seventh, when he lead off with his fourth home run in four games -  a blast off the Expos' Tom Walker. Willie Montanez followed with a 3-run dinger to run the score to 7-0. Brett eventually gave up 2 runs to the Expos, but pitched another complete game, winning 7-2. Baseball writers were running out of superlatives. The Inquirer's Keidan wrote that Brett was " the sweetest swinging pitcher since Red Ruffin was a boy." Ruffin hit 36 home runs in his 22 years with the Red Sox and Yankees from 1924-1947.

As remarkable as Brett's run of four consecutive games with home runs is, but for an umpire error, he would have had five home runs in five consecutive games. On June 3, playing in Candlestick Park against the San Francisco Giants, Brett slammed a Jim Barr pitch over the fence in center field for what should have been a two-run homerun. However, umpire Dick Stello ruled that the ball had gone over the fence on one hop and awarded Brett a ground rule double. Videotape replay showed the ball had cleared the fence, but in the days before videotape review the call stood. In his next start the home run streak began. Mister Four-in-Four was in reality Mister Five-in-Five.

Ken Brett had arguably the finest season of his career with the Phillies in 1973, but his stay in Philadelphia was short. Worried that Brett's persistent elbow problems might limit his future effectiveness, the Phillies traded Ken to the Pittsburgh Pirates for second baseman Dave Cash. Brett would have another good season with the Pirates in 1974, a season in which he hit .310, but never became a top line pitcher over his remaining eight years in the major leagues. Cash became a popular and extremely effective lead off hitter for a Phillies team that was building into a consistent winner.

Silly Season for Phillies Catchers: The Six Catchers of 1970

Since Bob Boone arrived on the scene in 1973, the Phillies have had a pretty good run of competent professional  major league catchers: Boone, Daulton, Lieberthal, Ruiz, Realmuto. It was not always that way. In 1970, the Phillies employed six different catchers. None played in more than 47 games. Two were actual major leaguers of some repute. Two were life-long minor leaguers who never again appeared on a major league roster, one was a rookie utility infielder/outfielder, and one was the team's bench coach who had not appeared as a player in a major league game in five years. 

Coming into the 1970 season the Phillies had little reason to think that catching would be a major problem. Veteran backstop Tim McCarver had come over from the St. Louis Cardinals in the ill-fated Dick Allen trade and figured to play most of the games behind the plate. McCarver's offensive production had fallen off slightly in his last two years with the Cardinals, but he could be counted on as a solid .270 hitter with adequate defensive skills.

Mike Ryan, who was the Phillies starting catcher during the 1969 campaign, would back up McCarver. Ryan was a superior defensive catcher who didn't hit much although he displayed occasional power. Ryan had slugged 12 home runs in 1969 to go along with an anemic .204 average. Both catchers were only 28-years-old. The catching situation seemed set.

All that changed on May 2 in the sixth inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Candlestick Park. The starting catcher that day was McCarver. In the bottom of the sixth inning with the Giants leading 3-0, Willie Mays foul tipped a Lowell Palmer pitch and broke a finger on McCarver's right hand. In came Ryan to replace him. Mays singled to right. Willie McCovey doubled scoring Mays. Ken Henderson then singled to right. Right-fielder Byron Brown's throw was in time to catch McCovey at the plate, but the sliding McCovey's foot caught Ryan's gloved hand and broke one of his fingers. One inning, two catchers, two broken fingers.

The unusual back to back injuries caused some confusion as McCarver told Sport Illustrated's William Legget.

"When I got to the hospital," McCarver recalled, "the nurse said, 'We've been waiting for you Mr. Ryan.' I said, 'No, I'm McCarver. Ryan is catching at Candlestick.' 'No,' she said, 'Ryan is supposed to be on his way here with a broken hand.' I just stood there and looked at her."

Ryan was able to finish the inning wincing all the way, but he could not grip a bat. Rookie utility man and emergency catcher Jim Hutto was sent up to pinch hit for Ryan. He singled, was stranded on base, and then donned the tools of ignorance to catch the seventh inning. Hutto had never caught so much as one inning in the major leagues. He had caught in a total of 11 games in the minor leagues. Hutto acquitted himself reasonably well, but he could not keep the Phillies from losing the game, 7-1.

With both McCarver and Ryan headed to the disabled list for at least five weeks, the Phillies recalled catcher Mike Compton from their Triple-A affiliate in Eugene, Oregon. Fortunately, Compton did not have far to travel and he was in the starting line up on Sunday, May 3, catching both games of a double header against the Giants. The Phillies won both games.

Compton proved to be a competent defensive receiver, throwing out 32% of base runners and generally handling catching duties efficiently. What he did not do was contribute much to the offense. After a decent start, which saw him hitting .268 by the end of May, his average fell to .164 by August. He hit his only major league home run on May 5 in San Diego. He injured his back in batting practice and was on the shelf himself in early June. When Ryan returned from his broken finger in July, Compton was sent back to the minors. His stay there was short-lived, however, as he was recalled in August when a foul tip split Ryan's finger and he went back on the disabled list. Compton played his last game of the season on August 30. He went 1 for 4 as the Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2. McCarver returned to active duty in September and Compton went to the bench never to see major league action again.

Back in May though, even with Compton in place, the Phillies still needed a back up catcher. They again went to the Eugene roster to pluck Del Bates, a 30 year-old minor league journeyman who the Phillies acquired in a deal with the Pirates over the winter. Bates was recalled on May 3rd and joined the Phillies in San Diego. Bates played in 22 games for the Phillies, made a name for himself by dropping as many pitches as he caught and  hit .133  He injured his hand on June 5. By June 6th he had been outrighted back to Eugene.

With Bates gone and Compton still recovering from his sore back, the Phillies turned to the coaching staff for their next entry in the catching sweepstakes. Doc Edwards, the 33-year-old Phillies bench coach on manager Frank Lucchesi's staff, had spent four years in the major leagues as a back-up catcher with Cleveland, Kansas City, and the New York Yankees. He had not caught a game in the majors in five years, but he had been a part-time catcher while coaching in the minor leagues from 1966-69. Doc was activated and asked to go back behind the plate. There he performed better than Compton offensively and better in all ways than Bates. Altogether, Doc appeared in 35 games, including 25 starts and hit a respectable .269. After the season, Doc hung up the spikes again and returned to his position as bench coach.

Emergency catcher Jim Hutto made five appearances behind the dish for the Phillies. He spent almost the entirety of the rest of his career in the minor leagues, save for appearing in 5 games, three as a catcher, for the Baltimore Orioles in 1975. He later became a minor league coach. Mike Compton became a manager in the Phillies minor league system. Del Bates quit baseball and became a longshoreman in the Port of Seattle in his native Washington. Doc Edwards eventually became the manager of the Cleveland Indians for two years in the 80s and also coached for the New York Mets. 

Mike Ryan beat the injury bug and continued for four more years as the Phillies back up catcher. After he retired he served as a coach for the Phillies for many years. Tim McCarver played 10 more years in the major leagues, including stints with Montreal and Boston, before returning to the Phillies as Steve Carlton's personal catcher from 1975-1980. After his retirement, of course, he became a noted national baseball broadcaster.

Hugh "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy Comes Out a Winner

Considering the record for futility that the Philadelphia Phillies amassed in the years between World Wars 1 and 2, it is probably unsurprising that they employed the player with the harshest nickname in baseball history: Hugh "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy, a tall, righthanded flinger for the Phillies in the years leading up to World War 2, was given that moniker by journalists who noted that seemingly every time he pitched the box score read "LP" next to his name. In his main years with the Phillies, 1937-1940, Mulcahy compiled records of 8-18, 10-20, 9-16, and 13-22. He led the league in losses in those two 20 loss seasons. Lost (ahem) in these numbers is the fact that Mulcahy was a pretty darn good pitcher who had the great misfortune of pitching for an historically lousy team at an historically dangerous time.

During the 1937-1940 seasons the Phillies finished last three times and next to last once. The loss totals for each year in a 154 game season were 92, 105, 106, 103. Sports Illustrated called the team a "no-hit, no field, no anything club."  Mulcahy was a real workhorse for those futile squads. In 1937 he tied Christy Mathewson's record with 56 appearances as both a starter and reliever, totaling 215+ innings. From 1938-40, he was used mostly as a starter, dutifully taking his turn every four days, but he was often asked to relieve on days he was not starting. No wonder Mulcahy preferred another nickname often applied to him: "Workhorse."  

Mulcahy featured a good hard fastball that moved. It moved so much, in fact, that Mulcahy often had trouble controlling it. Walks would plague him throughout his career. He once walked seven batters in a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Biographer C. Paul Rogers III points out that Mulcahy kept a notebook on major league hitters in which he wrote his rule number one for each batter: "Don't walk him." That reminder didn't help much. He led the league in walks in 1937.

In 1938, Mulcahy was the top pitcher on a team that lost 105 games. The team did not hit well and they fielded even worse, leading the league with 201 errors. Still Mulcahy soldiered on compiling a record of 10-20 for the year. He bested the Boston Bees 5-1 with a two-hitter on May 1 at Baker Bowl. A typical Mulcahy loss came on August 5th, when the Cards scored three runs on miscues by shortstop George Sharein., beating Mulcahy and the Phils 3-1. His 19th loss of the season came against the Bees in Boston on September 27. He lost the game 2-1 in the eleventh inning when his wild pitch set up the winning run.

If a pitcher who lost as frequently as Mulcahy could be said to have an off year, that year was 1939. Hampered by a sore arm that eventually saw him shut down late in the season and playing for a team that would lose 106 games, Mulcahy did manage a few highlights. He hurled a two-hit shutout of the Chicago Cubs on June 24 at Wrigley Field, besting Charlie Root, 1-0. On August 20th at Shibe Park, he bested his boyhood idol, the New York Giants' Carl Hubbell, 3-2. Mulcahy scored the winning run himself.

By 1940, Mulcahy was an All-Star and was establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the league. He added a change up to his pitching repertoire and that pitch, along with improved control, had people speculating that Mulcahy could be a 20 game winner. Alas, it as not to be as the old losing ways returned. From August 8 until September 23 he lost 12 straight games. Finally, on September 27, in his last game of the season, he shut out the Giants on four hits to win his 13th game of the year. 

On March 8, 1941, Mulcahy was inducted into the Army. He was the first major league baseball player drafted.. Most players spent a year or two in the service, Mulcahy spent four years and five months. He was stationed mostly in The Philippines, until he was honorably discharged in August 1945. He had lost nearly five full seasons of baseball during his prime, ages 27-31. He tried to return, but was not the same pitcher. He went into the war at 205 pounds and returned at 170. His good moving fastball was gone.

 Released by the Phillies after the 1946 season, he caught on with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but was released by them in May after just two appearances. He continued pitching in the minor leagues until finally hanging up the spikes in 1951. He was a minor league pitching coach for the White Sox from 1951 to 1975.

How good a pitcher could Mulcahy have been? It is hard to say. As biographer C. Paul Rogers III points out in his Society for American Baseball Research biography, other Phillies pitchers of the same era, Claude Passeau, Bucky Walters, and Kirby Higbe, became 20 game winners when they escaped Philadelphia through trades to better teams. Perhaps if he could have pitched for another team, perhaps if he had not lost five prime years to military service, old "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy could have been a winner.

For his part, after his playing days, Mulcahy expressed no bitterness. He said he was fortunate to sign with the Phillies where he got proper instruction and a chance to pitch. As to his time in the service, he said, "A lot of guys went to the war and didn't come back. I came back and had a long career in baseball. I feel fortunate, not cheated."

As to the "Losing Pitcher" label? Mulcahy says before each game he only thought he was going to win. He told Steve Wulf of Sports Illustrated, "Maybe I was too stupid, but I never thought about losing. I'd be warming up before a game, and I might have lost five or six in a row, but I still felt I was going to win." 

Famed baseball writer, Red Smith concluded, "Chances are there has not been in modern times a player with ability comparable to Mulcahy's who put so much into baseball and took so little out. Mulcahy only lost a career that seemed just about to come full flower when he gave it up for military service."

Mulcahy pitching in for the Army

For the full story of Hugh Mulcahy's life and career, please see his biography by C. Paul Rogers III in the SABR BioProject here.

You may also enjoy Steve Wulf's profile of the pitcher in Sports Illustatrated.

Baseball's Historic Control Kings

 This article originally appeared in Here's the Pitch, the newsletter of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA). If you are interested in the group and/or would like to subscribe to the newsletter you can find more information here.

“Oh, those bases on balls!” This is the familiar lament of coaches from Little League to the major leagues. Bases on Balls, Walks, Free Passes have been the bane of managers since Old Hoss Radbourne was pitching for the Providence Grays in 1884. Just this past month the St. Louis Cardinals lost a game to the New York Mets when their pitchers walked 11 batters in nine innings, walking in the tying and winning runs in the process. On April 7, the Seattle Mariners’ Justin Dean walked eight batters in 4 2/3 innings, including four in one inning. Around both leagues walks per nine inning are on the rise. Given the damage that walks do to the chances of winning games it is no wonder “those bases on balls” turn manager’s hair grey. It is also no wonder that pitchers who limit the number of walks are highly valued by their managers and often highly successful.

Since the dawn of the Live Ball Era in 1920, 11 pitchers have tossed at least 3000 innings and walked an average of fewer than two batters a game. Not surprisingly this list contains some of the greatest pitchers in history. Of the 11, seven are in the Hall of Fame and one other, Curt Schilling, will probably be inducted soon. Here is the list of the elite eleven.

As you can see from the chart, Robin Roberts with a record of 1.73 batters walked per nine innings, was perhaps the greatest control pitcher of all times. Hitters from his era could attest to that. Pittsburgh Pirates slugger, Ralph Kiner, called Roberts’ fastball the best he had ever seen and added, “His fastball rose about six or eight inches, and with plenty on it. And he had great control, which made him very difficult to hit.” Even when he lost the zip on that fastball and became more of a finesse pitcher, Roberts continued to be stingy with the walks. In 1965, at the age of 38, he walked only 30 batters in 190+ innings (1.4 per 9 innings).

Speaking of finesse pitchers, second on this list is Greg Maddux, who was famous for his variety of fastballs, cutters, and sinkers that kept batters flailing futilely for 23 seasons. Maddux always said that the best pitch in baseball was a “located fastball.” And no one located them better than Maddux. His long-time pitching coach Leo Mazzone marveled, “He can throw you a strike and still not give you anything to hit. He is the master at that. It’s the greatest command I’ve ever seen on a consistent basis.” Maddux once went 72 1/3 innings without issuing a walk. The streak ended when Atlanta Braves manager ordered an intentional walk.

The next name on the list, Juan Marichal, might be a surprise if only because of his legendary high kick wind up. That wind up is not what most pitching coaches would prescribe for good control, but Marichal made it work for 16 seasons and 243 wins. Marichal threw five different pitches (fastball, slider, curveball, change, and screwball) and threw them from three different angles (overhand, three-quarter, and sidearm) and yet he consistently threw strikes. Marichal was part fastball pitcher, like Roberts, and part finesse pitcher, like Maddux, but he was also an outstanding control pitcher.

Carl Hubbell is one of three left-handed pitchers on the list. Hubbell, famous as the prime exponent of the screwball, mastered a variety of pitches. He has been compared to Greg Maddux in that he was, in the words of one observer, like an “artist painting a portrait, every stroke of the brush with a purpose. … Hub would start a batter off with a curve and it was usually a beaut, always low and on the corner of the plate. Then, with that uncanny control and that good speed of his, he’d bust one in, either on the fists or high and outside. Then maybe a changeup. Next, the screwball. Jeez, what a pitch! It gave those righthand hitters fits.”

Lefty Eppa Rixey, who qualifies because he pitched more than 3000 innings from 1920 to 1933 even though he began his major league pitching career in 1912. Rixey never harnessed his exceptional “stuff” until he was acquired by the Cincinnati Reds in a trade with the Phillies in 1921. His pre-trade walks per nine innings was 2.7, which he lowered to 1.9 with the Reds over the next 13 seasons.

The next three control artists are not in the Hall of Fame, but certainly compiled Hall of Fame like numbers. Righty Lew Burdette was the “ying” to lefty Warren Spahn’s “yang” on the great Milwaukee Braves teams of the late fifties. David Wells not only twirled a perfect game but was a key member of the Toronto Blue Jays 1992 and New York Yankees 1998 World Series winners. Paul Derringer may not be well remembered today, but he was a well-known, perhaps infamous, figure in the baseball during the 1930s and 40s. Known as “The Control King” due to the “exceptional control of his pitches”, he exhibited almost no control off the field. Derringer was prone to use his fists at the drop of a hat. He once awoke from an operation only to deck the attending nurse with a right cross. Perhaps his off-field behavior has kept him out of the Hall of Fame.

Off field behavior has almost certainly kept noted control pitcher Curt Schilling out of the Hall. Known for his pinpoint fastball, bulldog determination, and loose tongue, Schilling turned in some of the most masterful post-season pitching performances in recent memory. His forte was being able to fire his high-octane fastball on the “black” on either side of the plate. In 133+ innings of high pressure, post season baseball Schilling averaged just 1.7 walks per nine innings, besting his impressive career mark of 1.96. Former Oriole and Yankee, Mike Mussina, in contrast to Schilling, extended his impeccable control to both his pitches and his mouth. Quiet, humble, and efficient, Mussina is in the Hall while Schilling still waits.

Our final pitcher on the list brings us full circle. In 1966, when Ferguson Jenkins was pitching in his rookie season in the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs, his pitching coach was none other than Robin Roberts. Roberts worked on Fergie’s confidence and told him to trust his fastball more. Fergie started trusting it, threw it over the plate, and collected 284 victories and a plaque in the Hall of Fame.

With one of these 11 pitchers on the mound, beleaguered managers at least had one day a week when they didn’t have to bemoan those bases on balls.