Bobby Shantz Marquee

b. September 26, 1925 · Philadelphia Athletics 1949–1954, Kansas City Athletics 1955–1956, New York Yankees 1957–1960, Pittsburgh Pirates 1961, Houston Colt .45's 1962, St. Louis Cardinals 1962–1964, Chicago Cubs 1964, Philadelphia Phillies 1964

In 1952 he went 24-7 with a 2.48 earned run average and 27 complete games for a Philadelphia club that finished fourth, and won the Most Valuable Player award with 16 first-place votes. He was five foot six and weighed 139 pounds.

A pitch broke his wrist that September and he was never the same pitcher, but he was the best fielding one anybody had seen: the Gold Glove was created in 1957 and he won the first eight of them given to a pitcher, in both leagues.

Sixteen seasons gave him 119 wins against 99 with a 3.38 earned run average, and he ended as a relief pitcher for six clubs in his last four years, including the 1962 expansion Colt .45s and the 1964 Cardinals, who won the World Series. Five writers' ballots gave him no more than nine votes. He turned a hundred in September 2025.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	3	1951, 1952, 1957
Gold Glove	8	1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
Most Valuable Player	1	1952
The Sporting News All-Star	1	1952
The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year	1	1952

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1949	PHA	33	37	2	7	0	0	0	2	5	6	0	.189
1950	PHA	37	66	4	11	1	0	1	4	6	10	1	.167
1951	PHA	36	72	11	18	4	0	0	9	6	7	1	.250
1952	PHA	34	96	13	19	4	1	0	12	5	9	0	.198
1953	PHA	21	38	6	9	1	1	0	4	2	3	1	.237
1954	PHA	7	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
1955	KCA	26	41	5	6	0	0	0	0	1	5	0	.146
1956	KCA	51	22	2	2	1	0	0	1	2	4	0	.091
1957	NYY	33	56	6	10	3	0	0	6	8	16	0	.179
1958	NYY	33	35	1	8	3	0	0	1	2	12	0	.229
1959	NYY	40	23	4	5	2	0	0	1	3	6	0	.217
1960	NYY	43	10	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	.100
1961	PIT	44	16	3	7	1	0	0	3	2	1	0	.438
1962	HOU/STL	35	21	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	11	0	.095
1963	STL	55	7	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	.143
1964	CHC/PHI/STL	50	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	.000
Career	—	578	548	60	107	20	2	1	46	47	96	3	.195

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1949	PHA	6	8	33	7	2	127.0	100	48	74	58	3.40
1950	PHA	8	14	36	23	0	214.2	251	110	85	93	4.61
1951	PHA	18	10	32	25	0	205.1	213	90	70	77	3.94
1952	PHA	24	7	33	33	0	279.2	230	77	63	152	2.48
1953	PHA	5	9	16	16	0	105.2	107	48	26	58	4.09
1954	PHA	1	0	2	1	0	8.0	12	7	3	3	7.88
1955	KCA	5	10	23	17	0	125.0	124	63	66	58	4.54
1956	KCA	2	7	45	2	9	101.1	95	49	37	67	4.35
1957	NYY	11	5	30	21	5	173.0	157	47	40	72	2.45
1958	NYY	7	6	33	13	0	126.0	127	47	35	80	3.36
1959	NYY	7	3	33	4	3	94.2	64	25	33	66	2.38
1960	NYY	5	4	42	0	11	67.2	57	21	24	54	2.79
1961	PIT	6	3	43	6	2	89.1	91	33	26	61	3.32
1962	HOU/STL	6	4	31	3	4	78.1	60	17	25	61	1.95
1963	STL	6	4	55	0	11	79.1	55	23	17	70	2.61
1964	CHC/PHI/STL	2	5	50	0	1	60.2	52	21	19	42	3.12
Career	—	119	99	537	171	48	1935.2	1795	726	643	1072	3.38

On this day & linked events

1925

Born September 26, 1925

Pottstown, PA, USA

1949

Major-league debut: Bobby Shantz

Bobby Shantz made a major-league debut on May 1, 1949.

1958

Hoyt Wilhelm's No-Hitter

Hoyt Wilhelm threw a no-hitter for the Baltimore Orioles against the New York Yankees on September 20, 1958, winning 1–0.

1964

Final major-league game: Bobby Shantz

Bobby Shantz played a final major-league game on September 29, 1964.

Image: Bowman Gum, public domain