1921
Born June 26, 1921
New Orleans, LA, USA
Howie Pollet Marquee
b. June 26, 1921 · St. Louis Cardinals 1941–1943, 1946–1951, Pittsburgh Pirates 1951–1953, 1956, Chicago Cubs 1953–1955, Chicago White Sox 1956
In 1946 he led the National League in wins with 21 and in earned run average at 2.10, and St. Louis beat Brooklyn in a playoff and Boston in the World Series. He had led the league in earned run average in 1943 as well, at twenty-two, before two years in the Army Air Forces took the middle of his twenties.
Fourteen seasons gave him 131 wins against 116, a 3.51 earned run average, 2,107 innings, 116 complete games and 25 shutouts, with three All-Star selections. He won 20 games again in 1949.
He was from New Orleans and threw left-handed with no great speed. He coached afterward and was on the Cardinals' staff into the 1960s. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him. He died in 1974, at fifty-three.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 3 | 1943, 1946, 1949 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 2 | 1946, 1949 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1949 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | STL | 9 | 28 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .179 |
| 1942 | STL | 27 | 31 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | .226 |
| 1943 | STL | 16 | 43 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | .163 |
| 1946 | STL | 40 | 87 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 0 | .161 |
| 1947 | STL | 37 | 65 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 0 | .231 |
| 1948 | STL | 38 | 68 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .118 |
| 1949 | STL | 39 | 82 | 10 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 0 | .195 |
| 1950 | STL | 38 | 84 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 0 | .143 |
| 1951 | PIT/STL | 27 | 37 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 0 | .135 |
| 1952 | PIT | 31 | 68 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 0 | .191 |
| 1953 | CHC/PIT | 30 | 34 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .147 |
| 1954 | CHC | 20 | 47 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .277 |
| 1955 | CHC | 24 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .400 |
| 1956 | CHW/PIT | 31 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .333 |
| Career | — | 407 | 698 | 54 | 129 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 55 | 159 | 0 | .185 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | STL | 5 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 70.0 | 55 | 15 | 27 | 37 | 1.93 |
| 1942 | STL | 7 | 5 | 27 | 13 | 0 | 109.1 | 102 | 35 | 39 | 42 | 2.88 |
| 1943 | STL | 8 | 4 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 118.1 | 83 | 23 | 32 | 61 | 1.75 |
| 1946 | STL | 21 | 10 | 40 | 32 | 5 | 266.0 | 228 | 62 | 86 | 107 | 2.10 |
| 1947 | STL | 9 | 11 | 37 | 24 | 2 | 176.1 | 195 | 85 | 87 | 73 | 4.34 |
| 1948 | STL | 13 | 8 | 36 | 26 | 0 | 186.1 | 216 | 94 | 67 | 80 | 4.54 |
| 1949 | STL | 20 | 9 | 39 | 28 | 1 | 230.2 | 228 | 71 | 59 | 108 | 2.77 |
| 1950 | STL | 14 | 13 | 37 | 30 | 2 | 232.1 | 228 | 85 | 68 | 117 | 3.29 |
| 1951 | PIT/STL | 6 | 13 | 27 | 23 | 1 | 141.0 | 159 | 78 | 59 | 57 | 4.98 |
| 1952 | PIT | 7 | 16 | 31 | 30 | 0 | 214.0 | 217 | 98 | 71 | 90 | 4.12 |
| 1953 | CHC/PIT | 6 | 7 | 30 | 19 | 1 | 124.0 | 147 | 66 | 50 | 53 | 4.79 |
| 1954 | CHC | 8 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 128.1 | 131 | 51 | 54 | 58 | 3.58 |
| 1955 | CHC | 4 | 3 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 61.0 | 62 | 38 | 27 | 27 | 5.61 |
| 1956 | CHW/PIT | 3 | 5 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 49.2 | 45 | 20 | 19 | 24 | 3.62 |
| Career | — | 131 | 116 | 403 | 278 | 20 | 2107.1 | 2096 | 821 | 745 | 934 | 3.51 |
On this day & linked events
1974
Died August 8, 1974
1941
Major-league debut: Howie Pollet
Howie Pollet made a major-league debut on August 20, 1941.
1956
Final major-league game: Howie Pollet
Howie Pollet played a final major-league game on September 23, 1956.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain