1917
Born March 2, 1917
Strykersville, NY, USA
Jim Konstanty Marquee
b. March 2, 1917 · Cincinnati Reds 1944, Boston Braves 1946, Philadelphia Phillies 1948–1954, New York Yankees 1954–1956, St. Louis Cardinals 1956
He appeared in 74 games for the 1950 Phillies without starting one, went 16-7 with a 2.66 earned run average and saved 22, the most in the league. The Most Valuable Player award came with 286 points of 336 and 18 of the first-place votes. No reliever had won it before.
Then Eddie Sawyer started him in the first game of the World Series against the Yankees — his first start in four years — and he gave up one run in eight innings and lost 1-0. Philadelphia was swept in four, three of the games by one run.
Eleven seasons gave him 66 wins, 74 saves, 945 innings and a 3.46 earned run average. He threw a palm ball, was thirty-three the year he won the award, and was out of the game at thirty-nine. He ran a sporting goods store in Oneonta, New York, and was athletic director at Hartwick College. He died in 1976, at fifty-nine.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1950 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1 | 1950 |
| Most Valuable Player | 1 | 1950 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1950 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1950 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | CIN | 20 | 34 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .294 |
| 1946 | BSN | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1948 | PHI | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1949 | PHI | 53 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .176 |
| 1950 | PHI | 74 | 37 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | .108 |
| 1951 | PHI | 58 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .158 |
| 1952 | PHI | 42 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .071 |
| 1953 | PHI | 48 | 50 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .220 |
| 1954 | NYY/PHI | 42 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| 1955 | NYY | 45 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .125 |
| 1956 | NYY/STL | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 433 | 202 | 7 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 41 | 0 | .163 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | CIN | 6 | 4 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 112.2 | 113 | 35 | 33 | 19 | 2.80 |
| 1946 | BSN | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 15.1 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 5.28 |
| 1948 | PHI | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 9.2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0.93 |
| 1949 | PHI | 9 | 5 | 53 | 0 | 7 | 97.0 | 98 | 35 | 29 | 43 | 3.25 |
| 1950 | PHI | 16 | 7 | 74 | 0 | 22 | 152.0 | 108 | 45 | 50 | 56 | 2.66 |
| 1951 | PHI | 4 | 11 | 58 | 1 | 9 | 115.2 | 127 | 52 | 31 | 27 | 4.05 |
| 1952 | PHI | 5 | 3 | 42 | 2 | 6 | 80.0 | 87 | 35 | 21 | 16 | 3.94 |
| 1953 | PHI | 14 | 10 | 48 | 19 | 5 | 170.2 | 198 | 84 | 42 | 45 | 4.43 |
| 1954 | NYY/PHI | 3 | 4 | 42 | 1 | 5 | 68.2 | 73 | 23 | 18 | 14 | 3.01 |
| 1955 | NYY | 7 | 2 | 45 | 0 | 11 | 73.2 | 68 | 19 | 24 | 19 | 2.32 |
| 1956 | NYY/STL | 1 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 7 | 50.1 | 61 | 26 | 12 | 13 | 4.65 |
| Career | — | 66 | 48 | 433 | 36 | 74 | 945.2 | 957 | 364 | 269 | 268 | 3.46 |
On this day & linked events
1976
Died June 11, 1976
1944
Major-league debut: Jim Konstanty
Jim Konstanty made a major-league debut on June 18, 1944.
1956
Final major-league game: Jim Konstanty
Jim Konstanty played a final major-league game on September 19, 1956.
Image: Bowman Gum, public domain