1919
Born December 31, 1919
Baltimore, MD, USA
Tommy Byrne Marquee
b. December 31, 1919 · New York Yankees 1943, 1946–1951, 1954–1957, St. Louis Browns 1951–1952, Chicago White Sox 1953, Washington Senators 1953
He led the American League in walks in 1949 with 179 and again in 1950 with 160, and won 15 games in each of those seasons anyway, because nobody could hit him either — batters knew the ball might arrive anywhere.
The Yankees let him go in 1951, and he came back in 1954 and had the best season of his life at thirty-five: 16-5 with a 3.15 earned run average in 1955, the best winning percentage in the league, and a start and a win in that year's World Series. Thirteen seasons gave him 85 wins against 69 and a 4.11 earned run average.
He could hit — 14 home runs and a .238 average, and he was used as a pinch hitter, which almost no pitcher was. He went home to Wake Forest, North Carolina, ran a business and was elected mayor. He died in 2007, at eighty-seven.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1950 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | NYY | 13 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .091 |
| 1946 | NYY | 14 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .222 |
| 1947 | NYY | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1948 | NYY | 31 | 46 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .326 |
| 1949 | NYY | 35 | 83 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 20 | 0 | .193 |
| 1950 | NYY | 34 | 81 | 14 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 4 | 15 | 1 | .272 |
| 1951 | NYY/SLB | 43 | 66 | 9 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .273 |
| 1952 | SLB | 40 | 84 | 9 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 18 | 0 | .250 |
| 1953 | CHW/WSH | 32 | 35 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .114 |
| 1954 | NYY | 7 | 19 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .368 |
| 1955 | NYY | 45 | 78 | 6 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 0 | .205 |
| 1956 | NYY | 44 | 52 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .269 |
| 1957 | NYY | 35 | 37 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0 | .189 |
| Career | — | 377 | 601 | 73 | 143 | 26 | 8 | 14 | 98 | 38 | 126 | 1 | .238 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | NYY | 2 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 31.2 | 28 | 23 | 35 | 22 | 6.54 |
| 1946 | NYY | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9.1 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5.79 |
| 1947 | NYY | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4.1 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4.15 |
| 1948 | NYY | 8 | 5 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 133.2 | 79 | 49 | 101 | 93 | 3.30 |
| 1949 | NYY | 15 | 7 | 32 | 30 | 0 | 196.0 | 125 | 81 | 179 | 129 | 3.72 |
| 1950 | NYY | 15 | 9 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 203.1 | 188 | 107 | 160 | 118 | 4.74 |
| 1951 | NYY/SLB | 6 | 11 | 28 | 20 | 0 | 143.2 | 120 | 68 | 150 | 71 | 4.26 |
| 1952 | SLB | 7 | 14 | 29 | 24 | 0 | 196.0 | 182 | 102 | 112 | 91 | 4.68 |
| 1953 | CHW/WSH | 2 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 49.2 | 53 | 34 | 48 | 26 | 6.16 |
| 1954 | NYY | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 40.0 | 36 | 12 | 19 | 24 | 2.70 |
| 1955 | NYY | 16 | 5 | 27 | 22 | 2 | 160.0 | 137 | 56 | 87 | 76 | 3.15 |
| 1956 | NYY | 7 | 3 | 37 | 8 | 6 | 109.2 | 108 | 41 | 72 | 52 | 3.36 |
| 1957 | NYY | 4 | 6 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 84.2 | 70 | 41 | 60 | 57 | 4.36 |
| Career | — | 85 | 69 | 281 | 170 | 12 | 1362.0 | 1138 | 622 | 1037 | 766 | 4.11 |
On this day & linked events
2007
Died December 20, 2007
1943
Major-league debut: Tommy Byrne
Tommy Byrne made a major-league debut on April 27, 1943.
1957
Final major-league game: Tommy Byrne
Tommy Byrne played a final major-league game on September 21, 1957.
Image: Bowman Gum, public domain