The Pecan Park Eagle

As most of you know, Ned Garver won 20 games and lost 12 for the 1951 St. Louis Browns – who themselves finished eighth and last in the American League, 46 games behind the 1951 pennant winning, dynastic New York Yankees with a club record of only 52 wins against 102 defeats. Here are few quotes from his second book that well characterize Garver the man and spirit of those times:

Growing Up near Ney Ohio as a Farm Boy Fan of the Detroit Tigers

“When I was a kid, we would usually pick a day to go to Detroit when the Tigers were going to play a double-header. We’d get p in the middle of the night and milk the cows and get the rest of the chores done so we could take off in time to get to the ballpark when they opened the gates. We would get there early so we could watch batting practice, infield practice and the whole shebang. My mother would send a wicker basket with things to eat. Between games we ate what she sent because we didn’t have the extra money to buy food at the park. I’m sure that today the ballparks don’t allow you to bring in baskets of food, but that’s the way we did it back then (during the 1930s).”

Hotel Amenities in 1940s Class D Ball

“No doubt the hotel accommodations in (1944) Class D Ball, which is what Newark was, often left a lot to be desired. Once we were staying at a hotel in Zanesville, Ohio.  We didn’t have single rooms, of course, because we each had a roommate. My roommate at that time was our catcher, Cy Koppa. This particular time the room was very small and the bed was three-quarter sized. Two pretty big guys trying to sleep in a three-quarter sized bed meant that we had to sleep on our sides in order to both stay in that bed. It also meant that we became very close friends.”

Complete Games

In 1951, Ned Garver led the AL with 24 complete games in his 30 starts, pitching 246 innings on a season that also included three relief appearances.

“(Robin Roberts once told me that) ‘I pitch three hundred innings a year, and I get paid more because I pitch three hundred innings a year, so I throw a lot in the spring to make my arm strong.’ That made a lot of sense to me, and it became my philosophy, too. In order to get your arm strong, you need to throw a lot – not rest it a lot.”

Satchel Paige, Who Joined Garver with the Browns in 1951

“Over the years, Satchel and I became very good friends. I was fascinated by his knowledge of pitching. He knew more about attacking a hitter from the pitcher’s mound than anybody I ever saw or knew, and he had exceptional stuff. … After I got to Detroit, Charlie Gehringer was our general manager. Charlley had been a hero of mine when I was a kid, so I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know him better. He had been with Bob Feller on an All-Star team that that toured/barnstormed with Satchel and his team. So, I asked Charlie, ‘You played on that All-Star team with Bob Feller that played against Satchel Paige, so you hit against Satchel when we was pretty much in his prime. Just how good was satchel Paige?’ Charley said, ‘I never hit against anybody better.’ ”

Bill McCurdy and Ned Garver
St. Louis, 1996

Garver’s Two Biggest Baseball Moments

“Its tempting to say that the biggest thing was seeing our first baseman, Hank Arft, scoop up a grounder and step on the bag for the final out in my 20th win – and I’ve said that to many people. But, really, the biggest thing was watching the ball I hit go over the Sealy Mattress sign in left-center (at Sportsman’s Park) in the fourth inning for a solo home run to to break a 4-4 tie. I knew then that I would not give up that lead – and I didn’t. That’s where the game was won.”

Link to Baseball Almanac Box Score of Garver’s 20th ’51 Win

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=195109300SLA

Autographed Copy “Ned Garver: Catch 20…Too” for $25:

http://thestlbrowns.blogspot.com/2013/12/ned-garver-catch-22.html