Early Wynn played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, during his 23-year MLB career.
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76 Facts About Early Wynn
3.
Early Wynn signed with the Senators at the age of 17, deciding to forgo completing his high school education to begin pursuing a baseball career.
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4.
Early Wynn spent three seasons in Minor League Baseball before achieving his first MLB stint in 1939.
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5.
Early Wynn returned to the big leagues two years later and in 1942 pitched his first full MLB season.
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6.
Early Wynn spent all of 1947 and 1948 with the Senators before getting traded to the Indians after the 1948 season.
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7.
Pitching coach Mel Harder taught him a curveball, slider, and knuckleball, which Early Wynn credited with helping him become a better pitcher in the 1950s.
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8.
Early Wynn won 20 or more games in four of his seasons with the Indians, helping them set an American League record with 111 total wins in 1954.
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9.
Early Wynn started Game 2 of the 1954 World Series, which the New York Giants won in four games.
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10.
Early Wynn made two other starts in the Series but failed to pitch past the fourth inning in either, as the Los Angeles Dodgers won the series in six games.
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11.
Towards the end of his career, Early Wynn began to rely more heavily on the knuckleball, as the velocity of his pitches declined.
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12.
The White Sox released him after the 1962 season, but Early Wynn signed with the Indians in 1963 because he was determined to win 300 games.
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13.
Early Wynn later was a broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays and White Sox.
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14.
Early Wynn died that year in an assisted living facility following heart-related problems and a stroke.
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15.
Early Wynn described his ancestry as being Scottish, Irish, and Cherokee; sportswriter Lew Freedman speculates that Early Wynn was no more than.
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16.
When he was a teenager, Early Wynn attended a tryout session in Florida for the Washington Senators.
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17.
Early Wynn impressed Senators coach Clyde Milan enough that the organization offered him a minor league contract.
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18.
Early Wynn signed with Washington for $100 per month and decided not to finish high school.
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19.
Between 1937 and 1939, Early Wynn pitched minor league baseball in the Florida State League and the Piedmont League.
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20.
Early Wynn made his Major League Baseball debut in 1939, when he was a September callup by the Senators.
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21.
In 1942, Early Wynn was named to Washington's four-man pitching rotation and spent the whole season in the major leagues for the first time.
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22.
Early Wynn opened the 1943 season as the number two starter in the Senators' rotation, behind Dutch Leonard.
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23.
Four days later, in the second game of a doubleheader against the St Louis Browns, Early Wynn hit his first major league home run against Bob Muncrief.
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24.
Early Wynn underwent 17 weeks of training at Fort Knox before going to the Philippines to serve in the Tank Corps during World War II.
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25.
Early Wynn gave up a league-high 128 earned runs, and his 19 losses were third in the league.
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26.
Early Wynn surpassed the 100-strikeout mark for the first time, finishing the year with 143.
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27.
Early Wynn made his first Opening Day start as an Indian in 1952.
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28.
Early Wynn finished the year among AL leaders in several categories.
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29.
Early Wynn allowed the most home runs and walks of any AL pitcher, but his 2.
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30.
Early Wynn made the Opening Day start for the Indians in 1954, his last of two he would make during his tenure with the team.
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31.
Early Wynn led the AL in starts and innings pitched and finished sixth in MVP voting.
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32.
Afflicted by pneumonia to begin the 1955 season, Early Wynn did not earn his first win until May On May 22, he threw a shutout against the Tigers, allowing just one hit when Fred Hatfield singled in the fourth inning.
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33.
Early Wynn was an All-Star for the second time in his career and pitched three scoreless innings in the game.
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35.
Early Wynn gave his opinions concerning everything from umpires to Indians coaches, to the frustration of Indians' general manager Hank Greenberg.
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36.
Early Wynn donated his payment for the column to the Elks Club in Nokomis, Florida, where he lived during the offseason.
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37.
Early Wynn led the AL with 37 starts, but the 1957 season was his first losing season with Cleveland.
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38.
Early Wynn led the league in strikeouts, but he led the league in hits and earned runs allowed.
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39.
In 1958, Early Wynn became the first MLB pitcher to lead his league in strikeouts in consecutive years with different teams.
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40.
Early Wynn became the third-oldest MLB pitcher to win 20 games in a season, following Cy Young and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
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41.
Early Wynn ranked second in shutouts with five, one fewer than Pascual's total.
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42.
Early Wynn was third in AL MVP voting, trailing teammates Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio.
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43.
Early Wynn was "magnificent" in Game 1 of the 1959 World Series, according to Sports Illustrated.
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44.
Early Wynn tied Ford and Jim Perry for the AL lead in shutouts, with four.
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45.
Early Wynn struck out a season-high seven batters in back-to-back wins on May 12 and May 16,1961.
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46.
Early Wynn missed the rest of the season, even giving up eating meat in an attempt to get the ailment under control.
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47.
Early Wynn had picked up his 299th victory before the end of 1962, and he was determined to get to 300 career wins.
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48.
Early Wynn attended spring training with the White Sox in 1963 but failed to make the team.
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49.
Early Wynn failed to win in his first three starts with the Indians that year, and the nine months and seven starts that had elapsed from 1962 to 1963 are still, as of August 2020, the longest gap between any pitcher's 299th and 300th wins in MLB history.
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50.
Early Wynn was laboring, throwing nothing but bloopers and junk.
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51.
Long after his retirement, which came at the end of the 1963 season, Early Wynn reflected on his 300th win and said that he was not proud of the milestone.
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52.
Early Wynn did make several relief appearances for the Indians before the end of the season.
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53.
Early Wynn gave up an RBI single to Jim Fregosi, then got Charlie Dees to line out to shortstop to end the inning.
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54.
Early Wynn approached the game with passion, sometimes throwing chairs in frustration after losses.
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55.
Early Wynn hated getting removed from games, once throwing a baseball at Lopez when the manager walked to the mound to remove him.
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56.
Early Wynn's durability helped him lead the AL in innings three times and propelled him to an AL record for most years pitched.
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57.
Early Wynn won an even 300 games, 23rd most by any major leaguer.
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58.
Early Wynn registered five 20-win seasons, 2,334 strikeouts, 290 complete games, 49 shutouts, and 4,556 innings pitched in 691 games.
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59.
Early Wynn was one of the best hitting pitchers of his day as well.
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60.
Early Wynn is fifth in wins, tied for fourth in strikeouts, seventh in shutouts, and seventh in total games started.
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61.
Early Wynn remained with the Indians following retirement, becoming their pitching coach in 1964.
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62.
Early Wynn left Cleveland after the 1966 season and joined the Minnesota Twins as pitching coach.
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63.
Early Wynn later served as a minor league manager for the Twins.
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64.
Early Wynn proposed the idea of a one-game comeback to the Twins in 1970.
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65.
In 1972, Early Wynn was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Sandy Koufax and Yogi Berra.
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66.
Early Wynn was disappointed that he had not received the required votes on his first three ballots, but he was grateful for the honor.
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67.
Early Wynn provided color commentary for Chicago White Sox radio broadcasts in 1982 and 1983, paired with Joe McConnell.
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68.
Early Wynn's health had declined after the death of his second wife in 1994.
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70.
Early Wynn had several hobbies, including flying his Cessna 170, hunting, and operating powerboats.
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71.
Early Wynn was remembered for his toughness and for the frequency with which he threw at batters.
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72.
Early Wynn was throwing pre-game batting practice to Joe, and Joe hit two long drives in a row.
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73.
Early Wynn's attitude was encouraged early in his career by manager Bucky Harris, who ordered Wynn to throw brushback pitches when he got two strikes on a batter.
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74.
In 1962, when Early Wynn was with the White Sox, he was throwing batting practice and his teammate Joe Cunningham hit a line drive that missed Early Wynn by inches.
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75.
Early Wynn responded by throwing three straight pitches under his teammate's chin.
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76.
Early Wynn told you to expect it when you stepped in the cage against him.
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