12 Facts About Elroy Face

Elroy Leon Face was born on February 20,1928, and nicknamed The Bullpen Baron, is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher.

On his retirement, Elroy Face ranked third in major league history in pitching appearances, behind only Hoyt Wilhelm and Cy Young, and second in saves behind Wilhelm.

Elroy Face holds the Pirates franchise records for career games and saves.

Originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1949, Elroy Face was twice drafted by Branch Rickey, first for the Brooklyn Dodgers before the 1951 season, and again in 1952 for Pittsburgh.

Elroy Face made his debut in April 1953 and set a modern Pirates record for games pitched in 1956, leading the league and breaking the club mark of 59 set by Bill Werle in 1951.

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Elroy Face led the NL with 20 saves, and posted his best earned run average to date with a 2.

Elroy Face achieved his success almost exclusively with the forkball, which he had learned from Yankees reliever Joe Page.

The Pirates came back to score five runs in the bottom of the inning after Elroy Face was pulled for a pinch-hitter, and won the game and the Series in the bottom of the ninth on Bill Mazeroski's home run.

Elroy Face now had three 20-save seasons at a time when no other pitcher had more than one.

Also in 1962, Elroy Face passed Clem Labine to take over the NL record with 95 career saves, and then broke Johnny Murphy's major league mark of 107.

Elroy Face signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos in 1969, earning five saves in 44 games before ending his career.

Elroy Face saved 16 or more games seven times in an era when starting pitchers were more apt to remain in a game they were leading, and seven times had an ERA under 3.