Early Wynn

Early Wynn Jr.
(Gus)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.
• High School Geneva County High School
• Debut September 13, 1939
• Final Game September 13, 1963
• Born January 6, 1920 in Hartford, AL USA
• Died April 4, 1999 in Venice, FL USA

Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1972

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Early Wynn was a five-time 20-game winner and won exactly 300 games in his major league career. He began with the Washington Senators, where he had only two really good years out of eight. Wynn entered the Army in August 1944 and missed the 1945 season. Joining the Cleveland Indians in 1949, he started winning with a heavy duty schedule as one of the "Big Three" of the Indians fine staff. In 1958, he moved on to the Chicago White Sox, and in 1959, he won the Cy Young Award at age 39. In 1963, he returned to the Indians to win his 300th game and finish his career. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 19, 1972 by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Wynn is one of ten live ball era pitchers with 200 or more wins aged 30 or older. At age 39 in 1959, Wynn became the oldest pitcher to lead his league in both Wins and IP, until Phil Niekro matched that feat at age 40 in 1979. In 1960, Wynn became the second starting pitcher aged 40 or older to be selected as an All-Star (the first was Connie Marrero in 1951).

Wynn was one of the few players to play in four different decades (his career spanned from 1939 to 1963). He was the leader in strikeouts in two seasons, but he also is one of the all-time leaders in walks issued. He was very tough, and it was said he would brush back his grandma if it would help him win a game. Another story was that instead of wasting four balls to intentionally walk a hitter, he considered just drilling him.

Wynn launched a pinch-hit grand slam for the Washington Senators against the Detroit Tigers on September 15th, 1946 to become the fourth of six pitchers to record a pinch grannie.

After his playing career ended, Wynn was pitching coach for the Indians and Minnesota Twins. He was a broadcaster for the expansion Toronto Blue Jays for five years , and in 1982 and 1983, he was a radio and television broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox.

Notable Achievements

• 7-time AL All-Star (1947 & 1955-1960)
• ML Cy Young Award Winner (1959)
• AL ERA Leader (1950)
• 2-time AL Wins Leader (1954 & 1959)
• 3-time AL Innings Pitched Leader (1951, 1954 & 1959)
• 2-time AL Strikeouts Leader (1957 & 1958)
• AL Shutouts Leader (1960)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 10 (1943, 1947, 1950-1956 & 1959)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 5 (1951, 1952, 1954, 1956 & 1959)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 14 (1943, 1944, 1947 & 1950-1960)
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1972

Records Held

• Most years pitched, AL: 23
• Most bases on balls, AL, career: 1,775

Career Highlights

• Pitched one-hit shutout for Cleveland Indians against Detroit Tigers on May 22, 1955
• Pitched one-hit shutout for Chicago White Sox against Boston Red Sox on May 1, 1959
• Pitched 8 two-hit shutouts, in 1944 (1), 1951 (1), 1952 (1), 1954 (1), 1958 (3) and 1959 (1)

ML Cy Young Award
1959	1960	1961
Bob Turley	Early Wynn	Vern Law

Further Reading

• David Fleitz: "Early Wynn", in Bill Nowlin, ed.: Van Lingle Mungo: The Man, The Song, The Players, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2014, pp. 158-161. ISBN 978-1-933599-76-2
• Lew Freedman: Early Wynn, the Go-Go White Sox and the 1959 World Series, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2009. ISBN 978-0-7864-4442-7 [1]
• Early Wynn (as told to George Vass): "The Game I'll Never Forget", Baseball Digest, April 1971, pp. 64-67. [2]

Related Sites

• Early Wynn at the SABR Bio Project
• Description of Wynn's 300th win