John Andrew Beazley (May 25, 1918 – April 21, 1990) was a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

who played for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and Boston Braves. As a rookie in 1942, Beazley went 21–6 with a 2.13 ERA for the Cardinals, as his 21 wins and ERA ranked him second in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

behind teammate

Mort Cooper Morton Cecil Cooper (March 2, 1913 – November 17, 1958) was an American baseball pitcher who played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played from 1938 to 1949 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Braves, New York Giants, and Chi ...

(22 and 1.78). Beazley completed his feat pitching two complete-game wins in the team's

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

victory over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in five games, allowing three runs in Game Two and two runs in Game Five for a combined 2.50 ERA. After the season, Beazley enlisted in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

during World War II. While serving, he was sent to pitch for an

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

team and felt pain in his arm, but ordered by his commanding officer to pitch through the pain, Beazley severely hurt his arm. Coming out of the service in 1946, he tried in vain to regain his form but was never the same, winning only nine games for the rest of his career. In a six-season career, Beazley posted a 31–12 record with 147 strikeouts and a 3.01 ERA in 76 games, including three

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s and 21 complete games in 374 innings pitched. After leaving baseball, Beazley worked as a beer distributor. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in Nashville at age 71.

References

External links

BR BullpenBaseball Library
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beazley, Johnny 1918 births 1990 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Boston Braves players St. Louis Cardinals players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Baseball players from Tennessee People from Nashville, Tennessee Leesburg Gondoliers players Tallahassee Capitals players Greenville Bucks players Abbeville A's players Montgomery Rebels players Columbus Red Birds players Mobile Shippers players St. Petersburg Saints players Nashville Vols players Dallas Eagles players Oklahoma City Indians players Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Lexington Giants (KITTY League) players