William Loes (December 13, 1929 – July 15, 2010) was an American right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who spent eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

(1950, 1952–56),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

(1956–59) and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

(1960–61). He appeared in three

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

with the Dodgers, including the only one won by the franchise when it was based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1955. In an 11-season career, Loes posted an 80–63 record with 645

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s and a 3.89

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 1190.1

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. He made the American League All-Star team in 1957. Among Major League Baseball's video archives is a television broadcast of the sixth game of the 1952 World Series, of which Loes was one of the starting pitchers. During the game, announcer

Red Barber Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 – October 22, 1992) was an American sports announcer and author. Nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", he was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four ...

states that Loes was the son of Greek immigrants who had changed his last name. Further, says Barber, Loes would not tell Barber what his original last name was because, according to Loes, Barber would be unable to pronounce, spell or remember that name. Loes distinguished himself in several ways in the 1952 World Series. When asked how the Dodgers would fare, he predicted the Yankees would win in seven, but was misquoted as saying the Yankees would win in six. During the sixth game, he committed a balk. In the seventh inning, he was starting his windup when the ball dropped from his hand. "Too much spit on it", he said later. Then a grounder hit by Yankee pitcher Vic Raschi bounced off his leg for a single, allowing a run to score. Afterward, he said he lost the ground ball in the sun. Loes said that he did not want to be a 20-game winner, "because then I'd be expected to do it every year." His career high in wins came in 1953, when he went 14–8 for the pennant-winning Dodgers.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
– Player page

''The New York Times'', Wednesday, July 28, 2010

''Daily News'' (New York), Sunday, August 1, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Loes, Billy 1929 births 2010 deaths American League All-Stars Baltimore Orioles players Brooklyn Dodgers players Fort Worth Cats players Major League Baseball pitchers Nashua Dodgers players San Francisco Giants players Baseball players from Queens, New York People from Long Island City, Queens