Bob Porterfield
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Erwin Coolidge "Bob" Porterfield (August 10, 1923 – April 28, 1980) was an American right-handed
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
pitcher. He played for twelve seasons between 1948 and 1959 for the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
, Washington Senators,
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
,
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
and
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
. Porterfield appeared in one All-Star game in his career.


New York Yankees

Originally signed by the Yankees in 1946, it did not take Porterfield long to reach the Major Leagues. He made his debut on August 8, 1948 at the age of 24. Porterfield showed some promise in his rookie season, going 5–3 with a 4.50 ERA in 78 innings of work. Although he walked 34 and struck out only 30 batters, he threw only one wild pitch in that time. While in the minors in 1948, he led the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
in ERA. Porterfield spent parts of the next two years with the Yankees, never playing a full season with them. In his time with them, he wore the number 18, except in 1951, when he wore 23.


Washington Senators

On June 15, 1951, Porterfield was sent, with Tom Ferrick and Fred Sanford, to the Senators for Bob Kuzava. In less than three seasons with the Yankees, Kuzava would go 15–19 as a starter/reliever. In contrast, Ferrick went 6–3 with a 2.73 ERA in 49 relief appearances with the Senators. In 1952, Porterfield posted a 13–14 record, albeit with a 2.72 ERA, which was good for seventh in the league. In 1953, Porterfield led the league with 22 wins and was tenth in the league with a 3.35 ERA. He finished seventh in the league in MVP voting and was named ''The Sporting News'' Pitcher of the Year. Porterfield led the league with 24 complete games and nine shutouts and was also involved in a triple play on May 22. He threw two one-hitters in 1953. Oddly, this season was not his lone All-Star season. Despite his successful year in 1953, Porterfield signed only an $18,000 contract in 1954. Detroit pitcher
Ned Garver Ned Franklin Garver (December 25, 1925 – February 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Browns (1948–1952), the Detroit Tigers (1952–195 ...
recalled the effect this had on other pitchers' salaries. "If twenty two wins was worth $18,000 - then what we did was worth a lot less." The 1954 season would be Porterfield's lone All-Star year. He posted a 13–15 record, leading the league in hits allowed with 249. Porterfield did, however, lead the league in complete games with 21. In his appearance in the All-Star Game, he allowed one home run, to
Ted Kluszewski Theodore Bernard Kluszewski (September 10, 1924 – March 29, 1988), nicknamed "Big Klu", was an American professional baseball player, best known as a power-hitting first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1950s. He played from 1947 th ...
. After three seasons in which he averaged a record of 15–13 and posted a cumulative 3.14 ERA, Porterfield's career quickly spiraled downward. His 10-17 record and 4.45 ERA in 1955 prompted the Senators to trade him (along with
Johnny Schmitz John Albert Schmitz (November 27, 1920 – October 1, 2011) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who worked in 366 games over 13 seasons as a member of the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Se ...
, Tom Umphlett, and
Mickey Vernon James Barton "Mickey" Vernon (April 22, 1918 – September 24, 2008) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for the Washington Senators (1939–1948, 1950–1955), Cleveland Indians (1949–1950, 1958), Boston Red ...
) to the Red Sox for Karl Olson,
Dick Brodowski Richard Stanley Brodowski (July 26, 1932 – January 14, 2019) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators (1901–60), Washington Senators, and Cleveland I ...
,
Tex Clevenger Truman Eugene "Tex" Clevenger (July 9, 1932 – August 24, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher and spot starter who played for the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees from 1954 t ...
, Neil Chrisley, and Al Curtis (a minor leaguer) on November 8 of that year. While with the Senators, Porterfield wore the number 19, except in 1951, when he wore 29.


Boston Red Sox

Porterfield, in just over two years with the Red Sox, posted a record of seven wins and 16 losses with an ERA of 4.65. After pitching only two games with the Red Sox in the 1958 season, the Pirates purchased him. In Porterfield's time with the Red Sox, he wore number 19, except in 1956, when he wore 16 and 20.


Pittsburgh Pirates

During the 1958 season—in 37 appearances (six starts), he posted a 4–6 record with an ERA of 3.29. He surrendered 78 hits in 87 innings with the Bucs. Porterfield was involved in a pitching duel with
Curt Simmons Curtis Thomas Simmons (May 19, 1929 – December 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to and to . Along with right-hander Robin Roberts (a member of the Baseball ...
, earning the victory in a 1–0, 11 inning bout with the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
. He was involved in another interesting game in 1958 as well—on July 23, " Dodger Norm Larker hits a ball just inside the 1B line, which the Pirates believe(d) to be foul. When umpire
Vic Delmore Victor "Deacon" Delmore (October 21, 1915 – June 10, 1960) was a baseball umpire who worked in the National League from 1956 to 1959. He is perhaps best known for his involvement in an incident during a 1959 game where two baseballs were in play ...
signal(ed) it fair, P Bob Porterfield pick(ed) up the ball from where it had rolled into the bullpen. Though not playing, Porterfield (was) ejected for intentional interference with a ball in play. Larker (was) safe on 2B. The Dodgers still los(t) 11–3 in the doubleheader opener and are now in last place." In 1959, Porterfield started off the season with the Pirates, pitching six games with them, posting an ERA of 1.69. Nevertheless, the Pirates released him, and the Cubs picked him up. With them, Porterfield pitched four games, posting an 11.37 ERA. He was then selected off waivers from the Cubs by the Pirates. In 30 relief appearances, Porterfield posted a 4.75 ERA. Porterfield pitched his final game on September 9, 1959. The final batter he faced was
Lee Maye Arthur Lee Maye (December 11, 1934 – July 17, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played eleven seasons in the majors as an outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves (1959–1965), Houston Astros (1965–1966), Cleveland Indians ...
. Porterfield was released two days after the 1959 season ended. In his time with the Pirates, he wore 16 again. With the Cubs, he wore 43. Overall, Porterfield posted an 87–97 career record with a 3.79 ERA and 1,567 innings of work.


Career stats

Porterfield posted a .184 career batting average. Over 98 at-bats in 1953, he posted a .255 average with three home runs and sixteen RBI. Porterfield's first career home run was a grand slam, which he hit on May 5 of that year. In 1956, he hit .326 in 43 at-bats. Overall, Porterfield hit six home runs in his career, driving in 43 runs. He stole one base in one chance. In the field, Porterfield committed 15 errors for a .960 fielding percentage. He was also involved in 15 double plays in his career.


Later life

After Porterfield's career ended, he became a welder for the
Westinghouse Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...
. In 1966, he received one vote for induction into the baseball Hall of Fame, thereby falling well short of the 5% to keep his name on the ballot. Porterfield died in 1980 in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
, from
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
, at the age of 56. He is buried in Sharon Memorial Park in Charlotte. In 2005, Porterfield was inducted into the
Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...
.


See also

*
List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders Major League Baseball recognizes the player or players in each league with the most wins each season. In baseball, Win (baseball), wins are a baseball statistics, statistic used to evaluate pitchers. Credit for a win is given by the official scor ...
*
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders The following is a list of annual leaders in shutout (baseball), shutouts in Major League Baseball (MLB). A shutout occurs when a single pitcher throws a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a single Run (baseball), run. Wa ...
*
Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs * Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt * BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon * Real Spo ...


References


External links


The Deadball Era
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porterfield, Bob 1923 births 1980 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Boston Red Sox players Pittsburgh Pirates players Chicago Cubs players Baseball players from Virginia American League All-Stars American League wins champions Deaths from lymphoma in the United States Deaths from cancer in North Carolina People from Giles County, Virginia Radford Rockets players