Herbert Jude Score (June 7, 1933 – November 11, 2008) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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, ...

and

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...

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 ...

(MLB). He pitched for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

from 1955 through 1959 and the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

from 1960 through 1962. He was the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

(AL) Rookie of the Year in 1955, and an AL

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

in 1955 and 1956. Due to an on-field injury that occurred in 1957, he retired early as a player in 1962. Score was a television and radio broadcaster for the Cleveland Indians from 1964 through 1997. He was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 2006.

Early life

Herb Score was born in Rosedale, New York in 1933. He was given the middle name "Jude" after St. Jude, to whom his mother prayed during her pregnancy. At 3, he was run over by a truck and later had

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...

. As a child, he started playing CYO basketball and baseball at Holy Name of Mary

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 40,634 at the tim ...

, where he made his

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

and

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

. As a teenager, he moved with his family to

Lake Worth, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Wort ...

. In 1952, he threw six no-hitters for the Lake Worth Community High School baseball team, when the school won its only state baseball championship."Herb Score, Big League Star who Pitched at Lake Worth, Dies at 75."
''Palm Beach Post'', November 11, 2008 On June 7, 1952 (his 19th birthday), he signed a baseball contract with the Cleveland Indians. He was sent to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

of the American Association where he made 10 pitching starts. In 1953, he moved to Cleveland's Class A affiliate, Reading (Pennsylvania) of the Eastern League. At Reading, he became a roommate and lifetime friend with Rocky Colavito, a near future Cleveland Indians

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

hitter In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, to dri ...

and

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

from

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. For the 1954 season, both were promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis. Score won ''The Sporting News'' Minor League Player of the Year Award and began to be referred to as "left-handed

Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...

MLB playing career

Cleveland Indians (1955–1959)

In , Score came up to the major leagues (with Colavito) as a rookie with the

at the age of 21. He quickly became one of the top power pitchers in the

, no small feat on a team that still included Feller,

Bob Lemon Robert Granville Lemon (September 22, 1920 – January 11, 2000) was an American right-handed pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lemon was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Lemon was raised in California, ...

, and other top pitchers, going 16–10 with a 2.85

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in his first year. He appeared on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' magazine on May 30, 1955. Score struck out 245 batters in 1955, a major league rookie record that stood until , when it was topped by Dwight Gooden (Score, Gooden, Grover Cleveland Alexander,

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton won a total of 324 games, pitched 58 s ...

, Gary Nolan, Kerry Wood,

Mark Langston Mark Edward Langston (born August 20, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Seattle Mariners (1984–1989), Montreal Expos (1989), California / Anaheim Angels (1990–1997), San Diego Padres ( ...

, and

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a ...

were the only eight rookie pitchers to top 200 strikeouts in the 20th century). It was the first time in major league history that a regular starting pitcher averaged over one strikeout per inning. In , Score improved on his rookie campaign, going 20–9 with a 2.53 earned run average and 263 strikeouts, while reducing the number of walks from 154 to 129, and allowed only 5.85 hits per 9 innings, which remained a franchise record until it was broken by

Luis Tiant Luis Clemente Tiant Vega () (November 23, 1940 – October 8, 2024), nicknamed "El Tiante", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 years, primarily for the Cleveland Indians and the Boston R ...

's 5.30 in .

Injury from Gil McDougald's line drive

On May 7, , during the first inning of a night game against 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 ...

at Municipal Stadium in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Score threw a low

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

to Gil McDougald with Jim Hegan catching. McDougald lined the pitch to the mound and struck Score in the face, breaking Score's facial bones and injuring his eye. The ball caromed to third baseman

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

, who threw McDougald out before he rushed to the pitching mound to aid Score. McDougald, seeing Score hit by the baseball and then lying down and injured, also ran immediately to the pitching mound, instead of

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, to help Score. McDougald reportedly vowed to retire if Score permanently lost his sight in one eye as a result of the accident. Score eventually recovered his 20/20 vision, though he missed the rest of the season. He returned early in the season. Though many believe he feared being hit by another batted ball, and thus changed his pitching motion, Score rejected that theory. Score would tell Cleveland sportswriter Terry Pluto (for ''The Curse of Rocky Colavito'') that, in 1958, after pitching and winning a few games and feeling better than he'd felt in a long time, he tore a tendon in his arm while pitching on a damp night against the Washington Senators and sat out the rest of the season. In 1959, he shifted his pitching motion in a bid to avoid another, similar injury. "The reason my motion changed", Score told Pluto, "was because I hurt my elbow, and I overcompensated for it and ended up with some bad habits." As a result of the changes Score made in his pitching delivery, his velocity dropped and he incurred further injuries. Score pitched the full season, going 9–11 with a 4.71 earned run average and 147 strikeouts. In the book ''The Greatest Team Of All Time'' (Bob Adams, Inc, publisher. 1994),

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

picked Score as the toughest American League left-handed pitcher he faced (before the injury).

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seas ...

picked Score for his "Greatest Team Of All Time".

Chicago White Sox (1960–1962)

Score was traded to the

by Cleveland on April 18, 1960 for pitcher Barry Latman. Score's roommate, Colavito, was traded to the Detroit Tigers the previous day. Score was reunited on the Chicago team with some former Indians players and manager Al Lopez. Score pitched parts of the following three seasons before retiring. He finished with a major league career record of 55–46, a 3.36 earned run average, and 837 strikeouts over eight seasons in 858

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 ...

Broadcasting career

Score retired from playing baseball in 1962. Beginning in 1964, he was employed as a television and radio play-by-play announcer with the Cleveland Indians for the next 34 years, first on television from to , and then on radio from to , the longest career for an Indians play-by-play announcer. Score was revered by the Indians fans for his announcing style, including a low voice and a low-key style, as well as a habit of occasionally mispronouncing the names of players on opposing teams. Score's final Major League Baseball game as an announcer was Game 7 of the

1997 World Series The 1997 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1997 season. The 93rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National ...

Retirement and death

On October 8, 1998, while driving to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

after being inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame the night before, Score was severely injured in a traffic accident. He pulled into the path of a westbound tractor-trailer truck near

New Philadelphia, Ohio New Philadelphia is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The county's largest city, New Philadelphia lies along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 17,677 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It i ...

, and his car was struck in the passenger side. He suffered trauma to his brain, chest, and lungs. The orbital bone around one of his eyes was fractured, as were three ribs and his sternum. He spent over a month in the

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

, and was released from MetroHealth Hospital in mid-December. He was cited for failure to stop at a stop sign. He went through a difficult recovery, but managed to throw out the first pitch at the Indians'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

on April 12, 1999. He suffered a stroke in 2002, and died on November 11, 2008, at his home in

Rocky River, Ohio Rocky River is a city in western Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it is located along the shore of Lake Erie approximately west of downtown Cleveland. The city is named for the Rocky River (Ohio), Rocky River that for ...

, after a lengthy illness. He is interred at Lakewood Park Cemetery in Rocky River. The Indians wore a memorial patch on their uniform during the 2009 season to honor him.

Awards and honors

Baseball

High school

* 1952 Florida State Baseball Championship ( Lake Worth Community High School)

Professional

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 ...

Most Valuable Player Award – 1954 * ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' Minor League Player of the Year – 1954 *

Rookie of the Year – 1955 * Two-time American League

– 1955, 1956 * Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame – 2006 * Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame (class of 1992)

Broadcasting

* Cleveland Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (class of 1996) * Cleveland Press Club Journalism Hall of Fame (class of 1998) * Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame (class of 1998)

References

External links

*
''New York Times'' Obituary

Obituary
in ''Cleveland Plain Dealer''
Herb Score – ''Sports Illustrated'', May 30, 1955 (cover)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Score, Herb 1933 births 2008 deaths American League All-Stars Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners American League strikeout champions Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians announcers Cleveland Indians players Indianapolis Indians players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball broadcasters Reading Indians players Baseball players from Queens, New York Sportspeople from Lake Worth Beach, Florida Baseball players from Palm Beach County, Florida American Association (1902–1997) MVP Award winners Burials at Lakewood Park Cemetery People from Rosedale, Queens Baseball players from Cleveland Catholics from New York (state) 20th-century American sportsmen