John Andrew Beazley (May 25, 1918 – April 21, 1990) was a 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, ...

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 ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

and

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee 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 National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

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 ...

(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). 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- ...

victory over 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 ...

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 Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

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

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

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

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 3.01 ERA in 76 games, including three

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s and 21 complete games in 374

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 ...

. After leaving baseball, Beazley worked as a beer distributor. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in Nashville at age 71.

References

External links

Baseball 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 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 20th-century American sportsmen