Spurgeon Ferdinand "Spud" Chandler (September 12, 1907 – January 9, 1990) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player. He played in

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 (AL) ...

as a right-handed

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pitc ...

and played his entire career for 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 o ...

from 1937 through 1947. He was named the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in after anchoring the team's pitching staff with 20

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and only 4 losses as New York won its third consecutive pennant; his 1.64

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 numb ...

in that season was the lowest by any major league pitcher between 1920 and 1967, and remains a Yankees team record. In eleven seasons, he never suffered a losing record; with a total of 109 wins and 43 losses, his career winning percentage of .717 is the highest of any pitcher with at least 100 victories since 1876.

Biography

Chandler was born in

Commerce, Georgia Commerce is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,387. History Native American history Before European settlers arrived, the area around present-day Commerce was inhabit ...

to Leonard Ferdinand Chandler (1871–1942) and Olivia Catherine Hix (1872–1957). He grew up in Franklin County and graduated from Carnesville High School in 1928, and attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. He played football as a halfback, throwing a touchdown pass to help defeat

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in a 1929 game dedicating a new stadium. He also pitched for the baseball team and competed on the track team. He was a brother of the

Alpha Gamma Rho Alpha Gamma Rho (), commonly known as AGR, is a social/professional, agriculture fraternity in the United States, currently with 71 collegiate chapters. Founding The fraternity considers the Morrill Act of 1862 to be the instrument of its incept ...

fraternity and graduated with a degree in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

. He spent five seasons in the Yankees organization after signing with the team, his favorite since boyhood. Chandler finally made his major league debut at age 29 on May 6, 1937, and went 7–4 that season with a 2.84 ERA and six

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...

s (including two

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). The following year, he was 14–5, and in 1939 he was 3–0 in 11 relief appearances. Although the Yankees won the

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

in each of those years, Chandler did not appear in the postseason. Bothered by injuries during his early career, after records of 8–7 and 10–4 in 1940 and 1941 he improved further to 16–5 in , finishing third in the AL with a 2.38 ERA and earning his first of four All-Star selections. He was the All-Star Game's winning pitcher in 1942. Chandler had one start in the World Series each year, but lost both times, as the Yankees won in 1941 and lost in 1942. His greatest year came in 1943. In addition to his outstanding ERA, he led the league with 20 wins in 30 starts, as well as 20 complete games and five shutouts. In 253 innings pitched, he gave up 46 earned runs, allowing only five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s. Chandler's 134 strikeouts were third in the league, and equalled his combined total of the previous two seasons. He made the AL All-Star team for the second time. Chandler finally had a successful

, pitching two complete game victories, including a shutout in the final Game 5, as the Yankees defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. Winning the MVP award, he beat out Luke Appling of the Chicago White Sox. Chandler remains the only Yankee pitcher to win the Most Valuable Player award. After one start in 1944, he entered World War II military service with the

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 ...

for nearly all of the next two seasons. He returned in with another All-Star season, going 20–8 with a 2.10 ERA (2nd in the league to Hal Newhouser) and a career-high 138 strikeouts. That year, he also had 20 complete games for the second time in his career. He earned his last All-Star selection in , but finished the year with only a 9–5 record as injuries ended his career at age 40. He pitched for the last time in the historic

1947 World Series The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Yankees won the Series in seven games for their 11th World Series championship in team history. Yankees manager Bucky Harris won the Series for the first time ...

against the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

, pitching two relief innings in a Game 3 loss. In four World Series, he had a 2–2 record with a 1.62 ERA, 16 strikeouts, and 1 shutout. Over his career Chandler was 109–43 in 211 games (109 complete, 26 shutouts), with a 2.84 ERA. He had 614 career strikeouts and gave up 64 home runs and in 1,485 innings pitched, allowed 1,327 hits. As a hitter, he had a batting average of .201, with a .234 on-base percentage; he had 110 hits in 548

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s in his career, and on July 26, 1940 had two home runs including a grand slam. Chandler was also a fine fielding pitcher, committing only 10 errors in 501 total chances for a career .980

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. He later managed in the minor leagues, became pitching coach with the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

in 1957–58, and scouted for several teams before retiring in 1984. He was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1969 and into the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. Chandler died at age 82, leaving his wife and two sons.Spud Chandler, 82, Star Yankee Pitcher On 7 Pennant Clubs
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Legacy

Chandler was inducted into the University of Georgia Ring of Honor in 2000.

References

External links

The New Georgia EncyclopediaGeorgia Sports Hall of FameSpud Chandler , Society for American Baseball Research
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Spud 1907 births 1990 deaths American League All-Stars American League ERA champions American League Most Valuable Player Award winners American League wins champions Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Binghamton Triplets players Cleveland Indians scouts Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Georgia Bulldogs football players Jacksonville Beach Sea Birds players Kansas City Athletics coaches Kansas City Athletics scouts Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Minnesota Twins scouts Newark Bears (IL) players New York Yankees players New York Yankees scouts Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Commerce, Georgia People from Royston, Georgia People from South Pasadena, Florida Portland Beavers players Spartanburg Peaches players Springfield Rifles players Syracuse Chiefs players United States Army personnel of World War II

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links