Major League Baseball Player. The right-handed pitcher broke into the major leagues with the New York Giants in 1945, but he jumped to the Mexican League and was blacklisted from Organized Baseball by commissioner A.B. "Happy" Chandler. When he was reinstated in 1950, he was 33 years old, yet he had plenty left. Nicknamed "The Barber" because he threw close to the batter's chin, he was 18-4 with a 2.71 earned run average for the Giants in his first year back. Then he led the league with 23 wins the following year as New York pulled off a stunning comeback drive to the 1951 pennant, capped by Bobby Thomson's home run in a playoff with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had 22 complete games, pitched 298 innings that year and was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game. He was an All-Star in 1952 when he was 18-8 with a 2.92 ERA. Hampered by an ailing back, he was picked up by Cleveland in 1955 and then sold to the Dodgers for $1,000 in mid-1956. He helped Brooklyn win the pennant by going 13-5 and pitching a no-hitter against Philadelphia on Sept. 25. He was Dodgers' hurler when the New York Yankees' Don Larsen pitched his 2-0 perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. He was 119-62 lifetime with a 3.15 ERA in 10 years in the big leagues. Teammate Alvin Dark once remarked, "He is the only man I've ever seen pitch a shutout on a day when he had absolutely nothing. Maglie got by on meanness."
Major League Baseball Player. The right-handed pitcher broke into the major leagues with the New York Giants in 1945, but he jumped to the Mexican League and was blacklisted from Organized Baseball by commissioner A.B. "Happy" Chandler. When he was reinstated in 1950, he was 33 years old, yet he had plenty left. Nicknamed "The Barber" because he threw close to the batter's chin, he was 18-4 with a 2.71 earned run average for the Giants in his first year back. Then he led the league with 23 wins the following year as New York pulled off a stunning comeback drive to the 1951 pennant, capped by Bobby Thomson's home run in a playoff with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had 22 complete games, pitched 298 innings that year and was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game. He was an All-Star in 1952 when he was 18-8 with a 2.92 ERA. Hampered by an ailing back, he was picked up by Cleveland in 1955 and then sold to the Dodgers for $1,000 in mid-1956. He helped Brooklyn win the pennant by going 13-5 and pitching a no-hitter against Philadelphia on Sept. 25. He was Dodgers' hurler when the New York Yankees' Don Larsen pitched his 2-0 perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. He was 119-62 lifetime with a 3.15 ERA in 10 years in the big leagues. Teammate Alvin Dark once remarked, "He is the only man I've ever seen pitch a shutout on a day when he had absolutely nothing. Maglie got by on meanness."
Bio by: Ron Coons
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