| Preacher Roe | |
|---|---|
 Roe in 1953 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1916-02-26)February 26, 1916 Ash Flat, Arkansas, U.S. | |
| Died: November 9, 2008(2008-11-09) (aged 92) West Plains, Missouri, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 22, 1938, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 4, 1954, for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 127–84 |
| Earned run average | 3.43 |
| Strikeouts | 956 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Elwin Charles "Preacher"Roe (February 26, 1916 – November 9, 2008) was an American professionalbaseballpitcher. He played inMajor League Baseball for theSt. Louis Cardinals (1938),Pittsburgh Pirates (1944–47), andBrooklyn Dodgers (1948–54). Roe was a five-timeAll-Star.
Roe was born on February 26, 1916, inAsh Flat, Arkansas and grew up inViola, Arkansas. The nickname "Preacher" came at the age of three when an uncle asked his name and Roe responded "preacher" because of a minister who would take him on horse-and-buggy rides. For some time, Roe’s father, Charles Roe, played semi-professional ball for a Pine Bluff, Arkansas team before he began practice as a country doctor.[1]
From 1935 to 1939, Roe attendedHarding College (now University).[2] While majoring in education, he received a baseball scholarship and also tried his hand at basketball. At Harding, in a 13-inning game in 1937, Roe gained national attention by striking out 26 batters.[1]
In the summer of 1938, Roe was signed byBranch Rickey, then general manager for theSt. Louis Cardinals. Roe pitched in one game for the team that season, giving up six hits, two walks, and four runs in2+2⁄3 innings. He spent the next five seasons in the Cardinals' minor league system before being traded to thePittsburgh Pirates on September 30, 1943 in exchange for pitcherJohnny Podgajny, outfielderJohnny Wyrostek and cash.[3]
As a fastball pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Roe had a record of 13–11 with a 3.11earned run average (ERA) in 1944 and a 14–13 record with a 2.87 ERA in 1945. His 148 strikeouts in the 1945 season led theNational League and he was selected for (but did not play in) the1945 All-Star Game.[3] While coaching high school basketball after the 1945 season, Roe suffered a fractured skull in a fight with a referee.[2] His pitching suffered in the following seasons, with his record falling to 3–8 and an ERA of 5.14 in 1946, and deteriorated further in 1947, as he finished the season with a record of 4–15 and an ERA of 5.25.[3]
Ralph Kiner, he said, stood in a hole in the outfield. He caught balls hit to his hole but otherwise did not field. One can get a great flavor of 'Ole Preach', as he was called, by readingRoger Kahn's bookThe Boys of Summer.
Branch Rickey, the general manager of theBrooklyn Dodgers, remembered Roe from Rickey's time in the Cardinals' management and engineered a trade.[2] On December 8, 1947, the Dodgers got Roe, and infieldersBilly Cox andGene Mauch in exchange for pitchersHal Gregg andVic Lombardi and outfielderDixie Walker.[2][3]
With his health improving and with the spitball now in his repertoire, Roe had much success with the Dodgers, including winning records in his first six seasons with the team.[2] Roe finished the 1948 season with a record of 12–8 and an ERA of 2.63.[3]
Selected to play in the1949 All-Star Game, Roe pitched in the ninth inning, retiring all three batters he faced.[4] He improved further in the 1949 season, finishing with a 15–6 record and a 2.79 ERA.[3] He pitched for the first time in the postseason in the1949 World Series, winning Game 2 with a six-hit complete game shutout against theNew York Yankees that the Dodgers won 1–0, their only win in the five game series.[5]
Roe posted an exceptional 22–3 win-loss record for the Dodgers in 1951, becoming only the fifth pitcher since 1916 to begin the season 10–0.[6] He had a winning percentage of 88% in the season. Had he not lost his second-to-last start of the year (he got a no-decision in his last start), he would have become the first pitcher ever with a winning percentage above 90% in a 20-win season (as it turned out, no pitcher has ever gone on to win 90% of their games for a 20-win season since Roe's near miss).[7]
Roe was an exceptional pitcher, but notorious as a poor hitter, finishing his career with a .110 batting average.[3] In 1953, he hit a home run atForbes Field inPittsburgh, the only one of his career, causing fans to roar in surprise and delight. Dodger broadcasterRed Barber told his radio audience, "Well, old Number 28 has hit a home run, and we'll never hear the end of it, folks!"
Roe was still pitching in the majors at age 39, unusual at the time, and was the third-oldest player in the National League in the 1954 season, his last in the majors.[8] When asked to explain his longevity, he replied "Clean livin' and thespitball." He described his methodology in a 1955 article inSports Illustrated, "The Outlawed Spitball Was My Money Pitch", published a year after he retired.[2][9] He was acquired along with Billy Cox by theBaltimore Orioles from theDodgers on December 14, 1954 for a pair of minor-leaguers, infielder Harry Schwegman and right-handed pitcher John Jancse, and $60,000.[10]
Roe's overall career statistics were hurt by the fact that he was away from baseball during World War II and that for two of the years he pitched for the Pirates they were among the worst teams in theNational League. Contrasting the fielding of the Dodgers and the Pirates, he once said that a pitcher should pay to pitch for the Dodgers, whereas the Pirates' second baseman and shortstop were like goalposts with the ball bouncing between them. After being taken out of a game in the second inning, Roe commented that, "Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you."[11]
Willie Mays said of Roe, "We used to say he had two fastball speeds—slow, and slower."[12]Sal Maglie, star pitcher for the Giants, said Roe used to have a slow fastball: "Believe me, it really wasn't fast at all." Maglie noted that Roe would strike out hitters with it, though, by throwing it after a bunch of slower pitches, as this messed with the hitter's timing.[13]
Roe lived inWest Plains, Missouri, where for many years he operated a small grocery store (now home to another grocery store, The Truck Patch) on the northeast corner of Broadway and Porter Wagoner Boulevard, and has a street named after him (Preacher Roe Boulevard), which includedU.S. 160 north of theUS 63 bypass until the city rerouted U.S. 160 andRoute 17 after 2000. U.S. Route 160 still runs as Preacher Roe Boulevard south of U.S. 63. A favorite son of West Plains, Roe was the subject of a 1984 cover story written by Terry Fuhrmann Hampton for Issue #26 of the West Plains Gazette magazine. There is an image of him on a mural inside the Ozark Heritage Welcome Center, located in West Plains.
A community ball field inSalem, Fulton County, Arkansas, 18 miles (29 km) from Roe's birthplace of Ash Flat, is known as Preacher Roe Park.
The bookCarl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings (2004) includes short stories from former Dodger pitcherCarl Erskine. Roe is prominent in many of these stories.
Roe died on November 9, 2008, fromcolon cancer.[14]
| Preceded by | Brooklyn DodgersOpening Day Starting pitcher 1952 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |