Wes Stock

[WillyM]

Mike Baumann ran his won-lost record to 7-0 for the season today.

For me, that brought back memories of Wes Stock, who pitched for the Orioles in the early '60's.

Wes was almost exclusively a relief pitcher.  While he was rarely called on to close a game, he had a knack for picking up wins in relief.  He went 5-0 in 1961 and 7-0 in 1963.  (He also went undefeated in 1964 with a 2-0 record, but only pitched in 14 games that year.)

Oddly enough, Wes won his seventh game in 1963 before the end of July, just as Baumann has.  Though he continued to pitch through the end of the season, he didn't get another decision.

After 1964, he was traded to the Kansas City A's.  He pitched in 1964-66, then was named a coach of the A's in 1967.  He was activated as a player for one game, giving up two runs in the ninth inning of an 8-3 loss to the Yankees, in his final pitching appearance.  His lifetime won-lost record was 27-13, with a very respectable ERA of 3.60.

Stock was active as a pitching coach from 1970-81 and then again from 1984-86 with the Brewers, A's, and Mariners.  He has the distinction of being the modern Brewers' first pitching coach (they moved to Milwaukee in 1970 after one season as the Seattle Pilots), as well as being a two-time World Series champion pitching coach with Oakland in 1973-74. 

[Number5]

[Gurgi]

Very cool story thanks for bringing this player to my attention.  I had never heard of him before.  I guess because he was before Palmer's time.  If they had overlapped we likely would of heard some story about him by now.  

 

By the way his name is pretty boss for a ball player.  Not as good as Gunnar Henderson but close. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by Gurgi

[LA2]

Thanks for this reminder. The greatest-ever season in this regard must be Roy Face's 1959 season with the Pirates (the year before they famously won the World Series on the Mazeroski walk-off homer). Face was 18-1 with a 2.70 ERA, earning him both All-Star games and 7th-place in the MVP voting.

Although he continued to be an effective relief pitcher for several more years, his career W/L record outside of the 18-1 season was merely 86-94.