Al Kaline was an excellent outfielder and won 11 Gold Glove Awards. He was selected for 15 All-Star games. Playing in the 1968 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, this Hall of Famer hit .379, with two home runs and he drove in 8 runs. Kaline made some sparkling fielding plays stopping the Cardinals from scoring and the Tigers went on to win the World Series. The Tigers, except in the above world series, never won any more pennants and because of this Kaline was overlooked by the media. Al Kaline was an outstanding all-around player and fans in Detroit appreciated his all-around efforts day after day. Baseball fans salute your style of ball playing.

In 1967, Phil Niekro led the National League in ERA with an outstanding 1.87. In 1969, he won 23 games and helped the Atlanta Braves win their first ever NL West Crown. Niekro was one of baseballs' top control pitchers as noted by his strikeouts to walks ratio; in 1969, he struck out 193 would be hitters and walked only 57.

August 5, 1973, Phil Niekro hurled a no-hitter vs. the San Diego Padres. He won 20 games in 1974; starting 39 and completed 18 of them including six shutouts, and his' opponents batting average was .225. In 1979, he was 21-20 and led the league for the second year in a row in both complete games (23) and in innings pitched (342).

Phil Niekro was a top fielding pitcher and won Glove Gloves Awards in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982 & 1983.

He is 3rd on the all-time list for the most career shutout losses (with 49); meaning he lost the game when the opposing pitcher hurled a shutout. Hall of Famers Walter Johnson and Nolan Ryan are the leaders in shutout losses. All three pitched on some poor playing teams for most of their careers.

Phil Niekro's career total : 318-274, pct .537, pitched 45 shutouts and had an ERA of 3.35, OBA .247. Niekro seemed to pitch forever and his lifetime total of 5404 innings pitched and 24 years of pitching service bares this fact out.

Served in US Military

Larry Doby's fine all-around play puts him in the top ten percent of all-time centerfielders in baseball history. A Hall of Famer, he starred in the Negro Leagues and was brought up by Cleveland Indians' owner Bill Veeck in July of 1947.

Playing in the major leagues, Doby had five seasons with over 100 RBI's , three times he scored over 100 runs (3 other times over 90). He was a solid clutch hitter and helped the Indians win the 1948 pennant and the World Series over the Boston Braves. He also played a big part for the Indians as they won the 1954 AL Pennant.

Larry Doby powered 20 or more HR's in eight different seasons, and in 1950, he batted .326. Doby was an outstanding fielding centerfielder and a seven time All-Star.

He was traded to the White Sox in the 1956 and remained a popular player with the fans. In 1957 , his batting average fell to .268, but he still hit 24 HR's and drove in 102 runs. Doby played a year in Japan after his playing days were over in the states.

Larry Doby's major league stats: played 1533 games, batted .283, hit over 200 lifetime doubles and homers. baseballhistorian.com

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To view a few newspaper clippings from the 1950s, type in the words Today in Time into our 'Search' located on the Home Page. Thanks

note: this page has moved to: http://www.baseballhistorian.com/american_heroes.cfm?hero=87

In his last season with the Milwaukee Braves, Antonelli was moved into the starting rotation and went 12-12 with an ERA of 3.18. He was traded to the New York Giants in 1954 for Giants' hero Bobby Thompson and helped them win the pennant with his 21-7 mark and led the NL in pct .750, ERA 2.30 and shutouts with 6.

He was a World Series hero in 1954 against the powerful Cleveland Indians by winning one complete game and saving another - he pitched 11 innings and gave up only one run. In 1956, he won 20 games, lost 13, ERA 2.86 while pitching in 282 innings. 1959, Antonelli went 19-10 with a 3.10 ERA. Johnny Antonelli's career record: 126-110, 3.34 ERA, 1992 innings, and 26 shutouts. baseballhistorian.com