Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 09, 2008
Masterson Passes

Walt Masterson, famous for pitching sixteen shutout innings in a game without getting the decision, passed away in Durham, NC.

"Masterson was something out of this world," The Washington Post said the next day. In the 16 innings he was on the mound, he gave up only six hits -- all of them singles -- struck out seven batters and walked six, two on purpose.

Tall and rangy, with one of the better fastballs in the American League, Mr. Masterson was a better pitcher than his record indicated. He made the all-star team twice, in 1947 and 1948, and was the starting pitcher in the 1948 game.

Masterson walked 50 more than he struck out in 1948. You won't see a pitcher like that starting the all-star game today.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Update: Peter Gammons writes:

Walt Masterson beat the Red Sox 5-1 on June 28, 1952, the first major league game I ever attended.

Posted by David Pinto at 12:52 PM | Deaths | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Walt Masterson pitched on a WW II club of service ballplayers in Hawaii. The mgr was Yankee HOF catcher Bill Dickey, who as a LCDR USN, pulled rank on several of the enlisted ballplayers. In Masterson's first start vs Yanks in 1946, he let Dickey have a fast one on the hip for payback. With better teams than the 1939 to 1949 Nats, he would have had a more respectable pitching record.

Posted by: Bob S at April 9, 2008 10:12 PM
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