Roy Face

Elroy Leon Face (born February 20, 1928 in Stephentown, New York) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1953, 1955–68), Detroit Tigers (1968) and Montreal Expos (1969). The outstanding reliever in the National League during the 1960s, upon his retirement he ranked third in major league history in pitching appearances, behind Hoyt Wilhelm and Cy Young, and second in saves behind Wilhelm. Nicknamed "The Baron", he batted and threw right-handed.

Career

In a 16-season career, Face posted a 104–95 record with a 3.48 ERA, 193 saves and 877 strikeouts in 1375 innings.

Originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1949, Face was twice drafted by Branch Rickey, first for the Brooklyn Dodgers before the 1951 season, then, in 1952 for Pittsburgh. He made his debut a year later.

Besides being considered one of the premier relievers of the 1950s and 1960s, Face was a well-rounded, philosophical man who explored the mountains of Nepal and Tibet seeking enlightenment during one off-season, and returned a changed man. Face decided to employ a new pitch, the forkball, after learning it from a monk while in the Himalayas. Upon his return to the U.S., he used his newly found inner peace and clarity (not to mention his ingenious new pitch) to confound opposite hitters: "It would come in hard and break anyway it wanted to, sometimes in, sometimes out, mostly down", Face said.

Face pitched most of his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His most productive season came in 1959, when he posted a remarkable 18–1 record, with 17 victories in a row, earning the highest single-season winning percentage in major league history (.947).

Selected an All-Star from 1959–61, Face saved at least 16 games in seven seasons at a time when starting pitchers were more apt to remain in a game they were leading, with a career-high 28 in 1962. In that season, he posted a 1.88 ERA, and eight times had an ERA under 3.00. In the 1960 World Series, he shocked the Mantle-Maris duo and the Yankees, saving three of the four victories for the Pirates champion team.

Face also decided to use his great renown to help humanitarian causes, and to put himself at the forefront of many social issues in the 1960s. He retired at the end of the 1969 season.

Highlights

3-time All-Star (1959–61)
National League TSN Reliever of the Year Award (1962)
Led NL in victories and winning percentage (1959)
3 times led NL in saves (1958, 1961–62)
4 times led NL in games finished (1958, 1960–62)
Twice led NL in games pitched (1956, 1960)
Holds MLB record for highest winning percentage in a season (.947, 1959)
Holds MLB record for most relief wins in a season (18, 1959)
Holds MLB record for consecutive wins (17, 1959)
Holds MLB record for consecutive relief appearances (657)
Holds NL record for games finished (574)
His 96 career relief wins ranks him 5th on the all-time list
Tied with Walter Johnson for the most games pitched for one team (802)

External links

Baseball-Reference.com – career statistics and analysis
1960: The Last Pure Season, by Kerry Keene