Tom Sturdivant
Arm trouble and a spike wound to the heel limited him in 1958, though he won his second World Series as the Yankees defeated the Milwaukee Braves in seven games.Born in Gordon, Kansas, on April 28, 1930, Tom was the son of Elbert E. Pete Sturdivant and his wife, Ethel (née Moudy).Later in the season, he batted .241 in 36 games for the Norfolk Tars, another Yankees' Class B affiliate in the Piedmont League which needed help at third base.[4] Harry Craft, the manager, supported him in his decision to become a pitcher and assigned him as roommate Hank Wyse, a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player with the Chicago Cubs who mentored Sturdivant in the art of pitching.In 1953, he had a 10–7 record with a 2.98 ERA for the Class AA Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association, striking out 104, walking 61, and allowing 130 hits in 139 innings pitched.In 1954, he started 20 of his 32 appearances with the Kansas City Blues of the American Association, a Class AAA level team that was New York's top minor league affiliate.Entering to begin the bottom of the seventh with New York losing 5–2, Sturdivant gave up a triple to opposing pitcher Willard Nixon, who later scored on a double by Faye Throneberry.Facing the Kansas City Athletics on July 22, he gave up two runs in seven innings but was outdueled on the mound by ex-Yankee Vic Raschi in the 3–1 loss.[10] Sportswriter Joseph M. Sheehan reported, "During the Bombers' drive to the pennant, [Sturdivant] carried an equal share of the pitching load with Whitey Ford and Johnny Kucks, the Yankees' two nineteen-game winners.Seven times, the leadoff man for the Dodgers reached, drawing visits to the mound from Stengel in the later innings, but the manager elected to use his starter for the full distance.[1] With Ford, Larsen, Bob Turley, and Kucks, Sturdivant was part of a group that threw five straight complete games in the series, an occurrence that has yet to be repeated.[17] Included in that stretch were a game on May 15 in which he struck out nine Indians (though he suffered the loss because of two unearned runs) sandwiched between victories over the Athletics on May 7 and May 24, the latter of which was a shutout.[17] Against the Tigers on June 9, after Frank Bolling and Charlie Maxwell started the third inning with back-to-back home runs, Sturdivant threw a pitch over Ray Boone's head.[5] His 16–6 record helped him lead the AL in won-lost percentage (.727, tied with Dick Donovan, who was also 16–6), and his 2.54 ERA was second in the league to teammate Bobby Shantz's 2.45.[24] Hoping for a higher salary, Sturdivant waited to start spring training, finally agreeing to an $18,000 contract (a $4,000 increase) in late February.[34] Against the Tigers on September 23, with Kansas City down 5–1 and the bases loaded, Sturdivant relieved Al Grunwald and struck out Gus Zernial to end the inning.[5] After two relief appearances, he began to be used as a starter on April 26, holding the Red Sox to three hits and one unearned run over 7+1⁄3 innings and picking up the win in a 2–1 triumph.[1] He gave Columbus manager Larry Shepard credit for helping improve his performance: "One thing he noticed was that I seemed to be flinging or flipping the ball, instead of firing it."[1] In six starts for Columbus, he had a 5–1 record and a 1.80 ERA, striking out 26, walking eight, and allowing 34 hits in 45 innings before getting his contract purchased by Pittsburgh on July 29.[5] After losing his first start for the Pirates, he threw six consecutive complete games, winning all but an 11–inning match against the Cubs on August 18 in which he allowed two runs in 10+1⁄3 innings.His combined totals in 28 games (21 starts) between Washington and Pittsburgh were a 7–8 record, a 3.69 ERA, 84 strikeouts, 57 walks, and 148 hits allowed in 165+2⁄3 innings pitched.[5] Beginning his 1962 season on April 13, Sturdivant struck out seven and allowed two runs over seven innings, earning the win in a 4–3 triumph over the New York Mets.[5] In its preview of the 1963 Pirates, Sports Illustrated wrote that "Harvey Haddix and knuckle-balling Tom Sturdivant are getting old and will spend some time in the bullpen with fork-baller ElRoy Face.[5] In late August and early September, he made three starts for the Athletics, never allowing more than three earned runs but posting an 0–1 record, though Kansas City won the first of the trio.[53] With Kansas City losing 6–5 to Boston on September 25, Sturdivant relieved Ed Rakow in the sixth inning, then held the Red Sox to one run for the rest of the game, earning the win in a 7–6 triumph.[5] He appeared in 48 games (three starts) for his three teams in 1963, posting a 2–4 record, a 3.95 ERA, 68 strikeouts, 45 walks, and 98 hits allowed in 116+1⁄3 innings pitched.Bill Nowlin of the Society for American Baseball Research speculates that he may have done so partly to help his political campaign, as he was running as a Republican for the Oklahoma Senate that fall.[16] In its preview of the Yankees before the 1956 World Series, Sports Illustrated wrote, "Has good fast ball that moves, tailing away from right-hand batter and highly effective knuckler.The two were golfing together late in the 1957 season, when Mantle suffered a massive gash in his shin after frustratedly throwing a putter and had to miss five games.[64] Sturdivant remained a Yankee fan after his career ended, subscribing to a television package that allowed him to watch all the games, even in the Midwest.