Jim Konstanty

Journeyman pitcher Jim Konstanty had a magical season for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1950. The righthander pitched 152 innings in 74 relief appearances, a record number at the time. Posting a 2.66 ERA, he led the league in saves with 22 and notched 16 wins. The Phillies won the NL pennant and Konstanty became the first bespectacled player to be selected league MVP. He probably didn’t deserve the trophy. I don’t even think he was the most valuable pitcher with the Phillies since Robin Roberts pitched 304 innings that season and went 20-11 with a 3.02 ERA.

One thing is certain: Konstanty was not overpowering. In 152 innings, he struck out just 56 batters and walked 50 guys. This is not a good ratio. Apparently, he had a very good palm ball. He probably got a lot of groundball outs with that pitch.

Konstanty pitched exclusively out of the bullpen during the season, but he was a surprise starter for he Phillies in game one of the World Series against the Yankees. He pitched 8 strong innings, giving up one run on 4 hits and 4 walks. But Vic Rashi was even better and the Yankees won 1-0. Third baseman Bobby Brown scored the only run of the game in the 4th inning. He doubled, advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on a sac fly by Jerry Coleman. The Yankees went on to sweep the series in 4 games.