Early Wynn
Early Wynn, Jr. was a prominent American baseball pitcher born on January 6, 1920, in Hartford, Alabama. He began his baseball journey at a young age, showcasing his talent as a hard thrower in local teams before signing a contract with the Washington Senators. Wynn's career faced challenges, including personal tragedies, such as the death of his first wife, which motivated him to pursue his baseball career with greater determination. He became an influential player for the Cleveland Indians after being traded from the Senators, achieving significant success under the guidance of coach Mel Harder.
Wynn was instrumental in leading the Indians to a pennant in 1954 and later had a standout season in 1959 with the Chicago White Sox, where he won the Cy Young Award. He ultimately reached the milestone of 300 career wins, becoming one of only fourteen pitchers in history to achieve this. Following his playing career, Wynn transitioned to coaching and scouting, earning recognition in the baseball community, including induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Known for his toughness and competitiveness, Early Wynn remains a celebrated figure in baseball history.
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Subject Terms
Early Wynn
Coach
- Born: January 6, 1920
- Birthplace: Hartford, Alabama
- Died: April 4, 1999
- Place of death: Venice, Florida
Sport: Baseball
Early Life
Early Wynn, Jr., was born on January 6, 1920, in Hartford, Alabama, a village in the southeastern part of the state. His father, a semiprofessional baseball player, worked as an auto mechanic. A fine athlete as a young boy, Early always threw hard and seemed destined to pitch, as he did for the Hartford baseball team. He was also an excellent halfback for the high school football team, but this ended soon because, midway through high school, he broke his leg just before football season. As a result, in the following spring, baseball became his only sport. He quit school during that spring, attended a baseball training camp in Sanford, Florida, and was offered a one-hundred-dollar-a-month contract by a scout from the Washington Senators. Even though he had intended to return to high school, this was too tempting an offer for a boy who had spent the previous summer working on a cotton gin.
The Road to Excellence
Early’s first season was spent on the Sanford team in the Florida State League, where he earned sixteen victories in 235 innings. The next years brought tragedy, however. While playing for the Charlotte, North Carolina, team in 1939, Early married Mabel Allman. Two years later, after the birth of a son, Joe Early, Mabel died in an automobile accident as she drove a babysitter home.
The pain of this event and the responsibility of a baby son caused Early to work at his career with more earnestness. As a result, he was called up to the Washington Senators in 1940. In 1943, he earned eighteen wins, but the following year brought only an 8-17 season.
With World War II still raging, Early enlisted in the Army. During the same year, he married Lorraine Follin. By 1946, he had returned to pitching for the Senators, but the failing Senators team, combined with Early’s one-pitch repertoire—the fastball—brought three lackluster seasons. At the end of 1948, Early was traded to Bill Veeck’s Cleveland Indians along with Micky Vernon for Joe Haynes, Ed Klieman, and Eddie Robinson. This stands as one of the most beneficial trades in the history of the Cleveland Indians.
The Emerging Champion
The trade was beneficial to Early’s career also. He began to work under the tutelage of Coach Mel Harder, who helped Early to control a curveball, a knuckleball, a slider, and a changeup. With such variety and skill, Early was able to achieve 163 wins and four 20-game seasons during his nine-year stay with the Indians. Besides this, he served in one of the greatest rotations in baseball history: Early, Bob Lemon, Mike Garcia, and Bob Feller, replaced by Herb Score. They brought the team to second place in 1952 and 1953, when Garcia, Lemon, and Early were named Cleveland men of the year. They guided the team to the pennant in 1954, one of only two seasons during the 1950’s when the New York Yankees did not take it.
Nearing the age of thirty-eight, Early, along with Al Smith, was traded to the fast-moving, weak-hitting Chicago White Sox for Minnie Minoso and Fred Hatfield. Early and Smith were supposed to help the Chicago team’s chances for an American League (AL) pennant, which they did. In the 1959 season, Early had 22 wins, won the Cy Young Award, and helped the White Sox clinch the AL pennant. In 1960, at the age of forty, Early had a thirteen-win season.
Continuing the Story
Early was approaching the magic three hundred career-wins plateau, but at the end of a 7-15 season in 1962, the gout-plagued Wynn was released by the White Sox with 299 wins. Early’s old team, the Cleveland Indians, offered him a year’s contract, which gave him an opportunity to earn that one final victory. On July 13, after three failed attempts, Wynn pitched 5 innings against Kansas City, leaving the mound with a score of 5-4, and the Indians enforced the win 7-4. Early became the fourteenth pitcher in history to win three hundred games.
While continuing to pitch for the remainder of the season, Early never earned another victory. He coached for the Indians for three years and then for the Minnesota Twins for three years, where, in 1969, he was named a super scout. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Summary
A hard loser, known for his toughness, Early Wynn joked that he would knock down his grandmother if she dug in against him. He enjoyed three hundred wins in a twenty-three-year career, the longest in the major leagues to that time. Such longevity and success are indeed rare among pitchers.
Bibliography
Kuenster, John. “Early Wynn Was a Fierce Warrior as a Pitcher, but a Softy off the Field.” In At Home and Away: Thirty-three Years of Baseball Essays. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2003.
Schneider, Russell J. More Tales from the Tribe Dugout. Champaign, Ill.: Sports, 2005.
Shatzkin, Mike, Stephen Holtje, and Jane Charlton, eds. The Ballplayers: Baseball’s Ultimate Biographical Reference. New York: Ideal Logic Press, 1999.
Westcott, Rich. Winningest Pitchers: Baseball’s Three-Hundred-Game Winners. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002.