Quote:
Originally Posted by rico43
Former Cubs, Orioles, Braves and Reds pitcher Milt Pappas, who totaled 209 wins, has passed away at the age of 76.
Was a young gun with the Orioles before going to the Reds as part of the historic return for Frank Robinson. From there, he moved to the Braves, where he was part of the 1969 Western championship team. His career concluded with four years with the Cubs, for whom he threw a no-hitter and was one ninth-inning pitch from a perfect game.
Off the field, the disappearance of his wife was a sad chapter for five years of his life. In 1987, her car and body were found in a pond less than a mile from her home after she disappeared on a shopping trip in 1982.
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Some lesser known or talked about Fun Facts concerning Milt Pappas.
He was born Milton Pappastediodis. I, for one, am glad he shortened it.
His nickname was "Gimpy". Not what you'd expect for a professional athlete. Milt said he got the nickname following knee surgery at age 17 and it just kinda stuck.
Nearly all of Milt's pro career took place in the majors. Signed by the O's straight out of high school in 1957, he was a Bonus Baby and reported straight to the major league team. The O's tried to hide him on the DL, but the Commissioner's office discovered that Milt was pitching batting practice and ordered he be activated. He pitched two games for the O's and was optioned to Knoxville where he appeared in three games before being recalled in September. Those three games in Knoxville would be the only games Milt played in the minor leagues.
He was the first major league hurler to win 200 games without a single 20 win season. The feat has become more common these days as we have fewer and fewer pitchers with 20 win seasons, now that we have 5 man rotations, innings caps, and so many relief specialists.
He was the last American league pitcher to hit a home run to win a 1-0 game until Nate Karns did so last year in an interleague game. The Pappas shot came off the Yankees Bill Stafford in 1962. In all, Milt hit 20 home runs in his career.
Speaking of home runs, Milt hit two in one game on August 27, 1961--a rare feat for a pitcher. Milt said that he the opposing hurler, Pete Ramos of the Twins, had agreed to throw each other only fastballs. Milt connected with one...Ramos did not. Come the sixth inning, with Pappas pitching a shutout, Ramos was a bit steamed at how their agreement had worked out...so he threw Pappas a curveball (literally and, I guess, figuratively as well). It hung and Pappas got his second roundtripper of the day. The O's won the game 3-0. Pappas went the distance, surrendering only 2 hits and 3 walks, and striking out 11.
Though it would not have stood under today's scoring rules, Milt is credited with a game played at second base. In a 1958 contest against Kansas City, O's manager Paul Richards figured he could avoid batting some of his weaker hitters in the first inning. Richards had another good hitting pitcher, Jack Harshman, batting fifth and Pappas seventh. But, when Harshman was due up, runners on first and second, Richards instead sent Gene Woodling to the plate. Woodling flied out, ending the inning. When the Orioles took the field in the bottom of the first, Billy Gardner was the second baseman and Pappas never took the field.
After his playing days, Milt would later manage a professional softball team, the Chicago Storm.
And Milt never ever forgave Brice Froemming for costing him the perfect game. 26 men up, 26 men down. Larry Stahl was Mr. 27. The count was 1 ball, 2 strikes. Three pitches followed. All were reportedly close. All were called balls by Froemming. Pappas would later alternate, publicly, between saying the final pitch was a strike and at least implying it might have been a ball. (His second wife maintains that he harbored no such doubts--that he maintained he'd thrown a strike to his dying day.) But he felt he should have gotten the call, either way, considering it was the final man in a perfect game. He argued that the final strike call in Don Larsen's Perfect Game was at least a foot outside.
When questioned after the game about calling his own way out of history--as the umpire of a perfect game--Froemming asked the reporters,
"What are the names of the other umpires who called perfect games?" Crickets.
"That's how famous I'd be."
Godspeed, Mr. Pappas. We will miss you.
The Cubs photo below accompanied several of Milt's obituaries. I believe its an AP photo. The Reds photo is a current eBay offering from the folks at Mears. The Braves and Orioles autographed pictures are current eBay offerings from johnsvaults. And the Chicago Storm image (presumably an autographed news clipping) is a current eBay offering from seller jamakae.