Early Wynn

Early Wynn Jr. pitched 23 seasons in the major leagues, won 300 games, and treated the space between the white lines as personal territory that no hitter was entitled to occupy. When someone asked if he would throw at his own mother, he said he would if she were crowding the plate. Ted Williams called him the toughest pitcher he ever faced. Mickey Mantle said Wynn was so mean "he'd knock you down in the dugout." The meanness was real, and so was the talent. He won the Cy Young Award at 39, helped the White Sox reach the World Series for the first time in 40 years, then spent an entire winter and half a summer trying to win one more game to reach 300. He finally got it at 43 years old, the oldest player in the major leagues, throwing five innings on a gouty arm because that was the only arm he had.

Hartford

Wynn was born on January 6, 1920, in Hartford, Alabama, a small town in Geneva County. His father, Early Sr., was an auto mechanic and a semipro ballplayer. The family was of Scotch-Irish and Native American descent. Wynn dropped out of school at 17 to pursue baseball and signed with the Washington Senators after scout Clyde Milan spotted him at a tryout camp in Sanford, Florida. He pitched in the minors at Sanford, Charlotte, and Springfield before reaching Washington in September 1939.

He won 18 games in 1943, his first productive season, but was otherwise an ordinary fastball pitcher with limited repertoire. His first wife, Mabel Allman, was killed in an automobile accident in Charlotte, North Carolina, in December 1942. He raised their son, Joe Early, with help from family. He married Lorraine Follin in September 1944, shortly before entering the U.S. Army Tank Corps. He served in the Philippines and missed the entire 1945 season. He returned to Washington and went 8-19 in 1948, his worst year, and the Senators traded him to Cleveland that December along with Mickey Vernon for Joe Haynes, Ed Klieman, and Eddie Robinson.

Cleveland

Pitching coach Mel Harder remade him. Harder taught Wynn the curveball and the slider and refined his changeup, transforming a fastball pitcher into a complete one. Wynn led the American League in ERA in 1950 at 3.20 and anchored the Indians rotation alongside Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Mike Garcia. He won 20 or more games four times between 1951 and 1956, peaking at 23 wins in 1954 when the Indians won 111 regular-season games. Cleveland reached the World Series that year but was swept by the Giants in four games. Wynn started Game 2 and lost.

He suffered from gout that began in 1950 and worsened for the rest of his career. He tried dietary changes, including giving up meat, to manage the pain. He pitched through it. He led the American League in strikeouts in 1957 with 184, and Cleveland traded him and Al Smith to Chicago that December for Minnie Minoso and Fred Hatfield.

The White Sox

Wynn led the AL in strikeouts again in 1958 with 189, becoming the first pitcher to lead the league in consecutive years with different teams. He was 39 years old in 1959 when he went 22-10 with a 3.17 ERA and won the Cy Young Award (then given to one pitcher for both leagues). On May 1, he threw a one-hit shutout against the Red Sox and hit a solo home run in a 1-0 victory. His 21st win on September 22, a 4-2 victory over Cleveland, clinched the pennant for the White Sox, their first since the 1919 team that fixed the World Series.

In Game 1 of the 1959 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he pitched seven shutout innings in an 11-0 rout. The Dodgers knocked him out early in Games 4 and 6, and Los Angeles won the Series in six.

Win Number 300

He won his 299th game on September 8, 1962, a complete game against Washington. He tried three times in the final weeks of that season and failed each time. The White Sox released him in November. He was 42 with a gouty arm and no employer.

Cleveland signed him on June 1, 1963, giving him another chance. His first attempt at 300, on June 21 against his old White Sox team, ended in a 2-0 loss. Manager Birdie Tebbetts later said Wynn pitched well enough to win three or four games before the milestone came.

On July 13, 1963, in the second game of a doubleheader at Kansas City, Wynn pitched five innings and left with a 5-4 lead. Jerry Walker threw four scoreless innings of relief, and Cleveland won 7-4. Wynn was 43 years old and the 14th pitcher in major league history to win 300 games, the first in the American League since Lefty Grove in 1941. "I feel I had this one coming," he said, "after pitching well and losing so many tough ones."

His debut and his final game fell on the same calendar date, September 13, in 1939 and 1963 respectively.

The Intimidator

Wynn's philosophy of pitching was built on controlled hostility. "That space between the white lines, that's my office," he said. "That's where I conduct my business. You take a look at the batter's box, and part of it belongs to the hitter. But when he crowds in just that hair, he's stepping into my office, and nobody comes into my office without an invitation."

He told rookie pitcher Gary Bell, "You'll never be a big winner until you start hating the hitter. That guy with the bat is trying to take away your bread and butter." After Mantle singled on a line drive back through the box, Wynn fired several pickoff throws at Mantle's legs at first base. He hated losing so thoroughly that he threw chairs in the locker room after defeats and resisted being removed from games by his managers.

In 23 seasons he accumulated 691 games, 300 wins, 244 losses, a 3.54 ERA, 290 complete games, 49 shutouts, and 2,334 strikeouts. He was selected to nine All-Star teams. The BBWAA elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1972 with 76.0 percent of the vote, his fourth year on the ballot. Before his election he had called the institution the "Hall of Shame" out of frustration. Upon hearing the news, he softened. "I would have been happier if I'd made it the first year," he said. "But naturally I'm happy."

He coached pitchers for Cleveland and Minnesota after retirement, then worked as a broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays and the White Sox. He died on April 4, 1999, in Venice, Florida, at 79, after a series of strokes. He was cremated.