Harry Byrd (baseball)

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Harry Gladwin Byrd (February 3, 1925 - May 14, 1985) was a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1950, 1952-53), New York Yankees (1954), Baltimore Orioles (1955), Chicago White Sox (1955-56) and Detroit Tigers (1957). He was born in Darlington, South Carolina.

Byrd was a fire-ball throwing pitcher who had a career characterized by uncertainty, constant change, and transition from one team to the next.

Byrd pitched in six games with the Athletics in 1950, spent a season back in the minors, and was called back up to the big club in 1952. That year he enjoyed his best season, going 15-15 with a 3.31 ERA, earned an All-Star berth, and was selected Rookie of the Year.

In 1953 Byrd went 11-20, but he worked 237 innings. At the start of the 1954 season, he was part of a ten-player trade between the Athletics and Yankees. In New York he finished 9-7 with a 2.99 ERA. At the end of the season, he was sent to the Orioles as part of a 17-player mega-deal.

Byrd went 3-2 with Baltimore in 1955, before being shipped off again to the White Sox. He finished with a combined 7-8 record with a 4.61 ERA. After pitching briefly with the Sox in 1956, he ended his career in 1957 with the Tigers.

In a seven-year career, Byrd compiled a 46-54 record with 381 strikeouts and a 4.35 ERA in 827.2 innings.

Byrd died in Darlington, South Carolina at age of 60.

[edit] Highlights

  • All-Star (1952)
  • Rookie of the Year (1952, first Athletics player to do so)
  • Pitched one-hit game against the Yankees (September 3, 1952)

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Gil McDougald		 American League Rookie of the Year
1952		 Succeeded by:
Harvey Kuenn
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