Don Mossi

Donald Louis Mossi, (born January 11, 1929), was an American major league pitcher from 1954 to 1965. He was a left-handed control pitcher whose strikeout-to-walk ratio was regularly amongst the league leaders (he led the league in 1961). He retired with a career earned run average of 3.43, 101 wins, and 50 saves.

Biography

Mossi was born in St. Helena, California, but grew up in Daly City. He went to Jefferson High School.^[1]

Like many players from the San Francisco Bay Area, a region popular with major league scouts at that time, Mossi was spotted at an early age and signed by the Cleveland Indians after leaving high school in 1949. He was assigned to Class-A Bakersfield. At Bakersfield, Mossi exhibited control issues; he walked 115 batters in 195 innings in his first year. Mossi nonetheless progressed with his career, posting a 2.92 ERA in 122 innings for the Wichita Indians in 1951.^[1]

Mossi was given a spot in the Indians' bullpen for the 1954 season; as a fifth year professional, major league rules at the time would have forced the Indians to put him through waivers had he not been given a spot on the ballclub. The quality of the Indians' rotation at that time — which included Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, Hal Newhouser and Mike Garcia — meant that Mossi, who had always been a starter, had to be used as a reliever by the club. His major league debut came on April 17 of that year in an 8–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. In his first season in the majors Mossi recorded an ERA of 1.94 in 93 innings pitched as the Indians went to the 1954 World Series. It was the only World Series that Mossi played in.

In 1955 and 1956, Mossi continued to play well out of the bullpen. In 1957, he and fellow reliever Ray Narleski, who was also Mossi's roommate, were moved to the starting rotation. Mossi finished the season with a record of 11–10 and an ERA of 4.13 on a team that finished below .500. In the following season he returned to anchoring the bullpen for the Indians. Mossi, along with Narleski and Ossie Alvarez, was traded to the Detroit Tigers on November 20, 1958 for Billy Martin and Al Cicotte. The trade meant that Mossi was guaranteed a spot in a major league starting rotation, something he had missed whilst at the Indians. The move paid immediate dividends as he went 17–9 with a 3.36 ERA in 1959. In 1960 he went 9–8, albeit on a club that was well below .500, with an ERA of 3.47.

Mossi pitched the greatest season of his career in 1961, going 15–7 with a 2.96 ERA on a Tigers club that recorded over 100 wins. It was not long after this that he began to experience problems with his throwing arm, in his final two years with the Tigers he went 18–20 with a combined ERA of 4.01. Mossi spent the final two years of his career as a short-reliever, his arm no longer capable of starting. Prior to the 1964 season he was dealt to the White Sox,^[2] before finishing his career in 1965 with the Kansas City Athletics.

Mossi's career fielding percentage of .990 was the highest ever recorded by a pitcher when he retired. He was named as an American League All-Star in 1957.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

References

External links

• Baseball Reference
• James, Bill (2001). "The Man Who Invented Winning Ugly" in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York, Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-2722-0.