Clem Labine

Clement Walter Labine (August 6, 1926 – March 2, 2007) was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball best known for his years with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1950 to 1960. As a key member of the Dodgers in the early 1950s, he helped the team to its first World Series title in 1955 with a win and a save in four games.

He held the National League record for career saves from 1958 until 1962; his 96 career saves ranked fourth in Major League history when he retired. He also set a Dodgers franchise record of 425 career games pitched.

Youth and early career

Labine was born in Lincoln, Rhode Island, grew up in nearby Woonsocket, and served as a paratrooper in World War II. After compiling a 5–1 record for Brooklyn as a rookie in 1951, he shut out the New York Giants in Game 2 of the National League pennant playoff, 10–0. Labine went on to enjoy several stellar seasons for the Dodgers as a relief pitcher. In 1955, the year the Dodgers finally brought a world championship to Brooklyn, he led the NL with 60 games pitched and 10 relief victories and earned a career-best 13 wins overall. Although the save was not yet an official statistic, he has been retroactively credited with leading the NL twice (1956–57) in that category, with 19 and 17 respectively, and was an All-Star both years.

Move to Los Angeles and late career

Labine accompanied the Dodgers to Los Angeles when they relocated after the 1957 season, and in 1958 surpassed Al Brazle's NL record of 60 career saves. In 1959 he broke Brickyard Kennedy's franchise record of 381 games pitched; the Dodgers won the World Series again that year, defeating the Chicago White Sox, although Labine pitched only one inning in Game 1's blowout loss.

His career appeared to be in jeopardy in 1960 when the Dodgers traded him to the Detroit Tigers in June after Labine had compiled an earned run average of 5.82. The Tigers subsequently released him on August 15, 1960 after he pitched 14 games for them, going 0–3, with an earned run average of 5.12. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Labine the following day.

The Pirates were in the National League pennant race and needed another right-handed reliever to complement Roy Face. Labine proved to be a valuable addition to the Pirates' bullpen. In 15 games for the Pirates through the remainder of the season, he compiled a record of 3–0 with 3 saves and an earned run average of 1.48 as he helped the Pirates win the National League pennant and go on to the 1960 World Series. But Labine appeared only in three blowout losses during the Series win over the New York Yankees.

After remaining with the Pirates in 1961, he ended his career with the New York Mets, pitching in three games during the Mets' debut 1962 season, including an inning in the Mets' very first game. (Labine was the first Met to wear uniform number 41, forever associated with and retired in honor of Tom Seaver.) Later that year, the Pirates' Roy Face passed Labine's NL mark of 94 career saves.

Over all or parts of 13 seasons, Labine appeared in 513 games, winning 77 and losing 56 (.579) with a 3.63 earned run average. He appeared in 13 World Series games, winning two and losing two, with a 3.16 ERA. His 96 career saves then trailed only Johnny Murphy (107), Ellis Kinder (102) and Firpo Marberry (101) in major league history. In 1966, Labine's Dodger career records of 425 games pitched and 83 saves were broken by Don Drysdale and Ron Perranoski respectively.

Post-baseball life

Following his retirement from baseball, Labine settled again in the Woonsocket area, where he became a designer of men's athletic wear, serving as general manager for the sporting goods division of the Jacob Finklestein's & Sons manufacturing company. Labine died at age 80 in Vero Beach, Florida, one week after undergoing exploratory brain surgery following a bout with pneumonia; he had been serving as an instructor at the Dodgers' adult fantasy camp at their Dodgertown headquarters. Vin Scully, the longtime Dodger announcer, said upon learning of Labine's death that he had a heart of a lion and the smarts of a wily fox, and was very likable.

References

External links

Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
Baseball Library
Retrosheet
SABR Biography Project. Article written by Alfonso Tusa

Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 World Series champions
1 Pee Wee Reese 4 Duke Snider 6 Carl Furillo 8 George Shuba 10 Rube Walker 12 Frank Kellert 14 Gil Hodges 15 Sandy Amorós 17 Carl Erskine 18 Jim Hughes 19 Jim Gilliam 23 Don Zimmer 30 Billy Loes 32 Sandy Koufax 34 Russ Meyer 36 Don Newcombe 37 Ed Roebuck 39 Roy Campanella (NL MVP) 40 Roger Craig 41 Clem Labine 42 Jackie Robinson 43 Don Hoak 45 Johnny Podres (World Series MVP) 46 Don Bessent 48 Karl Spooner 54 Dixie Howell
Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 22 Billy Herman 31 Jake Pitler 33 Joe Becker
Regular season Dodgers–Yankees rivalry Subway Series

Los Angeles Dodgers 1959 World Series champions
2 Don Demeter 4 Duke Snider 5 Norm Larker 6 Carl Furillo 8 Ron Fairly 9 Wally Moon 14 Gil Hodges 16 Danny McDevitt 19 Jim Gilliam 20 Rip Repulski 22 Johnny Podres 23 Don Zimmer 29 Chuck Essegian 30 Maury Wills 32 Sandy Koufax 35 Johnny Klippstein 38 Roger Craig 40 Stan Williams 41 Clem Labine 43 Charlie Neal 44 Johnny Roseboro 45 Chuck Churn 51 Larry Sherry (World Series MVP) 53 Don Drysdale 58 Joe Pignatano
Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 1 Pee Wee Reese 7 Chuck Dressen 31 Greg Mulleavy 33 Joe Becker
Regular season

Pittsburgh Pirates 1960 World Series champions
2 Bob Oldis 4 Bob Skinner 5 Hal Smith 6 Smoky Burgess 7 Dick Stuart 9 Bill Mazeroski 11 Dick Schofield 12 Don Hoak 14 Rocky Nelson 16 Gene Baker 18 Bill Virdon 19 Bob Friend 20 Gino Cimoli 21 Roberto Clemente 22 Joe Gibbon 23 Joe Christopher 24 Dick Groat (NL MVP) 26 Roy Face 29 Clem Labine 30 Wilmer Mizell 31 Harvey Haddix 32 Vern Law (CYA) 35 Fred Green 39 George Witt 48 Tom Cheney
Manager 40 Danny Murtaugh Coaches 41 Bill Burwell 42 Mickey Vernon 43 Sam Narron 44 Frank Oceak 45 Lenny Levy Virgil Trucks
Regular season

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