Carl Erskine, whose pitching prowess helped the Brooklyn Dodgers stop their championship drought in 1955, died Tuesday. He was 97.
The Indiana indigenous was a mainstay on the Dodgers groups that reached the Entire world Collection 5 moments in eight several years from 1949-56. He moved west with the franchise from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1957 and played the past of his 12 main league seasons — all with the Dodgers — in 1958.
Erskine was the past living member of the “Boys of Summer months” Dodgers manufactured well-known in Roger Kahn’s chronicle of Brooklyn’s beloved baseball staff. He is survived by his spouse, Betty, and a few little ones, 5 grandchildren and 11 excellent-grandchildren.
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A proper-handed pitcher, Erskine went 122-78 with a 4.00 gained-operate ordinary in his job. His two no-hitters rank second in Dodgers franchise heritage to Sandy Koufax. In 1953, Erskine set a Planet Series report by hanging out 14 Yankees hitters in one game.
Erskine was a Nationwide League All-Star in 1954 when he went 18-15 with a 4.15 Period. Only 5 pitchers in Dodgers record have created extra Opening Day starts off than Erskine’s 4.
Amongst his postseason heroics and his off-the-area appeal, Erskine’s fame exceeded his expertise. In an job interview with the New York Times, Erskine uncovered how his nickname, “Oisk,” was bestowed on him the day he arrived in the huge leagues.
“The Brooklyn supporters, from reading through the papers, ended up informed that this kid pitcher was coming up from Fort Truly worth,” he the moment recalled. “I obtained off the subway and I experienced my duffel bag with me, ‘Fort Really worth Cats’ on the aspect. Well, as I acquired near the rotunda of Ebbets Field, persons noticed me. My initially introduction to Ebbets Area was: ‘Hey, there’s Oiskine. From Fort Woith.’ It was just a normal switch of the tongue in Brooklyn.”
In 2002, Erskine Road in Brooklyn was named for him, and the honors saved rolling in during Erskine’s afterwards several years. In 2023, he gained the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. Erskine’s son, Gary, accepted the award in his honor:
Erskine’s submit-taking part in vocation took him considerably from the significant-league highlight. He retired to Indiana, where by he assisted Betty raise their son, Jimmy, who was born with Down syndrome.
According to the Instances:
Erskine sold coverage, worked as a financial institution president and coached baseball at Anderson University. Jimmy went everywhere with the relatives — to dinner, to church, to his siblings’ athletic gatherings. He attended community faculty in Anderson, in which an elementary university was named in the family’s honor in 2004.
Erskine’s do the job with the Particular Olympics in Indiana was the focal stage of a documentary film about his daily life launched past 12 months.
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