WHY I THINK HARRY BRECHEEN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK HARRY BRECHEEN SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Harry Brecheen was a tricky pitcher with a lot of finesse, great control and leverage, a man with a good curveball and a legendary screwball, and a guy who could pitch one of his 125 complete games in only 75 or 80 pitches, which was helpful when one of the other starters had a sore arm. Brecheen never wasted pitches, and therefore energy, and never gave opposing hitters the pitch that he wanted. A brilliant, dominant southpaw similar in style to Mort Cooper, Brecheen was a small man at 150 pounds who could hardly be called a power pitcher, though he whiffed 100 or more batters twice when strikeouts were not very common. Brecheen used his mastery of pitches and sequences to be a dominant pitcher of his day who went 133-92 with a 2.92 ERA. He won 20 games in 1948 and had 15 or more wins for five straight seasons. Brecheen also holds the record for the lowest career World Series ERA (with a minimum of 30 innings) at 0.83. Harry Brecheen started his career for the Cardinals with three relief outings in 1940, making his debut at 25. He played in the minor leagues until 1943 when he went 9-6 on a 2.26 ERA. Brecheen had his first big year in 1944 when he went 16-5 with a 2.85 ERA and three shutouts. He went 1-0 in the World Series triumph over the other St. Louis team, the Browns. He proceeded to go 15-4 with a 2.52 ERA in 1945 and lead the NL in winning percentage. Brecheen went 15-15 with a NL high five shutouts despite a brilliant 2.49 ERA in 1946, showing the fact that he didn’t always get due support. His Cardinals won the World Series again that season and helped mightily, producing a 0.45 ERA and tying a Series record with three wins. He went 16-11 in 1947 and 20-7 in 1948. In 1948, Brecheen also led the NL in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings, strikeouts per walk, and additionally allowed the fewest home runs per nine innings (0.2). After a 14-11 season, Brecheen slipped to a respectable 3.80 ERA and an 8-11 record in 1950. From 1940 through 1950 he was one of the NL’s best pitchers, never letting up on batters and never letting down his club. He went 8-4 in 1951 and 7-5 in 1952 but wasn’t truly dominant like he had been before. Brecheen went 5-13 despite a great 3.07 ERA in his final season as a player, 1953. Harry Brecheen was a tricky and unpredictable pitcher who was rarely hit with anything real behind the swing. To hit Brecheen, you had to be on your guard. He always kept batters off their feet, and that is why I think that Brecheen should be a Hall of Famer. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS

Games Pitched career: 318 season high: 36 in 1946

Starts career: 240 season high: 31 in 1949

Complete Games career: 125 season high: 21 in 1948

Shutouts career: 25 season high: 7 in 1948 led NL: 5 in 1946, 7 in 1948

Games Finished career: 53 season high: 11 in 1943

Wins career: 133 season high: 20 in 1948

Losses career: 92 season high: 15 in 1946

Winning Percentage career: .591 season high: .789 in 1945 led NL: .789 in 1945

ERA career: 2.92 season low: 2.24 in 1948 led NL: 2.24 in 1948

WHIP career: 1.188 season low: 1.037 in 1948 led NL: 1.037 in 1948

Innings Pitched career: 1,907 ⅔ season high: 233 ⅓ in 1948

Strikeouts career: 901 season high: 149 in 1948 led NL: 149 in 1948

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 4.3 season high: 5.7 in 1948 led NL: 5.7 in 1948

Walks career: 536 season high: 67 in 1946

Strikeouts Per Walk career: 1.68 season high: 3.04 in 1948 led NL: 3.04 in 1948

Saves career: 18 season high: 4 in 1943

Fielding Percentage career: .983 season high: 1.000 in 1944, 1948 and 1950 led NL P: 1.000 in 1944, 1948 and 1950

Double Plays career: 22 season high: 6 in 1946

Putouts career: 78 season high: 11 in 1946, 1947 and 1950 

Assists career: 376 season high: 50 in 1946

DID YOU KNOW?

-nicknamed “Harry the Cat” for his fielding style

-Bill James and Rob Neyer ranked his screwball the eighth best in MLB history 

-finished fifth in the NL MVP voting in 1948, 12th in 1945, and 16th in 1947

-pitched a shutout and had 11 strikeouts in the 1946 World Series, and additionally scored a pair of runs 

-had a career .523 career caught stealing percentage as a pitcher

-was a two time all-star (1947 and 1948) 

-batted .273 with three doubles and a triple in 1949

-hit one of his home runs off of Johnny Sain 

-was used as a pinch hitter once and as a pinch runner twice

-had multiple shutouts in a season six times 

-was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2018