Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Stan Williams dies at age 84

Stan Williams

Former Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Stan Williams of Enfield, NH passed away on Saturday at the age of 84 of cardo-pulmonary illness according to Beth Harris of NBC Los Angeles. Williams played 14 seasons of Major League Baseball from 1958 to 1972 with the Dodgers, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Red Sox.

In 482 games and 1764 1/3 innings pitched, Williams had a record of 109 wins, and 94 losses, with an earned run average of 3.48. He pitched 42 complete games, and had 42 saves, and 11 shutouts. Williams also gave up 1527 hits, 748 walks, and 682 earned runs, along with 1305 strikeouts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.29.

Williams was a National League All-Star in 1960. That season he posted a record of 14 wins and 10 losses with an earned run average of 3.00, and a WHIP of 1.13. In 207 1/3 innings pitched, Williams gave up 162 hits, 69 earned runs, and 72 walks, along with 175 strikeouts. The following season in 1961 with the Dodgers, Williams had a career-high 15 wins, and 205 strikeouts. Williams’s 205 strikeouts in 1961 were the second most in the National League. Only Sandy Koufax of Brooklyn, NY, had more strikeouts than Williams that year, as the Dodgers legend fanned 269 batters.

Williams won a World Series as a second-year Major League pitcher with the Dodgers in 1959. That year the Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox four games to two. In game five of the series, Williams pitched two innings of shutout baseball while relieving Koufax. The Dodgers lost the game by a score of 1-0, but won the series.

Over a decade later, Williams had a marvelous season with the Twins in 1970. That year he posted a record of 10 wins, and one loss with a fantastic earned run average of 1.99. In 113 1/3 innings pitched, Williams only gave up 25 earned runs.

After his retirement as a player with the Red Sox in 1972, Williams was a pitching coach. He won another World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990.

 

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