RIP Dick Hughes

[LCA1951]

It's the glasses that caught my attention. RIP Dick Hughes

[JohnTudor1985]

What a year he had in 67. RIP Dick.

Looks like he just stepped out from a cubicle at Mcdonnell Douglas, with a pocket protector.

Great contributor to the story of the 60's for the Cards. RIP Dick.

[LewisL]

The starting rotation is a reminder of the fallacy that pitchers could load up their arms with innings and not feel the deleterious effects... ...as though they were "extra tough" or some such nonense.

Gibson and Carlton were the clear abberations -- able to endure the rigors of innings pitched and complete games for a long time.

Hughes never pitched 200 innings in any minor league season, but he did in 1967 at the major league level. He only managed 63 innings the following year because of an arm injury and was done at age 30.

Larry Jaster was 23 in 1967 and had a fine year going 9-7 with a 3.01 ERA. The following year he was sporting seven wins with an eye-popping 1.79 ERA in the first half of the 1968 season, but then hurt his shoulder and had a 6.36 ERA after July 14 and was relegated to the bullpen for the series. He never pitched 100 innings again and was done as a player at age 28.

Ray Washburn was a 29-year-old veteran on the staff, but had chronic arm injuries. In 1967, he pitched 200+ innings for the first time in his career. He never managed to pitch more than 135 innings after that and was done in 1970.

Nelson Briles also had a great year, stepping in the rotation with 14-5 WL when Gibson broke his leg.