Came across this on Facebook and thought I’d share…
Here is a baseball feat so unlikely it has never been repeated: winning twenty games in a season for a team that lost more than a hundred. Ned Garver did exactly that for the 1951 St. Louis Browns, and no pitcher has managed it since.
The Browns were the hard luck other team in town, forever in the shadow of the Cardinals, and that 1951 club was genuinely bad, losing 102 games. Yet every fourth day Garver took the mound and gave them a chance, willing a last place team to twenty of his own victories through sheer grit. He even swung the bat well enough to help his own cause.
The Browns would soon leave for Baltimore, and a lot of that history faded with them. But for anyone whose grandparents pulled for the Brownies, Ned Garver is a name worth remembering, proof that greatness can show up on the worst team in the league.
BleedingBleu wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 18:24 pm
Came across this on Facebook and thought I’d share…
Here is a baseball feat so unlikely it has never been repeated: winning twenty games in a season for a team that lost more than a hundred. Ned Garver did exactly that for the 1951 St. Louis Browns, and no pitcher has managed it since.
The Browns were the hard luck other team in town, forever in the shadow of the Cardinals, and that 1951 club was genuinely bad, losing 102 games. Yet every fourth day Garver took the mound and gave them a chance, willing a last place team to twenty of his own victories through sheer grit. He even swung the bat well enough to help his own cause.
The Browns would soon leave for Baltimore, and a lot of that history faded with them. But for anyone whose grandparents pulled for the Brownies, Ned Garver is a name worth remembering, proof that greatness can show up on the worst team in the league.
Lefty Carlson just missed that with 27 wins for a 97 loss Philly squad. He had the distinct pleasure of winning a CY that year for a 87 loss team. I bet that never happened...ever.
BleedingBleu wrote: ↑29 Jul 2026 18:24 pm
Came across this on Facebook and thought I’d share…
Here is a baseball feat so unlikely it has never been repeated: winning twenty games in a season for a team that lost more than a hundred. Ned Garver did exactly that for the 1951 St. Louis Browns, and no pitcher has managed it since.
The Browns were the hard luck other team in town, forever in the shadow of the Cardinals, and that 1951 club was genuinely bad, losing 102 games. Yet every fourth day Garver took the mound and gave them a chance, willing a last place team to twenty of his own victories through sheer grit. He even swung the bat well enough to help his own cause.
The Browns would soon leave for Baltimore, and a lot of that history faded with them. But for anyone whose grandparents pulled for the Brownies, Ned Garver is a name worth remembering, proof that greatness can show up on the worst team in the league.
Ned Garver was a very good pitcher. He finished with an ERA of only 3.73 for his 14 year career. He unfortunately pitched for four bad teams - the Browns, Tigers, KC Athletics, and the Angels. The Tigers were the only team he pitched for that had a winning record in his time with them, and they only did that twice in his 5 seasons in Detroit.
Ned Garver did exactly that for the 1951 St. Louis Browns, and no pitcher has managed it since.
