Bob Veale

Pitcher

Born: October 28, 1935 (age 81)
Birmingham, Alabama

Batted: Both

Threw: Left

MLB debut

April 16, 1962, for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Last MLB appearance

September 8, 1974, for the Boston Red Sox

MLB statistics

Win–loss record

120–95

Earned run average

3.07

Strikeouts

1,703

Teams

Pittsburgh Pirates (1962–1972)
Boston Red Sox (1972–1974)

Career highlights and awards

Robert Andrew Veale (born October 28, 1935 in Birmingham, Alabama) is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1962–1972) and the Boston Red Sox (1972–1974). He attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.

In a 13-year career, Veale's record was 120-95, with a 3.07 ERA in 397 games (255 starts), with 78 complete games and 20 shutouts. As a reliever, he earned 21 saves.

Veale was a top strikeout pitcher for the Pirates for about seven years. He led the National League in the category once, with 250 in 1964; he had been tied with Bob Gibson with 245 entering the final day of the season. His career high came in 1965, his 276 (to date, a modern-day franchise single-season record) finishing a distant second to Sandy Koufax's then-Major League record 382. He also was in the top three in the National League two other times. Over his career, Veale struck out 1703 batters in 1926 innings pitched. He was considered one of the hardest throwers in the game at the time. His lifetime ratio of 7.96 strikeouts per nine innings is still a Pirates career record and ranks 24th on the MLB All-Time List.

With the strikeouts came walks as well, as he led the NL in walks four times, tying a modern record. In 1968, Veale had a 2.05 ERA, but a losing record of 13-14. That was the lowest ERA since 1914 by a pitcher with more than 20 starts and a losing record.

Veale was a member of the Pirates in 1971, when they defeated Baltimore in seven games to win the World Series. That year, in 37 relief appearances, Veale was 6-0 with a 6.99 ERA, 40 strikeouts and two saves.

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