Elroy Face
| Roy Face | |||
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Face's face in 1959
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: February 20, 1928 Stephentown, New York |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 16, 1953, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 15, 1969, for the Montreal Expos | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 104–95 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.48 | ||
| Strikeouts | 877 | ||
| Saves | 193 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Elroy Leon Face (born February 20, 1928) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. During a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A pioneer of modern relief pitching, he was the archetype of what came to be known as the closer, and the National League's greatest reliever until the late 1960s, setting numerous league records during his career.
Face was the first major leaguer to save 20 games more than once, leading the league three times and finishing second three times; in 1959 he set the still-standing major league record for winning percentage (.947), and single-season wins in relief, with 18 wins against only one loss. He held the NL record for career games pitched (846) from 1967 until 1986, and the league record for career saves (193) from 1962 until 1982; he still holds the NL record for career wins in relief (96), and he held the league mark for career innings pitched in relief (1,211 1⁄3) until 1983. On his retirement, he ranked third in major league history in pitching appearances, behind only Hoyt Wilhelm and Cy Young, and second in saves behind Wilhelm. Nicknamed "The Baron", he holds the Pirates franchise records for career games (802) and saves (188).
Originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1949, Face was twice drafted by Branch Rickey, first for the Brooklyn Dodgers before the 1951 season, and again in 1952 for Pittsburgh. He made his debut in April 1953, and began to excel in 1956 when he set a modern Pirates record for games pitched (68), leading the league and breaking the club mark of 59 set by Bill Werle in 1951. In 1957 he saved 10 games for the first time, finishing fifth in the NL. In 1958 the team finished in second place, the first time in his five years they had placed better than seventh. Face led the NL with 20 saves, and posted his best earned run average to date with a 2.89 mark. He achieved his success almost exclusively with the forkball, which he had learned from Yankees reliever Joe Page. He used the pitch to confound opposing hitters, saying, "It would come in hard and break anyway it wanted to, sometimes in, sometimes out, mostly down."
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