Seriously, how many wins would he have collected if he didn’t lose three prime years to the military, for whom he honorably served during World War II?
Once he came back all he did was go on to post THIRTEEN 20+ win seasons, along with four strikeout crowns, lowest ERA three times, most shutouts four times and fourteen all-star nods.
On August 11th of 1961 he pitched his way into the record books by beating the Chicago Cubs 2-1, pitching a complete game and allowing the Cubs just 6 hits and an earned run, while striking out five and walking one.
The man was amazing, flat out, and by the time he retired at the age of 44 in 1965 he posted a 363-245 record, with a 3.09 ERA, 63 shutouts, 28 saves and 2583 strikeouts over 750 appearances, 665 of which were starts.
Oh yeah, he also hit 35 career home runs along with 189 runs batted in with (coincidentally) 363 hits!
Was there anything he couldn’t do?
Once in a lifetime right there...