Today
we celebrate Early Wynn’s long sought after 300th win, which finally
came on July 13th of 1963, with a 10th anniversary “Turn Back the Clock”
card for the 1973 set:
Wynn, who was a stalwart of the Cleveland Indians rotation for years
with teammates Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Mike Garcia, notched his 299th
win as a Chicago White Sox player in 1962, with a few starts left in the
season.
However that milestone win was beyond reach as he struggled in his
remaining appearances, finishing up stuck one short of baseball history.
To add to the suspense, and something that would never happen these days, no one signed him for the upcoming 1963 season!
So Wynn sat, not sure if he’d even get a chance to get that one final win, until his old team the Indians signed him on June 21st.
Finally, after a few starts that should have gotten him that elusive
win, Wynn took the mound against the Kansas City Athletics on July 13th,
and after the Indians scored four runs in the fifth inning to break the
game wide-open, (though they would give up some runs to make it a close
game later on), Wynn did it, joining some of baseball’s elite hurlers
to notch 300 career wins.