Maglie came to the Pilots to lend his expertise after a few seasons with the Boston Red Sox, where he was credited by 1967 Cy Young winner Jim Lonborg of helping him have his magic season by teaching him about pitching inside, for which Maglie was notorious for when he was an active pitcher.
Funny enough, if you’ve ever read Jim Bouton’s book “Ball Four”, you’ll remember that Maglie was NOT shed in a good light for his Seattle coaching tenure, labeled as “indifferent” and a walking contradiction in his handling of pitchers.
I’ve always found Maglie’s playing career so incredibly interesting, as he made his MLB debut in 1945 at the age of 28, then was banned from playing until 1950 for his jump to the fledgling Mexican League.
When he came back to the Big Leagues in 1950, all he did was go 18-4 for the New York Giants, leading the National League with a 2.71 earned run average, five shutouts, and a winning percentage of .818 over 47 appearances, with only 17 of those starts.
The following season he easily would have been the N.L.’s Cy Young winner had there been such an award yet after going 23-6 with a 2.93 ERA and three shutouts along with four saves, helping the Giants make it all the way to the World Series where they’d lose to the New York Yankees juggernaut.
So basically, except for those five wins in 1945 before he got banned, Maglie’s entire career was accomplished after he turned 30, as he wound up with a record of 119-62, with a 3.15 ERA, 25 shutouts and 14 saves by the time he retired in 1958 at the age of 41.
Imagine him pitching through his 20’s in the 1940’s, we could possibly be looking at a 250+ win pitcher had he come up earlier or had not been banned for the league jumping.
