Allie Reynolds
Encyclopedia
- "The Superchief" redirects here; for the named passenger train, see Super ChiefSuper ChiefThe Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was often referred to as "The Train of the Stars" because of the many celebrities who traveled on the streamliner between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.The Super...
. For the DC Comics character, see Super-ChiefSuper-ChiefThis article is about the DC Comics character. For the Major League Baseball pitcher nicknamed "Superchief" see Allie Reynolds.Super-Chief is the name of several fictional characters, three superheroes and one supervillain in the DC Comics universe. Created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino, the...
.
Allie Pierce Reynolds (February 10, 1917 – December 26, 1994) (known as the Superchief) was a pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
.
Biography
He was born in Bethany, OklahomaBethany, Oklahoma
Bethany is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The population was 20,307 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bethany is located at ....
, the son of a preacher. His nickname of the Superchief came because he was one quarter Creek Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
(some sources say Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
). He was prone to diabetes (which he called "The Indian disease").
He was a star athlete in high school. He attended Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical College (now known as Oklahoma State University) on a track scholarship, but had to build up his body before he could make it onto the college's baseball team. His first major league game was on September 17, 1942
1942 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees *All-Star Game, July 6 at Polo Grounds: American League, 3-1-Other champions:*Negro Leagues World Series: Kansas City Monarchs over Homestead Grays...
, for the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
.
In he was traded to the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
in a deal that sent Joe Gordon to the Indians. He promptly became the Yankees' best pitcher, recording the highest winning percentage in the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
in his first season as a Yankee. In , joined by Vic Raschi
Vic Raschi
Victor John Angelo "Vic" Raschi was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was responsible for allowing Hank Aaron's first career home run....
and Eddie Lopat
Eddie Lopat
Edmund Walter ""The Junkman"" Lopat was a Major League Baseball pitcher.Lopat was born in New York, New York. His Major League debut was on April 30, 1944, playing for the Chicago White Sox....
, he was a star of a Yankee team that won the first of five consecutive league championships, a feat that had never been achieved before. In , even though pitching with bone chips in his elbow, he won 16 games. The next year
1951 in baseball
-Headline Event of the Year:Baseball's Shot Heard 'Round the World gives the New York Giants the National League Pennant in the third game of a best-of-three-games tiebreaker series over the Brooklyn Dodgers.-Major League Baseball:...
he became the first American League pitcher to have two no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
s in one season. Also in 1951, he won the Hickok Belt
Hickok Belt
The S. Rae Hickok Professional Athlete of the Year award, known as the Hickok Belt, was a trophy awarded for 27 years to the top professional athlete of the year in the United States...
as top professional athlete of the year. In , he went 20–8, leading the American League in strikeouts with 160.
His uniform number on the Indians was 21, becoming 22 on the Yankees. He played in the All-Star Game
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
s of , , , , and , and the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
in 1947
1947 World Series
The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning the Series in seven games for their first title since , and the eleventh championship in team history...
, 1949
1949 World Series
The 1949 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the twelfth championship in team history...
, 1950
1950 World Series
The 1950 World Series was the 47th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as 1950 champions of the National League and the New York Yankees, as 1950 American League champions, competed to win a best-of-seven...
, 1951
1951 World Series
The 1951 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the New York Giants, who had won the National League pennant in a thrilling three-game playoff with the Brooklyn Dodgers on the legendary home run by Bobby Thomson .In the Series, the Yankees showed some power of...
, 1952
1952 World Series
The 1952 World Series featured the three-time defending champion New York Yankees beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games. The Yankees won their fourth straight title—tying the mark they set between 1936 and 1939 under manager Joe McCarthy, and Casey Stengel became the second manager in Major...
, and 1953
1953 World Series
The 1953 World Series matched the four-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a rematch of the 1952 Series. The Yankees won in six games for their fifth straight title—a mark which has not been equalled—and their sixteenth overall...
. He retired in 1954.
On August 26, , the Yankees dedicated a plaque in Reynolds' honor, to hang in Monument Park
Monument Park (Yankee Stadium)
Monument Park is an open-air museum located at the new Yankee Stadium containing a collection of monuments, plaques, and retired numbers honoring distinguished members of the New York Yankees....
at Yankee Stadium. Reynolds and several of his Yankee teammates, including Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
, Whitey Ford
Whitey Ford
Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who spent his entire 18-year career with the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.-Early life and career:...
and Phil Rizzuto
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
, were on hand. The plaque calls him "One of the Yankees' greatest right-handed pitchers." His number 22, however, has not been retired, and has since been worn by players such as Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
, Robinson Canó
Robinson Canó
Robinson José Canó Mercedes is a Dominican baseball player who currently plays as a second baseman for the New York Yankees.-Family and early life:...
, and Latroy Hawkins
LaTroy Hawkins
LaTroy Hawkins is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Through 2011, he was third of all active pitchers in career games pitched.-Minnesota Twins:...
. In 1991 he was initiated into the Alpha Gamma Rho
Alpha Gamma Rho
Alpha Gamma Rho is a social-professional fraternity in the United States, with 75 university chapters including chapter in Mindanao State University, Philippines...
Fraternity at Oklahoma State University and in 1993, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award
Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award
The Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest award presented by the Jim Thorpe Association. Without consideration of athletic accomplishments, the award recognizes a lifetime of achievement by people who "set the living examples that influence others to strive for the highest goals and...
. Oklahoma State also named their baseball stadium
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium is a baseball stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It is the home field of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys college baseball teams. It is named after former OSU and New York Yankees baseball great, Allie Reynolds.-History:...
after Reynolds.
He died in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
. In his honor, the Jim Thorpe Association established the Allie Reynolds Award, presented annually to "Oklahoma's outstanding high school senior, based on accomplishments, sports, civics, character and leadership."
In August 2008, he was named as one of the ten former players that began their careers before 1943 to be considered by the Veterans Committee
Veterans Committee
The Veterans Committee is the popular name of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Committee to Consider Managers, Umpires, Executives and Long-Retired Players, a committee of the U.S...
for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He fell just one vote shy of the nine required for election.
See also
- Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2009Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 2009Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2009 proceeded according to revised rules enacted in 2001 and further revamped in 2007. The Baseball Writers Association of America held an election to select from among recent players...
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
- List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders