2002 UD Piece of History - Early Wynn

The 2002 UD Piece of History set features about 30% Hall of Famers and other old timers.These cards are always bound to bring back memories of when I was younger. I picked several of the cards that have the strongest memories to post over the next several days. The first card that I selected is #10 Early Wynn.

Early Wynn was one of baseball's most feared pitchers. Wynn learned how to pitch back when pitching inside was just a basic part of the game. Mickey Mantle once said that Early Wynn was so mean that he would knock you down in the dugout.

Wynn was stubborn. He pitched for 23 years, refusing to quit until he had won his 300th game. At age 43, the Cleveland Indians signed Wynn to give him a chance to win his 300th game. After several failures, he finally won number 300 with a 5 inning outing against Kansas City.


My memories of Early Wynn are from 1959. I have posted some time ago that I was a big Luis Aparicio fan in the late 50's and early 60's. In 1959, Aparicio and the White Sox won the AL pennant and went to the World Series against the Dodgers. Early Wynn was the stopper for the White Sox that year. At the age of 39, Wynn won 22 games and was named the winner of the Cy Young Award. He shut the Dodgers out in game 1 of the series but his arm stiffened and he was not effective during the rest of the Series. I will always remember Early Wynn as a part of the magical Go-Go-Sox in 1959.