The Pittsburgh Pirates announced on Thursday that Elroy Face, a member of the club’s Hall of Fame and the franchise’s all-time leader in games pitched, had died at the age of 97.
“It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we mourn the passing of Pirates Hall of Famer Elroy Face, a beloved member of the Pirates family,” Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting said in a team-issued statement. “I was fortunate to get to know Elroy personally, and I will always be proud that we had the chance to honor him with his induction into the Pirates Hall of Fame.”
Face pitched in parts of 16 big-league seasons (1953, 1955-69) after being selected in the Rule 5 draft from the Brooklyn Dodgers. He would subsequently make the leap from Double-A to the majors, flourishing after developing one of the best forkballs in the sport’s history.
“When he had that great year in 1959 you had to wonder how he did it, but he did, had that great forkball and I don’t think he weighed more than 145 pounds,” a bullpen catcher said of Face.
Face then spent 15 of those 16 seasons with the Pirates (he would suit up for the Detroit Tigers and Montreal Expos before retiring after the 1969 season). Overall, he logged a 3.48 ERA (109 ERA+) and a 2.42 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 848 appearances, all the while recording 191 saves (the statistic did not become official until most of the way through his career) and 21.1 Wins Above Replacement. He helped the Pirates win the 1960 World Series, notching three saves in the Fall Classic against the New York Yankees.
Face made three All-Star Games while pitching in six total — Major League Baseball played multiple Midsummer Classics for a time as a means of raising funds for the players’ pension funds. Face also received Most Valuable Player Award consideration on three occasions, including after his remarkable 1959 season that saw him post an 18-1 record across 57 relief appearances.
