Herb Score-"If There is a Doctor in the Stands..."

The Cleveland Lefty's Star-crossed Career

36-19 over his first two seasons, Herb Score seemingly was on the fast track to the baseball Hall of Fame. The solidly built left-hander had a blazing fastball, and Herb Score set a rookie record of 245 strikeouts in 1955, a total he topped the next year. However, Herb Score had an awkward delivery that left him in very poor fielding position. It was this one chink in his armor that left Herb Score vulnerable, never more so than in May of 1957, when a batted ball changed his fortunes forever.

On a Cleveland Indians' staff that included three future Hall of Famers in Bob Lemon, Early Wynn, and Bob Feller, young Herb Score seemed a sure bet to one day join that trio at Cooperstown. At the age of 22, Herb Score came up from the minors and made 32 starts for the 1955 Tribe, completing 11 games and going 16-10. He gave up a mere 158 hits in 227 innings pitched, but fanned a remarkable 245 batters. Herb Score's 154 walks were a cause for concern, but he honed his control somewhat the very next year, issuing 129 in almost 250 innings. When he struck out 263 to lead the American League for a second year in a row in that category, Herb Score was being hailed as a bright star. Hal Newhouser, the Tiger hurler who would one day be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, remarked that he "would trade all of his past for Herb Score's future."