Dr. William Bricker and Ned Garver at Antwerp Rotary.
It was an eventful day on Thursday, October 9 as Antwerp’s Rotary convened at 12:05 for a speaker they wouldn’t soon forget. Ned Garver approached the podium at the Essen House Restaurant for a quick history lesson and little comedy finesse as he talked about his experiences as a Major League baseball player.
Ned Garver was born December 25, 1925 and grew up around Ney, Ohio as a farm boy. Starting in Fort Wayne for the “City Lights” in 1944, he later would become a American League pitcher, playing from 1948 to 1961, winning 129 games in his major league career. Most of his career was spent playing for perennial second-division teams like the St. Louis Browns and Kansas City Athletics.
His focus on pitching technique came from when he was a kid collecting walnuts on the farm and setting up targets to hit.
In 1951, Garver had a memorable season pitching for the St. Louis Browns. He recounted his 20-12 record which was noteworthy considering the Browns lost 102 games that year. Out of the Browns’ 52 total wins, Garver accounted for nearly 40 percent of them. Garver also led the American League in complete games with 24 and, when he pitched, he often batted sixth in the order rather than the customary ninth, compiling a .305 batting average with one home run.
Garver remains the only pitcher in modern baseball history (post-1920) to win 20 or more games for a team which lost 100 or more games in the same season, and the only pitcher to do so with a winning record.
He also mentioned some of his team owners including Gene Autry of L.A.
Garver was the starting pitcher for the American League in the 1951 All-Star Game, which was held in Detroit.
Following the 1951 season, Browns owner Bill Veeck made Garver the highest paid member of the team with a salary of $25,000. He noted how the entry pay was $5,000 per year and now the lowest paid player, win or lose, is a half-million dollars.
In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in his honor in his hometown of Ney, Ohio, to mark the 45th anniversary of his 20-win season. On September 30, 1951, he was sent a plaque by the Commissioner of Baseball to commemorate the 20th victory, September 30, 1951.
Baseball was not Ned’s only sport. In High School, he played basketball all four years.
Ned Garver married Delores (originally from Antwerp) and they recently celebrated their 13th anniversary. Ned has also written two books: “Touching all the Bases” and “Catch 20 too”. Both of which are good reads according to Dr. William Bricker, local retired dentist and Rotary member.
The Antwerp Rotary’s main objective is service in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Their motto is Service Above Self.
