Bob Purkey

Robert Thomas Purkey (July 14, 1929 – March 16, 2008) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball known for his use of the knuckleball. From 1954 through 1966, Purkey played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds / Redlegs, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 1974 he was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Early life Purkey was born on July 14, 1929, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father Edward was in the insurance business, and had played semi-professional baseball. Purkey attended South Hills High School, graduating in 1947.

Minor leagues and military Leo Mackey, a scout for the Pirates who had played semi-pro baseball with Edward Purkey, signed Purkey as an amateur free agent in 1948. He was assigned to the Class D Greenville Pirates in 1948, under manager and former major league pitcher Walter Tauscher. Purkey had a 19–8 won–loss record, with a 3.01 earned run average (ERA). He pitched a no-hitter for Greenville. He was 12–12 in 1950 for the Double-A New Orleans Pelicans, with a 4.78 ERA. He began the season 7–1, but then missed a month of play with a sprained wrist, and did not regain his earlier form after returning.

Purkey returned to the Pelicans for the 1953 season, with an 11–13 record and 3.41 ERA, while starting 27 of the 30 games in which he appeared.

Major league

Pittsburgh Pirates He reached the major leagues in 1954. As a rookie with the Pirates, he started 11 of the 36 games in which he appeared, with a 3–8 record and 5.07 ERA. In 1955, he suffered from a sore arm, and split time between the Pelicans and the Pirates. As a Pirate he started 10 games, with a 2–7 record and 5.32 ERA. In 1956, he played most of the season with the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, starting 14 games with a 6–8 record and 3.36 ERA; appearing in only two games in relief for the Pirates.

In four seasons with the Pirates, he started 42 of 100 games in which appeared, posting a combined record of 16–29. During his four years with the Pirates, the team was either in last place or second-to-last place. Purkey was traded in December 1957 to the Cincinnati Reds for left-hander Don Gross. He was selected to the 1958 National League (NL) All-Star team, and was 19th in voting for NL Most Valuable Player (MVP).

After a down year in 1959, Purkey was 17–11 with a 3.60 ERA in 1960, and 16–12 with a 3.73 ERA in 1961.

The Reds won the NL title in 1961, but lost in the 1961 World Series to the New York Yankees. He started Game 3 of the 1961 World Series, and pitched a complete game but took the 3–2 loss after allowing solo home runs to Johnny Blanchard and Roger Maris in the 8th and 9th innings. Maris had been hitless in the World Series before the game-winning home run. He was one of eight pitchers used by the Reds in a 13–5 loss in Game 5, pitching the 5th and 6th innings and allowing two unearned runs, as the Yankees took the Series four games to one.

Purkey peaked with a 23–5 season in 1962, with a 2.81 ERA (3rd best in the NL), while leading all NL pitchers with a 7.3 WAR (wins above replacement), and leading all major league pitchers with an .821 winning percentage. He also led the league in hitting batters with pitches (14). He finished 8th in voting for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award, and third in voting for the Cy Young Award. He was again named to both NL All-Star Teams in 1962, pitching two innings in the July 10 game, though not appearing in the July 30 game. The Reds finished 98–64, five games better than their 1961 pennant winning record, but still ended up 3.5 games behind the first place San Francisco Giants.

Purkey went into the 1963 season with a sore arm. He started 37 games in 1962 (the most of his career), completing 18; and had started 33 or 34 games every season for the Reds from 1958-1961. He pitched between 218-289 innings a year from 1958-62 (over 1,200 innings in total).

Purkey improved in 1964, finishing 11–9 with a 3.04 ERA, starting 25 games and pitching 195.2 innings. After starting the season 4–6, he went 7–3 between August 4 and September 25, with five complete games and a shutout, during a heated pennant race between the Reds, Phillies and Cardinals which went down to the season's last game (the Cardinals winning the title when the Reds lost 10–0 to the Phillies). However, he was traded that December to the Cardinals in exchange for Roger Craig and outfielder Charlie James. In April of 1966, the Cardinals sold his contract to the Pirates a few days before the 1966 season began.

Legacy and honors In 1974, Purkey was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame.

Personal life Following his baseball career, Purkey worked briefly as a sportscaster for KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, then opened a successful insurance business. Purkey had two children, Robert Jr. and Candy. Robert Jr. was pursuing his own baseball career in 1973, when he died of an undetected heart ailment at age 18.