Spud Chandler won 71.7% of his decisions, which is the highest winning percentage of any pitcher with at least 100 victories. He never had a losing season.

Mickey Mantle, the “Commerce Comet,” was not born in Commerce. He was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, but Mickey grew up in Commerce. Spud Chandler, another great Yankee, was not born in Oklahoma but he, unlike the “Commerce Comet,” was born in Commerce –Commerce Georgia, on September 12, 1907. Chandler was an outstanding pitcher who had a short career. He didn’t reach the majors until he was almost thirty years old, and he lost two seasons while in the army defending freedom.

The Only Yankees' Pitcher to be American League MVP

Spud Chandler won 71.7% of his decisions, which is the highest winning percentage of any pitcher with at least 100 victories. In eleven seasons, all with the Yankees, Chandler never had a losing season. In 1943, he was 20-4 with a 1.64 ERA and was the American League’s Most Valuable Player, the only Yankees’ pitcher to win the MVP award.

Five Minor League Seasons

In the 1930s, pitchers were not brought up to the major leagues after playing only a part of their first professional season in the minors. Spud Chandler spent five seasons in the minor leagues and finally, after winning 14 and losing 13 at the Yankees’ Newark farm club in 1936, Spurgeon Chandler joined the Yankees in 1937 at the age of 29.

Injuries Plagued the Early Part of His Career

Chandler lost his first start in Chicago on May 9 to the White Sox, 2-1 as lefty Thornton Lee held the Yankees to 4 hits in a game that took 1hour and 33 minutes. Yes, 1 hour and 33 minutes. A little more than a week later, he started against the White Sox at Yankee Stadium, shutting them out 4-0 for his first major league victory in a game that took 1 hour and 45 minutes. In his next start, the rookie shut out the Indians, 14-0, for his second consecutive shut out, but on June 4, against the Indians, Chandler wrenched his shoulder while fielding a bunt. He wanted to go for the force at second but was yelled off the play, whirled to fire to first, and felt a twinge in his shoulder, which was the first of a number of injuries he suffered the first few years of his career.

Yankees Not Allowed to Make Any Trades

The Yankees won four consecutive World Championships from 1936-1939, which prompted the American League to pass a rule that prohibited the team winning the championship from trading with any other club. The Tigers won the pennant by 2 games over the Yankees and 1 over the Indians, but the rule was rescinded and the Yankees were the 1941 World Champions. Chandler started and won the second game of the World Series against Brooklyn in the Series made famous by Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen being crossed up by Hugh Casey and missing a third strike to Tommy Henrich which led to the Yankees two out rally that won the game.

A Chandler Shut Out Clinched the 1943 World Championship

The next season, Chandler started and lost Game 3 against the Cardinals, allowing only 1 run in 8 innings as St. Louis broke the Yankees’ streak of winning the last 8 Series in which they had appeared. The 1926 Cardinals had been the last team to beat the Yankees in the World Series. The Yankees and Cardinals faced each other again in 1943 as Chandler won two games, including a shut out in the last game as the Yankees won in five.

One of the Three Toughest Pitchers Ted Williams Ever Faced

In his eleven seasons, Spud Chandler pitched for seven pennant winners and six World Champions. He was determined, confident, not cocky, and was respected by his teammates and the opposition. Yankees’ manager Joe McCarthy ranked him as one the three best pitchers he had ever managed, Bill Dickey said that Chandler was the best pitcher he had ever caught, and the great Ted Williams ranked Chandler as one the three toughest pitchers he had ever faced. McCarthy, Dickey, and Williams are all the Hall of Fame.