Preacher Roe
The spitball was illegal by the time Preacher Roe reached his prime, but that didn't stop the crafty southpaw from perfecting what he called his "out pitch" — a delivery that helped him post a 44-8 record over three dominant seasons with Brooklyn from 1949-1951.
Roe's 1951 campaign stands as one of the great pitching performances in Dodgers history: 22-3 with a .880 winning percentage that remains a franchise record. The Arkansas native thrived on deception rather than power, relying on pinpoint control and what batters swore was a doctored baseball. His peak ERA+ of 156 in 1948 shows just how effectively he neutralized hitters during the offensive explosion of the late 1940s.
After retiring, Roe famously admitted to throwing spitballs throughout his career, claiming he learned the pitch from Burleigh Grimes. His candid confession only added to the legend of a pitcher who proved that guile could triumph over raw stuff in baseball's golden age.
Career · Hitting
12 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | STL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — |
| 1944 | PIT | 39 | 53 | 0 | 1 | .132 | — | — |
| 1945 | PIT | 33 | 75 | 0 | 3 | .107 | — | — |
| 1946 | PIT | 21 | 15 | 0 | 0 | .067 | — | — |
| 1947 | PIT | 38 | 40 | 0 | 1 | .125 | — | — |
| 1948 | BRO | 34 | 51 | 0 | 1 | .098 | — | — |
| 1949 | BRO | 30 | 70 | 0 | 7 | .114 | — | — |
| 1950 | BRO | 36 | 91 | 0 | 3 | .154 | — | — |
| 1951 | BRO | 34 | 89 | 0 | 7 | .112 | — | — |
| 1952 | BRO | 27 | 57 | 0 | 3 | .070 | — | — |
| 1953 | BRO | 25 | 57 | 1 | 2 | .053 | — | — |
| 1954 | BRO | 15 | 21 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .408 | — |
| Career | 333 | 620 | 1 | 28 | .110 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
12 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | STL | 1 | 2.7 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 32 | 1 | 3.000 |
| 1944 | PIT | 39 | 185.3 | 13 | 11 | 3.11 | 115 | 88 | 1.300 |
| 1945 | PIT | 33 | 235.0 | 14 | 13 | 2.87 | 128 | 148 | 1.166 |
| 1946 | PIT | 21 | 70.0 | 3 | 8 | 5.14 | 70 | 28 | 1.543 |
| 1947 | PIT | 38 | 144.0 | 4 | 15 | 5.25 | 76 | 59 | 1.521 |
| 1948 | BRO | 34 | 177.7 | 12 | 8 | 2.63 | 156 | 86 | 1.064 |
| 1949 | BRO | 30 | 212.7 | 15 | 6 | 2.79 | 148 | 109 | 1.152 |
| 1950 | BRO | 36 | 250.7 | 19 | 11 | 3.30 | 132 | 125 | 1.241 |
| 1951 | BRO | 34 | 257.7 | 22 | 3 | 3.04 | 133 | 113 | 1.207 |
| 1952 | BRO | 27 | 158.7 | 11 | 2 | 3.12 | 119 | 83 | 1.273 |
| 1953 | BRO | 25 | 157.0 | 11 | 3 | 4.36 | 95 | 85 | 1.344 |
| 1954 | BRO | 15 | 63.0 | 3 | 4 | 5.00 | 78 | 31 | 1.460 |
| Career | 333 | 1914.5 | 127 | 84 | — | — | 956 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.