Robert Andrew Veale (born October 28, 1935 in Birmingham,
Alabama) is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched
for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1962–1972) and the Boston Red Sox (1972–1974). He
attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
In a 13-year career, Veale's record was 120-95, with a 3.07
ERA in 397 games (255 starts), with 78 complete games and 20 shutouts. As a
reliever, he earned 21 saves.
Veale was a top strikeout pitcher for the Pirates for about
seven years. He led the National League in the category once, with 250 in 1964;
he had been tied with Bob Gibson with 245 entering the final day of the season.
His career high came in 1965, his 276 (to date, a modern-day franchise
single-season record) finishing a distant second to Sandy Koufax's then-Major
League record 382. He also was in the top three in the National League two
other times. Over his career, Veale struck out 1703 batters in 1926 innings
pitched. He was considered one of the hardest throwers in the game at the
time[citation needed]. His lifetime ratio of 7.96 strikeouts per nine innings
is still a Pirates career record and ranks 24th on the MLB All-Time List.
With the strikeouts came walks as well, as he led the NL in
walks four times, tying a modern record. In 1968, Veale had a 2.05 ERA, but a
losing record of 13-14. That was the lowest ERA since 1914 by a pitcher with
more than 20 starts and a losing record.
Veale was a member of the Pirates in 1971, when they
defeated Baltimore in seven games to win the World Series. That year, in 37
relief appearances, Veale was 6-0 with a 6.99 ERA, 40 strikeouts and two saves.
In 2006, Veale was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of
Fame.
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