Bob Shaw, former pitcher in ’59 World Series against Dodgers, dies at 77

Former major league pitcher Bob Shaw, who defeated Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers in Game 5 of the first World Series played in Los Angeles, has died. He was 77.

Shaw died Thursday, said a spokeswoman for the Taylor & Modeen Funeral Home in Jupiter, Fla. No cause was given.

Shaw had the best season of his 11-year major league career in 1959 when the Chicago White Sox won the American League pennant. The right-hander was 18-6.

He started Game 2 of the World Series and lost, 4-3. But he pitched a gem in Game 5 in front of a record crowd of 92,706 at the Coliseum. Shaw gave up nine hits but no runs, pitching into the eighth inning. The White Sox won, 1-0, with Koufax taking the loss.

The Dodgers won the series, however, in six games.

Robert John Shaw was born June 29, 1933, in Bronx, N.Y. He also pitched for the Tigers, Athletics, Braves, Giants, Mets and Cubs, retiring after the 1967 season.

-- Keith Thursby

Comments

[Mike Dudnikov]

In that game both men pitched 7 inings, with Sandy yielding only 5 hits. The game's only run scored on a double play grounder. This was Sandy's first real moment on a national stage and his performance was a harbinger of a greatness very soon to burst forth. The Dodgers would win the series in the next game, and it was Sandy's roommate Larry Sherry who would garner MVP honors. And not to be unkind, but Bob Shaw had a sort of unfair advantage over Sandy, he threw a very effective spitter.

That series was also famous for another special moment. That was in game 2 at Comiskey Park. Charlie Neal hit a homer, and as the ball sailed into the stands Al Smith (the Sox outfielder, not the former governor of New York) was doused in a beer shower as a fan reaching for the ball knocked over his container of beer which was resting on top of the fence. Fortunately the beer was in a paper cup. The picture of that event was in thousands of newspapers. I imagine it made the front page of the Times. Do a computer search even today and it is easy to find. You can even choose your angle of view.

[Mike Dudnikov]

Found a picture of Koufax with Bob Shaw that carries this caption.

In this March 20, 1967, file photo, Sandy Koufax demonstrates his curve ball grip to Bob Shaw of the New York Mets in Homestead, Fla. Shaw, a major league pitcher in the 1950s and '60s, died Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. He was 77.

I guess Sandy held no grudge. Here is the link to the photo.

http://www.northjersey.com/obituaries/092610_Bob_Shaw_major_league_pitcher_dies_at_77.html