About Ned Garver
Ned Franklin Garver (December 25, 1925 – February 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Browns (1948–1952), the Detroit Tigers (1952–1956), the Kansas City Athletics (1957–1960), and the Los Angeles Angels (1961). Garver and Irv Young are the only pitchers in the modern era of baseball (since 1901) to win 20 or more games for a team that lost 100 games. A native of Ney, Ohio, Garver grew up rooting for the Tigers. Signed by the Browns in 1944, he reached the major leagues with the team in 1948. Poor run support contributed to his tying for the American League (AL) lead with 17 losses in 1949. However, in 1951, he posted a 20–12 record for the ballclub, during a season in which the Browns had a 52–102 record. Casey Stengel picked him to start the All-Star Game that year. Garver suffered a pinched vertebra in 1952, an injury that would forever alter the way he would pitch. Though never as successful after that, he remained in the major leagues through the 1961 season, relying more heavily on adjusting pitch velocity and the angle at which he threw the ball to fool hitters. Traded to the Tigers in 1952, Garver remained with the team through the 1956 season. After that, he pitched four seasons with the Athletics before finishing up with the Angels in 1961. Following his career, Garver moved back to Ney, where he concentrated on farming while also serving as the town's mayor for some years.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.