02/12/26 09:38:00
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02/12 21:36 CST All-Star reliever Elroy Face, who saved 3 games for Pirates in
1960 World Series, dies at 97
All-Star reliever Elroy Face, who saved 3 games for Pirates in 1960 World
Series, dies at 97
PITTSBURGH (AP) --- Elroy Face, an All-Star reliever for the Pittsburgh Pirates
who saved three games in the 1960 World Series to help them upset the New York
Yankees, has died. He was 97.
In a news release Thursday, the Pirates announced they confirmed Face's death.
Team historian Jim Trdinich said the club was contacted by Face's son, Elroy
Jr., and informed the former pitcher died earlier in the day at an independent
senior living facility outside Pittsburgh in North Versailles, Pennsylvania.
No cause of death was provided. Face was eight days shy of his 98th birthday.
"It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we mourn the passing of Pirates
Hall of Famer Elroy Face, a beloved member of the Pirates family," team
chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement.
"Elroy was a pioneer of the modern relief pitcher --- the ?Baron of the
Bullpen' --- and he played a critical role in our 1960 World Series
championship."
Selected to six All-Star teams, Face went 104-95 with a 3.48 ERA in 16 major
league seasons with Pittsburgh (1953-68), Detroit (1968) and Montreal (1969).
He pitched in 848 games, starting only 27, and compiled 191 career saves ---
although saves didn't become an official statistic until 1969.
The 5-foot-8 right-hander holds the National League record for wins in relief
with 96 and the major league mark for relief wins in one season after going
18-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 1959.
He topped the National League with 68 appearances and 61 games finished in
1960, when the underdog Pirates stunned Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and the
mighty Yankees on Bill Mazeroski's famous home run that won Game 7 at Forbes
Field in Pittsburgh.
Face made four relief appearances in the World Series, posting a 5.23 ERA in 10
1/3 innings. He closed out Pirates wins in Games 1, 4 and 5.
Inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame in 2023, he is the club's career leader
in appearances with 802. And the team noted that if saves had been an official
stat before 1969, he also would hold that franchise record with 188.
Face was born in Stephentown, New York, on Feb. 20, 1928. He is survived by his
three children, Michelle, Valerie and Elroy Jr., and his sister Jacqueline, the
Pirates said.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
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