Herb Score Might Have Been the Greatest MLB Left-Hander of All Time

Most fans who remember Herb Score remember him as a Cleveland Indians broadcaster, not as one of the best young pitchers in baseball who was on his way to becoming an all-time great.

I used to listen to him on WWWE, but since I lived in Flushing, New York, I was limited to hearing Indians night games.

One game against the New York Yankees epitomizes how tough Score usually was.

It was on Aug. 21, 1956 at Yankee Stadium. Score started for the Indians against Don Larsen.

In the second inning, the weak-hitting Score drove in the Tribe’s first run with a single. That was all he needed, but he added a rare home run, the only one he would ever hit, off left-hander Mickey McDermott in the seventh inning.

But it was his pitching that made the game memorable.

Score shut out the Yankees, striking out 11 and allowing only an Elston Howard double in the eighth inning and a Mickey Mantle single in the ninth.

The Yankee fans gave Score a tremendous ovation when he came to bat in the seventh inning. He rewarded them by hitting his home run for a 3-0 lead, which was the final score.

Going to the bottom of the eighth inning, only three Yankees had reached base, all on walks. Elston Howard, the vastly underrated Yankees catcher who was playing left field in the game, doubled to right center field for the Yankees first hit.

Score's shutout was his second consecutive blanking of the Yankees. On Aug. 2 he shut them out on four hits.

The win was Score’s 14th of the season. He would finish at 20-9 with a 2.53 ERA and a 166 ERA+.

He led the league with 263 strikeouts in 249 and two-thirds innings as well as in shutouts with five.

Score was dominating. He threw close to 100 mph and had a fine curveball. The only chink in his armor was a lack of control. But since he allowed so few hits, it didn't hurt him most of the time.

Teammate Rocky Colavito knew Score well. Speaking to reporter Dave Campbell, Colavito said, "He was a great pitcher. He had a chance at becoming as good a lefty as there ever was. He had that kind of stuff. He had hard knocks, but he never complained. You had to respect him for that. I loved him like a brother."

Continuing, the Rock said that Score compared favorably with Sandy Koufax.

"Koufax didn't win 20 until he was 27," Colavito said. "Herb did it at 23."

Ted Williams, who knew a little about hitting as well as pitching, once told Boston Red Sox announcer Ken Coleman that Score had the best fastball of any left-hander he had ever faced.

Finally, Gil McDougald, whose line drive changed the course of both his and Score’s career, said it succinctly.

"You took one look at him and you had one thought: Hall of Fame.”