Win–loss record 135–132 Role Baseball player Name Chris Short | Strikeouts 1,629 Earned run average 3.43 | |
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Died August 1, 1991, Wilmington, Delaware, United States | ||
Christopher Joseph "Style" Short (September 19, 1937 – August 1, 1991) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies (1959–1972), and in his final year, for the Milwaukee Brewers (1973). He was a left-handed pitcher, but batted righty. He was born in Milford, Delaware.
Short was considered a top pitcher from 1964 through 1968 with the Phillies. He was 17–9 in 1964, with a 2.20 ERA in 220 2⁄3 innings pitched. It was his career-best ERA and was third in the league behind only Sandy Koufax (1.74) and Don Drysdale (2.18). Teammate Jim Bunning was 5th that season with a 2.63 ERA. Juan Marichal finished 4th (2.48). That year, however, the Phillies and Short suffered a heartbreaking loss in the pennant race. After leading by six and a half games with 12 to go, manager Gene Mauch decided to start his two aces, Bunning and Short, for eight of the last 12 games. Short pitched respectably despite the heavy workload, giving up only six earned runs in 18 innings over his final three starts. But weak hitting, poor relief pitching and atrocious defense (the team committed 17 errors in a 10-game losing streak) doomed Philadelphia. The Phillies lost three games in a row to the hot St. Louis Cardinals, who won the NL race by 1 game and went on to defeat the New York Yankees in the 1964 World Series.
On October 2, 1965, Short threw 15 shutout innings at Shea Stadium, striking out 18 Mets only to receive a no-decision. The game would end in a scoreless tie after 18 innings. Short ended up winning 55 games from 1964 through 1966, topping off with a 20–10 record in 1966. He ended his career on September 18, 1973 with the Brewers. Back problems cut his career a little short, although he and fellow 1964 ace Bunning led the Phillies from Connie Mack Stadium into Veterans Stadium in 1971.
In 15 seasons, Short finished with a 135–132 record, just over a .500 winning percentage. He had a career ERA of 3.43 and 1629 career strikeouts in 501 games (308 starts). He allowed 886 earned runs in 2325 innings pitched.
Short ranks 4th among Phillies pitchers all time in wins (132), 5th in games appeared in (459), 3rd in games started (301), 19th in complete games (88), 4th in shutouts (24), 4th in innings pitched (2253), and 4th in strikeouts (1585).
In 1979, Short was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. Between 1985 and 1988, Chris Short taught young pitchers at Suburban Baseball Camp, which was held at Barness Park in Warrington, Pennsylvania.
Death
Short died in Wilmington, Delaware. He suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm in 1988, lapsed into a coma, and never regained consciousness. He left behind three sons.