Ice Cold Allie Reynolds

In my time at the Hall of Fame, one of our projects was to do a little biography on a Native American player. I picked Rudy York, first basemen for the Tigers in the Golden Era (WWII), which led me to some more research last semester about other Native Americans in baseball, and specifically the ones that played during WWII. One of the names that kept coming up was Allie "Superchief" Reynolds, pitcher for the Indians and Yankees. I had heard the name before but never really delved into his career or his legacy. 

Reynolds, a Creek Indian, was born in Oklahoma in 1917. He bounced around the minor and independent leagues throughout his early twenties, when the war gave him his opportunity to play professionally at the highest level. Future Hall of Famer and strikeout machine Bob Feller had enlisted in the Navy near the end of 1941 (he was the first Major Leaguer to enlist) and lesser known Canadian reliever Joe Krakauskas served for his respective country as well. The Indians needed pitching, and they turned to Reynolds.

Reynolds himself attempted to serve in the military after his 1942 season, but old football injuries from Oklahoma State (it was not called that when he attended) prevented him from passing his physical and he was required to stay home and play ball. After a few more solid years with the Indians (51-47, 3.33), especially being a nice complement to Bob Feller upon his return, Reynolds was sent to the Yankees.

The ensuing years in the Bronx could arguably be the greatest playoff run in the history of sports. The Yankees won 5 consecutive World Series titles and 6 of  7 from 1947-1953 (Reynolds former Indians won in 1948, their last one - which is now the longest active American League drought). Reynolds was lucky enough to be not only on the roster but was a clutch pitcher in the postseason.

Reynolds stepped up his game when he donned the pinstripes. In his time in Cleveland, he snuck over the .500 mark by 4 games, which is respectable. In his time in New York, he went 131-60, almost twice as good of a winning percentage, and a 3.30 ERA. He also collected 41 saves. His best year came in 1952, when he won 20 games, lost 8, and posted an ERA of 2.06 at the age of 35. In 244 innings, he struck out 160 batters, threw 6 shutouts, and walked 97. He finished 2nd in the MVP voting to the A's Bobby Shantz, who went 24-7 with a 2.48 ERA. Interestingly enough, Reynolds' teammates Mickey Mantle (ever heard of him?) and Yogi Berra finished third and fourth in the MVP voting, respectively, which proves how truly great the Yankees were. 

What really separated Reynolds from the field was his postseason performance. Like I mentioned earlier, the post World War II Yankees won 5 straight rings, but none of them were easy. They swept the Athletics in 1950, but won Games 1, 2, and 3 by only one run a piece, and the whole run differential was +6 for 4 games. Though they swept, it was not a blowout. Reynolds was absolutely stellar in the World Series for the Yankees. 

See for yourself:     

1947 Game 2 vs. Brooklyn: CG, 3 R, 6 K, 2 BB

·      1949 Game 1 vs. Brooklyn: SHO, 2 H, 9 K

·      1950 Game 2 at Philadelphia: CG (10 innings), 1 R, 6 K

·      1951 Game 4 at New York Giants: CG, 2 R, 7 K

·      1952 Game 2 vs. Brooklyn: SHO, 4 H, 10 K

In total, in the postseason, Reynolds has a career 7-2 record, a 2.79 ERA, 62 K's, and a WHIP of 1.203 in 77.1 innings pitched. He also has, if you ask me, some of the most cold-blooded performances in postseason history. Let's delve.

1949: The Yankees and cross town rival Dodgers had identical regular season records to meet in the Fall Classic. The Dodgers were a young team that could do it all. They hit .274 as a team, 2nd in the NL, scored 879 runs, 1st in the NL, posted a 3.80 team ERA, 2nd in the NL, and struck out 743 batters, also 1st in the NL. On both sides of the ball, they were fearsome. The roster was also riddled with future Hall of Famers, including Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and Duke Snider. They obviously came to play. But so did Reynolds. In Game 1, he held the Dodgers to two hits (Spider Jorgensen double in top of the first, Pee Wee Reese single in the 8th), and struck out 9. Duke Snider struck out three times, and Roy Campanella struck out once. Reynolds provided as much offense in his own bat as the entire Dodgers lineup did. Reynolds collected hits of his own (double in the third, single in the sixth). This start set the tone for the rest of the Series, which the Yankees would in 5 games (Reynolds also provided a save in Game 4). 

1950: As if he wasn't satisfied with 2 rings already and an absolutely dominant performance in 1949, Reynolds outdid himself in 1950 against the Athletics. The A's were statistically a much worse than the Dodgers, and Reynolds performed accordingly. Exactly one year after his Game 1 start against the Dodgers, Reynolds repeated his magic, holding the Phillies to 7 hits and one run across 10 innings of work. That's right, he went above and beyond the typical complete game to deliver the win to the Yankees. The Yankees jumped to an early lead in the second inning, and would hold it until the 5th when Richie Ashburn would drive in Mike Goliat on a sac fly. The game would remain locked at 1-1 until the Yankee Clipper himself, Joe DiMaggio, at the age of 35, would promptly untie it with a home run in the 10th off of Robin Roberts, the A's starter who also pitched 10 innings. 

Reynolds and DiMaggio after Game 1 against the A's.

Reynolds came out in the bottom of the 10th and allowed a leadoff walk. After a sac bunt, the tying run was at 2nd base with one out, but Reynolds stepped up to make Ashburn pop out to first and then he would strike out Dick Sisler on 4 pitches to end the game with an exclamation. Again, this game set the tone for the series. The A's had no answer for the Yankees dominant pitching and the Yankees took home their 3rd ring in 4 years and 2nd in a row. 

Reynolds continued his dominance well into his career. I highly suggest looking at his playoff numbers on Baseball Reference. 

Should he be in the Hall of Fame? 182 wins, 3.33 ERA, a couple thousand strikeouts, plenty of rings, and 4 All-Star appearances. I think so. But that's a different argument for a different day. For now, let's just revel in his October pitching.

Thanks for reading.