Bob Beal, the towering left-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates who terrorized National League batters with his fastball and abrasive personality in the 1960s and early ’70s, died Jan. 3 in Birmingham, Alabama. He was 89 years old.
His death at a long-term care facility was confirmed by his sister, Valencia Veale Johnson. She did not mention the cause.
For several seasons, Veale was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. He led the league in strikeouts with 250 in 1964, his first full season as a starting pitcher, followed up with 276 strikeouts in 1965 (second only to Sandy Koufax’s 382) and 229 the following season. was recorded. During those seasons, his earned run average never exceeded 3.02.
Bill, who was 6-foot-6 and wore glasses, played for a good Buccaneer team. His teammates included outfielders Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente, and second baseman Bill Mazeroski, all of whom have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In June 1966, after Bill pitched an 11-inning shutout win over the Atlanta Braves with nine strikeouts, Stargell, who hit the game-winning home run, said: That’s right, I just couldn’t lose.”
He added that he could see blue flames rising from a fastball 360 feet away in left field.
Pirate announcer Bob Prince called Veale’s heater a “radio ball.” That means you can hear, but you can’t see.
Veale’s biggest flaw as a pitcher was his control. He led the NL in walks four times. This may cause fear in others.
“He didn’t have the best control, but he had great talent and could get himself out of trouble.” Art Shamsky, a former Cincinnati Red and New York Met, said in an interview. Beal added that he was part of an era when the National League was rich in aces, including Koufax and Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton of the St. Louis Cardinals and Juan Marichal of the Dodgers. San Francisco Giants.
“They were dominant and got stronger as the game went on,” Shamsky said.
In 1968, the so-called Year of the Pitcher, Veale’s 13-14 record was not great, but his ERA of 2.05 ranked third in the NL behind Gibson’s 1.12 and Giant Bobby Bolin’s 1.99.
Veale pitched through back and elbow injuries in the later seasons and was moved to the Pirates’ bullpen in 1971, where they won the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles in seven games. He pitched in relief once in the series, giving up a run in two-thirds of an inning.
Robert Andrew Veale Jr. was born in Birmingham on October 28, 1935, one of 14 children of Robert Veale Sr. and Ollie Belle (Ushry) Veale. His father played briefly for the Homestead Grays, a Negro National League team in Pittsburgh, and worked as a wire drawer for the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. His mother took care of the house.
Young Bob played in the sandpits of Birmingham with his white friends during the Jim Crow era.
“We didn’t know we were violating segregation laws,” Beale told Alan Barra, author of “Rickwood Field: America’s Oldest Ballpark” (2014), a history of Birmingham’s minor league stadium. “We had no intention of consolidating anything.”
As a teenager, Veale took batting practice for Rickwood’s Tenants, the minor league Barons and the Negro League Black Barons. I worked in the stadium concession stand. I dropped a number into the inning slot on the scoreboard.
He also played for local industrial teams and attended the College of Saint Benedict (now Benedict College) in Atchison, Kansas, where he played basketball and baseball. As planned, the Pirates signed him in 1958, before he graduated.
Veale came through in a big way in Pittsburgh’s minor league system. In 1959, he pitched a no-hitter for the Wilson Tobs of the low-level Carolina League. Three years later, he struck out 22 batters in one game for the Triple A Columbus Jets.
He pitched in 11 games for the Pirates in 1962, then spent the entire 1963 season in the major leagues as a starter and reliever. He recorded 5 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 1.04.
In 11 years in Pittsburgh, Beal had a 116-91 record, a 3.06 ERA, and was selected to two All-Star Games. Pittsburgh sold Beal’s contract to the Boston Red Sox late in the 1972 season, and the Red Sox spared him and released him in 1974.
After retirement, Veale was a minor league pitching instructor for the Atlanta Braves and Yankees. He also maintained ties to Rickwood Field, where he worked as a groundskeeper twice a week and helped out by giving “chitchat” to anyone who would listen about the history of the Friends of Rickwood, the non-profit organization that manages the ballpark. said Gerald Watkins, the group’s managing director.
Bill was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
In addition to Mr. Veale Johnson, he is survived by his wife, Eredean (Sanders) Veale; his stepdaughter Felicia Sanders; four other sisters, Lillie Veale Wilson, Emily Veale Ford, Ouida Veale Belcher and Angela Veale Joubert; two brothers, Russell W. Veale II and Jerry B. Veale.
If hitters were wary of Bill’s control or lack thereof, they would have taken comfort in the fact that he was wearing glasses. But one night in May 1967, when the Pirates were playing the Cardinals at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, a new pair were causing him trouble. The right lens kept popping out.
In the third episode, I took off my glasses and was preparing to proceed without them. However, Cardinals left fielder Lou Brock did not come to the plate despite umpire Doug Harvey’s instructions. Brock relented after Pirates pitching coach Clyde King brought up Veale’s old glasses.
Veale later said of Brock: “I can’t blame him. “As a rule, when you are not wearing clothes, you can see six people.”
