Carl Erskine, who teamed with Don Newcombe to anchor the pitching staff for the powerful post-WWII Brooklyn teams, won 61% of his decisions in 12 years with the Dodgers. The 5’10” righthander injured his shoulder during his rookie season and pitched with pain most of his career. Because he couldn’t throw a lot between starts, he never developed any specialty pitches. He remained a fastball/curveball/changeup pitcher who was able to change speeds on the curve. “Oisk” went 20-6 in 1953 to lead NL pitchers in winning percentage (.769). His 14 strikeouts as the winner of Game Three of the ’53 WS set a Series record that stood for 14 years. He had two no-hitters: on June 19, 1952 against the Cubs, and on May 12, 1956 against the Giants.
