A gritty control artist, Briles moved into the St. Louis starting rotation when Bob Gibson suffered a broken leg in 1967. He won nine straight games and led the NL in winning percentage (.737, 14-4) and the Cardinals in ERA (2.43). He was 19-11 in 1968, but slumped the next two years. Traded to the Pirates in 1971, he helped Pittsburgh to the pennant and pitched a two-hit shutout against Baltimore in Game Five of the WS. After winning 14 games in each of the next two seasons, he was traded to the AL, where he finished his career. Briles, who sang the National Anthem before Game Four of the 1973 WS, later became a TV baseball announcer.
