WEST PLAINS, Mo. - Left-hander Preacher Roe, a five-time All-Star who pitched for the Dodgers in three World Series, died Sunday. He was 92.
Roe played for the Cardinals and Pirates before being acquired by Brooklyn's Branch Rickey in 1948. He went 22-3 in 1951, when The Sporting News named him Pitcher of the Year. He went 93-37 with the Dodgers and threw a 1-0 shutout over the Yankees in the 1949 World Series. Roe retired to run a supermarket in Missouri after the 1954 season with a career mark of 127-84, 3.34 ERA and 101 complete games.
He transitioned from a hard-thrower in his early years to a crafty finesse pitcher during his most successful seasons, although in a 1955 Sports Illustrated interview, he admitted to throwing a spitball.
In an interview in the West Plains Gazette, Elwin Charles "Preacher" Roe explained how he got his nickname.
"I had an uncle that came back from the first World War who hadn't ever seen me," Roe was quoted as saying. "He said, 'What's your name, young man?' And for some reason I said, 'Preacher.' ... My mother said maybe it was because I liked the preacher we had at our church so well."
While pitching at Harding College in his native Arkansas, Roe achieved national attention when he struck out 26 in a 13-inning game. A year later, Roe signed with the Cardinals, spent most of five years in the Minor Leagues and was picked up off waivers by the Pirates.
Roe was a student at Harding from 1935-38, earned All-Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference three times and led the Bisons to the 1938 AIC Championship with a perfect 12-0 record.
He spent four years with Pittsburgh and was the Pirates' Opening Day starter in 1944. He suffered a fractured skull in a brawl while coaching a basketball game during the offseason of 1945, and struggled the next two seasons before being traded to the Dodgers.
Roe's official Web site has a quote from Jackie Robinson about his former teammate.
"It's kind of remarkable that a guy with this cunning and all was able to do the kinds of things that Preacher was, he was a great pitcher and a great competitor," Robinson said.
This is an undated photo of Preacher Roe playing baseball with some children on the baseball field at Camp Tahkodah.
