Thomas Virgil Sturdivant (April 28, 1930 – February 28, 2009), nicknamed "Snake", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets. He threw a curveball and a knuckleball, among other pitches. He batted left-handed but threw right-handed.
Sturdivant was originally signed by the Yankees as an infielder in 1948. After a two-year stint in the United States Army, he became a pitcher in order to improve his chances of making the major leagues. He debuted with the Yankees in 1955, the first of four straight years he was on a World Series roster. In 1956, he had a 16–8 record, led the American League (AL) with a 2.12 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and won Game 4 of the 1956 World Series, which the Yankees won in seven games over the Brooklyn Dodgers. He went 16–6 in 1957, tying for the AL lead in winning percentage with a .727 mark. Arm trouble and a spike wound to the heel limited him in 1958, though he won his second World Series as the Yankees defeated the Milwaukee Braves in seven games.
The next several years saw Sturdivant pitch for a number of teams. He was traded to the Athletics in May 1959. In 1960, he made the Opening Day start for the Red Sox, but he only started two more games for them. The Senators picked him in the 1960 expansion draft, then traded him to the Pirates in mid-1961. Pittsburgh initially assigned him to the minor leagues, but he won five games in a six start stretch shortly after being recalled. He split 1962 between the starting rotation and the bullpen, winning four straight games in late August/early September. In 1963, he pitched for Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Kansas City, winning just twice as he spent most of the year in the bullpen. He pitched in three games for Kansas City in 1964, then pitched in 16 games for the Mets that same year before getting released on June 27. Following his baseball career, he was involved in trucking businesses around Oklahoma City.
Early life Born in Gordon, Kansas, on April 28, 1930, Tom was the son of Elbert E. Pete Sturdivant and his wife, Ethel (née Moudy). He was the second of two boys; brother Bobby Joe was born in 1926. The family had moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, by 1940. Elbert worked for an oil pipeline company as a telegraph operator while Ethel worked at a fur repair shop as an assistant.
Sturdivant attended Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City, which he graduated from in May 1948.Berry Tramel, "Capitol Hill grad Tom Sturdivant, 78, dies" , The Oklahoman, March 1, 2009. He played as a pitcher for Bill Mosier's Tires, an American Legion team, but he also played infield positions. While he was in high school, John Hall, a neighbor of his, taught him how to throw a knuckleball. On May 24, 1948, he was signed as an infielder by New York Yankees scout Tom Greenwade, the man who became famous the next year for signing Sturdivant's fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle. "What a boy if we can find a position for him," Greenwade said in 1949. "Great speed and a rifle arm. Used to be a high-school pitcher in Oklahoma City, you know. And one of the greatest. He set some kind of record. More than 100 innings without being scored on. When he wasn’t pitching he was playing short. He likes to play the infield. He might, with that arm and speed, make a real outfielder."
Minor league career Third baseman (1948–50) Sturdivant began his professional career playing third base for the Quincy Gems of the Three-I League, which was at the Class B level. He batted .338 in 21 games. Later in the season, he batted .241 in 36 games for the Norfolk Tars, another Yankees' Class B affiliate in the Piedmont League which needed help at third base. He spent the next two seasons at Quincy, hitting.255 in 109 games in 1949. He only played 68 games in 1950, batting .246, but he also pitched in two contests. During his time at Quincy, he suffered a leg injury that reduced his speed.
United States Army (1951–52) Sturdivant joined several other Yankee prospects at a pre-spring training camp held by Yankee manager Casey Stengel, but he played no professional baseball that season. With the Korean War going on, Sturdivant joined the United States Army for two years of service. During his time in the Army, he decided that he would focus on pitching when he resumed his professional career. "I knew I wasn't getting anywhere, batting .246 in Class B, so I decided I'd better try something else if I wanted to stay in baseball, which I did, badly."
Pitcher (1953–54) Discharged from the Army, Sturdivant was able to join the Beaumont Exporters of the Texas League of the Class AA level for the remainder of their 1952 season. Harry Craft, the manager, supported him in his decision to become a pitcher and assigned him as roommate Hank Wyse, a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player with the Chicago Cubs who mentored Sturdivant in the art of pitching. Sturdivant was 3–3 with a 3.56 ERA in 17 games (seven starts. In 1953, he had a 10–7 record with a 2.98 ERA for the Class AA Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association, striking out 104, walking 61, and allowing 130 hits in 139 innings pitched. Of his 47 appearances for Birmingham, just three were starts. In 1954, he started 20 of his 32 appearances with the Kansas City Blues of the American Association, a Class AAA level team that was New York's top minor league affiliate. With the Blues, he was 8–9 with a 3.57 ERA, 133 strikeouts, 59 walks, and 154 hits allowed in 169 innings.
Major league career New York Yankees (1955–59) Coming into the 1955 season, fellow Oklahoman and Yankee pitcher Allie Reynolds, who had given Sturdivant pitching tips, thought the prospect might make New York's roster in 1955 as a relief pitcher. During spring training, Stengel said, "I’m very impressed with his work. He has improved considerably since training started. … We learned that he can be a fighter … and that’s what we want with this club." Sturdivant did make the roster, working almost exclusively out of the bullpen during the 1955 season. He wore the number 47, which he bore throughout his time with the team. His major league debut, against the Boston Red Sox on April 14, could have been better. Entering to begin the bottom of the seventh with New York losing 5–2, Sturdivant gave up a triple to opposing pitcher Willard Nixon, who later scored on a double by Faye Throneberry. Then, in the eighth, he allowed two more runs, which scored on a double by Boston reliever Ellis Kinder. The Yankees lost 8–4. On May 22, he was the pitcher getting the hits when he singled against the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of a doubleheader that New York trailed 3–2. Yogi Berra hit a home run to score him, and Sturdivant picked up his first major league win in the victory. It was his only win of the season.
Sturdivant made only one start in 1955. Facing the Kansas City Athletics on July 22, he gave up two runs in seven innings but was outdueled on the mound by ex-Yankee Vic Raschi in the 3–1 loss. In 33 games, he had a 1–3 record, a 3.16 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 42 walks, and 48 hits allowed in innings. He was part of the Yankees' roster as they faced the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1955 World Series. In Game 3, he gave up two runs and four hits, pitching the final two innings of an 8–3 loss. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Game 4, but the Yankees lost that one 8–5. Those were his only appearances of the series, which the Dodgers won in seven games. After the season, he and the Yankees went on a tour of Japan, playing exhibition games against Japanese teams.
In 1956, the Yankees wanted to waive Sturdivant and send him to the minor leagues, but a claim by the Detroit Tigers prevented them from doing so. He did not make an appearance until the 25th game of the season on May 13; though he was originally scheduled to start a game on May 5, Stengel pushed back his debut because he wanted a more experienced pitcher on the mound following some Yankee losses. His first appearance was a start, but most of his outings in the early part of the year were in relief. On June 16, he got a start against the Cleveland Indians, striking out 11, allowing just two hits and one run, and earning an ovation from the fans at Cleveland Stadium in a 3–1 victory. On July 13, Sturdivant threw his first major league shutout, holding the Indians to two hits in a 10–0 victory. After that game, except for a stretch between August 2 and August 18, he was used mainly as a starter. He struck out seven Indians in a 3–2 victory on August 22, then recorded eight strikeouts in the first game of a doubleheader against the Tigers four days later, when he threw his second shutout of the season in a 7–0 victory. Sportswriter Joseph M. Sheehan reported, "During the Bombers' drive to the pennant, [Sturdivant] carried an equal share of the pitching load with Whitey Ford and Johnny Kucks, the Yankees' two nineteen-game winners." By the end of the year, Stengel said, "He was a meal ticket...starting and relieving and doing both good in the tough spots...now he's got the experience, too, to go along with the rest of it." In 32 games (17 starts), he had a 16–8 record, 110 strikeouts, and 52 walks in innings. His 16 wins ranked 10th in the American League (AL), his 3.30 ERA ranked eighth, and his .667 winning percentage was tied for seventh (with Kucks and Frank Sullivan. He led the AL in Strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 2.12 mark.
For the second year in a row, Sturdivant and the Yankees faced the Dodgers in the World Series. Called on in relief in the third inning of Game 2, with the score tied 6–6, he allowed an RBI single to Don Bessent and left with the bases loaded, though Tom Morgan retired Pee Wee Reese on a pop fly to end the inning with no more runs scoring. The Yankees lost that game 13–8, though Sturdivant did not get the loss. With the Dodgers up 2–1 in the series, he pitched a complete Game 4. Seven times, the leadoff man for the Dodgers reached, drawing visits to the mound from Stengel in the later innings, but the manager elected to use his starter for the full distance. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers 6–2, one day before Don Larsen's perfect game. "Yogi called ’em and I threw ’em," Sturdivant credited his catcher for help handling the Dodgers. With Ford, Larsen, Bob Turley, and Kucks, Sturdivant was part of a group that threw five straight complete games in the series, an occurrence that has yet to be repeated. This time, the Yankees were victors in seven games.