Books and articles about Vern Bickford

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The famous cliche about the 1948 Boston Braves NL championship team, "Spahn, Sain and two days of rain", did not do justice to Bickford's strong 11-5 record. His top season was 1950, when he went 19-14 and led the league in games started (39), complete games (27), and innings pitched (311 2/3). On August 11 of that year he no-hit the Dodgers, 7-0. In 1951, he broke a finger on his pitching hand and never regained his effectiveness. (GEB)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » August 18, 1948: The Giants crush the first-place Braves, 8–2, behind Sheldon Jones. Sid Gordon hits his 24th and John Mize his 29th, both off Vern Bickford, to pace the New Yorkers. The Braves lead Brooklyn by a game. » May 15, 1949: Boston's Vern Bickford stops the Dodgers, 4–0, allowing just four singles. One is by Gil Hodges, extending his hitting streak to 17 games. Jim Russell switch hits a homer and double to pin the loss on Morrie Martin. The Braves start Al Lakeman at 1B in place of Earl Torgeson, who separated his shoulder yesterday when he attempted to block Jackie Robinson on a double play. Torgeson will be operated on tomorrow and will be sidelined several months. » April 25, 1950: Joe Hatten gives the Dodgers (5-1) their fifth straight win, stopping the Braves 3–0 on two hits. Vern Bickford loses to Brooklyn for the first time after three wins. Jackie Robinson is 3-for-3 with a walk, to pace an 8-hit attack. » August 11, 1950: Boston P Vern Bickford no-hits the Dodgers in Boston before 29,008 fans. Bickford has lost only once to Brooklyn since joining Boston 1948. The win puts Boston just five games behind the first-place Phillies. » August 16, 1950: The Phils polish off the second place Braves, 5–1 on Robin Roberts' three-hitter. The Phils score four in the fourth off Vern Bickford, concluding the scoring with Del Ennis' 26th homer. » May 15, 1951: At Crosley Field, Braves P Vern Bickford pitches a 2-hitter, but Ewell Blackwell bests him by allowing one hit, as the Reds win, 1–0. Connie Ryan's 6th inning hit is the 1st off Bickford, and Johnny Pramesa's homer in the 7th is the other. The only Boston hit is a 5th inning double by Bob Elliott. The Reds tie the National League record (set in 1911) for nine innings by going to bat just 24 times. » May 20, 1951: Before 42,088 at Wrigley, Dutch Leonard wins a pair, beating the Braves, 4–3 and 5–4. Dutch tosses two innings in each game as the Cubs beat Chet Nichols and Vern Bickford. The Cubs are now a game back of the front-running Dodgers. » June 30, 1951: The Braves make it easy for new manager Tommy Holmes' first appearance in front of the home crowd. Boston tallies eight runs in the seventh inning and seven runs in the eighth inning, to squash to Giants 19–7. Backing Vern Bickford's pitching, Earl Torgeson racks up seven RBIs in the two innings, including a grand slam off Sal Maglie, the first time the Barber's been clipped for a slam. » April 24, 1954: The White Sox spoil Vern Bickford's American League debut chasing him after four innings and winning 14–4. The O's use three relievers including former Negro Leaguer Jehosie "Jay" Heard, making his ML debut. Heard is the first black player for the Orioles. He'll make just one other appearance. On September 10, African American OF Joe Durham will make his debut as the second black Oriole.