Herb Score-"If There is a Doctor in the Stands..."

36-19 over his first two seasons, Herb Score seemingly was on the fast track to the baseball Hall of Fame. The solidly built left-hander had a blazing fastball, and Herb Score set a rookie record of 245 strikeouts in 1955, a total he topped the next year. However, Herb Score had an awkward delivery that left him in very poor fielding position. It was this one chink in his armor that left Herb Score vulnerable, never more so than in May of 1957, when a batted ball changed his fortunes forever.

On a Cleveland Indians' staff that included three future Hall of Famers in Bob Lemon, Early Wynn, and Bob Feller, young Herb Score seemed a sure bet to one day join that trio at Cooperstown. At the age of 22, Herb Score came up from the minors and made 32 starts for the 1955 Tribe, completing 11 games and going 16-10. He gave up a mere 158 hits in 227 innings pitched, but fanned a remarkable 245 batters. Herb Score's 154 walks were a cause for concern, but he honed his control somewhat the very next year, issuing 129 in almost 250 innings. When he struck out 263 to lead the American League for a second year in a row in that category, Herb Score was being hailed as a bright star. Hal Newhouser, the Tiger hurler who would one day be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, remarked that he "would trade all of his past for Herb Score's future."

Herb Score posted a 20-9 record in 1956, made the All-Star team a second straight year, and led the circuit in shut-outs with 5. The Indians refused an offer of one million dollars for Herb Score from the Red Sox early in 1957. Herb Score was 2-1 in 5 outings that campaign, with more than a strikeout an inning, when Gil McDougald of the Yankees came to bat against him on May 7th in Cleveland. Herb Score had just gotten Hank Bauer to ground out to third to begin the contest. McDougald then stepped in and lined a ball off of Herb Score's right eye, breaking his nose and a number of bones in his face. Herb Score had been unable to get his glove up in time, because of how he finished his delivery. As Herb Score was crumpled on the field a bloody mess, the public address announcer asked of the crowd at Municipal Stadium, "If there is a doctor in the stands, will he please report to the playing field." He never lost consciousness, as players from both teams rushed to his aid. The distraught McDougald vowed that he would retire if Herb Score lost his eyesight. The swelling and bleeding around the eye was so severe that it would be several days before physicians would be able to ascertain the exact damage. Fortunately, Herb Score recovered from the horrible incident, gaining back his vision. But when Herb Score adjusted his pitching motion when he returned to baseball the following spring, perhaps to compensate for a fear of getting struck again in the face, he lost some of the velocity off of his once feared fastball.

Never the same pitcher as he was before the horrific accident, Herb Score went a pedestrian 17-26 for the Indians and the White Sox over the next five seasons and he was done pitching in 1962 before the age of 30. Herb Score became an announcer for the Cleveland Indians after his retirement, a position he held until 1997 when he finally called it quits. He was a beloved figure in the Ohio city, and when news came of a stroke that confined Herb Score to a wheelchair in 2002, Cleveland took it hard. His public appearances are now limited to a couple a year due to his poor health. But his years as an Indians' broadcaster made Herb Score more friends than he could count, and it would be impossible to find a soul who had something bad to say about the man. His poor luck probably cost him a spot in Cooperstown, but those who saw him pitch early in his career, and those who listened to his voice describing Indians' games on so many warm Midwest summer evenings, hold a special place in their hearts for Herb Score.