Chris Short ✝

Short was born in Milford, Delaware on September 19, 1937. He was the son of Issac Short, a Delaware judge who had attended the University of Pennsylvania. \n', ' Short made his first appearance on the mound on April 19, 1959 against the Cincinnati Reds, appearing in the 2nd inning to replace Jim Owens. He allowed five runs on four hits while striking out three and walking three in 3.2 innings. \n', ' Short was considered a top pitcher from 1964 through 1968 with the Phillies. He was 17–9 in 1964, with a 2.20 ERA in 220​2⁄3 innings pitched. It was his career-best ERA and was third in the league behind only Sandy Koufax (1.74) and Don Drysdale (2.18). Teammate Jim Bunning was 5th that season with a 2.63 ERA. Juan Marichal finished 4th (2.48). That year, however, the Phillies and Short suffered a heartbreaking loss in the pennant race. After leading by six and a half games with 12 to go, manager Gene Mauch decided to start his two aces, Bunning and Short, for eight of the last 12 games. Short pitched respectably despite the heavy workload, giving up only six earned runs in 18 innings over his final three starts. But weak hitting, poor relief pitching and atrocious defense (the team committed 17 errors in a 10-game losing streak) doomed Philadelphia. The Phillies lost three games in a row to the hot St. Louis Cardinals, who won the NL race by 1 game and went on to defeat the New York Yankees in the 1964 World Series.\n', '