Paul Derringer ✝

Samuel Paul Derringer (October 17, 1906 – November 17, 1987) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three National League teams from 1931 to 1945, primarily the Cincinnati Reds.\n', ' He won 20 games for Cincinnati four times between 1935 and 1940, peaking with a 25–7 season in 1939 as the Reds won the NL pennant for the first time in 20 years. His 161 victories with Cincinnati are the club record for a right-hander, and rank second in franchise history to Eppa Rixey\'s 179; he also held the team record for career strikeouts when his career ended. His 579 games pitched ranked eighth in NL history when he retired, and his average of 1.88 walks per 9 innings pitched ranked behind only Christy Mathewson (1.59) and Grover Cleveland Alexander (1.65) among pitchers with 3000 innings in the NL since 1900.\n', ' Born in Springfield, Kentucky, Derringer made an impressive debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1931, winning 18 games for the eventual World Series champions and leading the NL in winning percentage (.692); he had a streak of 33 consecutive scoreless innings in September. He finished third among pitchers in voting for The Sporting News Major League All-Star Team, gaining 56 votes (of a potential 229) and outpolling all other NL pitchers combined. Despite the team\'s victory, he suffered defeats in Games 1 and 5 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics. He slumped to an 11–14 mark in 1932, and after beginning 1933 at 0–2 he was traded to the Reds in a six-player deal that brought Leo Durocher to the Cardinals. Despite a respectable 3.23 earned run average, he was 7–25 with Cincinnati that season, setting a team record for losses which still stands; his 27 overall losses led the NL, and came within two of Vic Willis\' modern NL record, set in 1905. He improved to 15–21 in 1934 before coming into his own the following year.\n', '