Carl Erskine, who threw two no-hitters as a mainstay for the Brooklyn Dodgers and won 20 games in 1953 when he struck out 14, then a World Series record, died Tuesday. He was 97 years old.
Erksine died at Community Hospital Anderson in Anderson, Indiana, according to Michele Hockwalt, the hospital's director of marketing and communications.
One of the last survivors of the famed Brooklyn teams of the 1950s, Erskine spent his entire major league career with the Dodgers from 1948 to 1959, helping them win five National League pennants.
The Dodgers mourn the passing of one of the team's all-time greats, Carl Erskine, at the age of 97. Carl was an All-Star, a World Series Champion, a true ally of Jackie Robinson and more in the pursuit of equality. and a pioneering advocate for people with special needs, inspired… pic.twitter.com/1MPNDnz9HR
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 16, 2024
The right-hander had a career record of 122-78 and a 4.00 ERA, with 981 strikeouts.
Erskine had his best season in 1953, when he went 20-6 to lead the National League. He won Game 3 of the World Series, beating the Yankees 3-2 at Ebbets Field. He struck out 14, retiring the team in the ninth, for a World Series record that stood until Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax had 15 in 1963. The Dodgers lost the 1953 series in six games and the Yankees won. his fifth consecutive championship.
Erskine's death leaves Koufax as the only surviving Dodgers player from that World Series team.
Erskine was an All-Star in 1954, when he won 18 games.
He appeared in five World Series, and the Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in 1955 to win their only championship in Brooklyn. He gave up a home run to Gil McDougald in the first inning of Game 4 and left after 3⅔ innings. The Dodgers won 8-5.
Carl Daniel Erskine was born on December 13, 1926 in Anderson, Indiana. He started playing baseball at age 9 in a local parks program.
After graduating from high school in 1945, he was drafted into the Navy as World War II was underway. A year later, Erskine asked the Navy recreation officer where he was stationed if he could play baseball. They turned him down, but a few weeks later the Dodgers scouted him and released him from military service.
He spent the next year and a half in the minors before making his major league debut on July 25, 1948. Erskine started as a reliever, going 21-10 during his first two seasons.
In 1951, he moved into the starting rotation and joined teammates Roy Campanella, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider as one of the revered “Summer Boys.”
In 1952, Erskine had a career-best 2.70 ERA and won 14 games. The following year, he led the National League with a .769 winning percentage, along with 187 strikeouts and 16 complete games, all career highs.
When teammate Don Newcombe was pitching in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 1951 National League pennant with the New York Giants, Erskine and Ralph Branca were warming up in the bullpen.
On the recommendation of pitching coach Clyde Sukeforth, Newcombe was relieved by Branca, who then gave up the game-winning home run to Bobby Thomson in the famous “Shot Heard Around the World.”
Whenever Erskine was asked what his best pitch was, he responded, “The curveball I bounced out of the Polo Grounds bullpen in 1951.”
Nicknamed “Oisk” by fans for his Brooklyn accent, Erskine threw no-hitters against the Chicago Cubs in 1952 and the New York Giants in 1956.
Bobby Morgan preserved Erskine's no-hitter against the Cubs with two brilliant fielding plays at third base.
“I made two super bunt plays where they just dribbled down the line and I fielded them one-handed and threw it to Gil Hodges at first,” Morgan told The Oklahoman in April 2020.
Morgan, who died last year, said Erskine still thanked him years later every time they spoke.
The Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles in 1957. Erskine did not like being away from his family and lasted only a year and a half more with them. He pitched his last game in June 1959 and retired at age 32.
Erskine returned to his hometown about 45 miles northeast of Indianapolis and opened an insurance company. He coached baseball at Anderson College for 12 years, and his 1965 team went 20-5 and won the NAIA World Series.
He was also active in the community and served as president and director of Star Financial Bank from 1982 to 1993.
A 6-foot bronze statue of Erskine was erected in front of the Carl D. Erskine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center to honor his achievements in baseball and as a resident of Anderson. An elementary school built on land he donated is named after him. He was inducted into the Indiana National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.
In 2002, Erskine Street in Brooklyn was named after him.
His youngest son, Jimmy, was born with Down syndrome, leading Erskine to champion the cause of people with developmental disabilities. He wrote a book called “The Parallel,” about the similarities in Erskine's teammate Jimmy and Robinson's journeys to break social perceptions. He was long involved with the Special Olympics in Indiana and the Carl and Betty Erskine Society raises money for the organization.
Jimmy Erskine died last November at age 63, having outlived his prognosis by decades.
“Carl Erskine was an exemplary Dodger,” Stan Kasten, president and CEO of the Dodgers, said in a statement. “He was a hero both off and on the field, which, given the brilliance of his pitching, is saying a lot. His support of the Special Olympics and related causes, inspired by his son Jimmy, who led a life beyond all expectations when he was born with Down syndrome, cemented his legacy. We celebrate 'Oisk's' life while extending our condolences to his wife, Betty, and his family.”
Erskine is also the author of the books “Tales from the Dodger Dugout” and “What I Learned From Jackie Robinson.”
He is survived by his wife Betty, sons Danny and Gary, and daughter Susan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
