Final Card: Bob Buhl

Bob Buhl (#68) began his minor-league career back in 1947, with the White Sox and then the Braves. After 2 years in the service, he made the Milwaukee Braves team in 1953, winning in double-digits for 6 of the next 8 seasons. Those 2 "off-seasons" were not what they appear to be. In 1954 Buhl was used primarily in relief, and in 1958 he appeared in less than a dozen games due to injury.

For most of the 1950s, he was the #3 starter behind the great Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette. Buhl usually gets short-changed by most people nowadays as the washed-up stiff that the Phillies acquired for Fergie Jenkins, but he apparently was quite a good pitcher back in the 1950s.


In April 1962, he was traded to the Cubs, where he continued to win. It wasn't until 1966 that he slowed down. Unfortunately for the Phillies, he was in their employ at the time.

Buhl's last game was on April 30th. The Phillies released him on May 16th, as part of their early-season purge of ineffective, aging relievers that included Ruben Gomez (May 8) and Pedro Ramos (May 31).