Art Mahaffey

Who is Art Mahaffey?

Arthur Mahaffey, Jr. is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. He batted and threw right-handed. In a seven-season career, Mahaffey posted a 59-64 record with 639 strikeouts and a 4.17 ERA in 999.0 innings pitched.

Mahaffey was signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies on June 29, 1956. After six seasons playing in the Phillies' minor league organization, Mahaffey was called up by the big league team. He played in his first game for the Phillies on July 30, 1960, pitching the final two innings of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Mahaffey retired the three batters he faced in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Bill White led off with a single to right field and then was picked off by Mahaffey at first base. The next batter, Curt Flood, singled to center field, and he too was picked off by Mahaffey, who threw to first with Flood tagged out on a throw from first to second. He finished the 1960 season with a 7–3 record and an earned run average of 2.31 in 14 games, finishing third in Rookie of the Year balloting that season, which was won by Frank Howard of the Los Angeles Dodgers.