Jack Sanford

Who was Jack Sanford?

John Stanley Sanford was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, and later in his career a relief pitcher as well, for the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and California Angels. He finished his career playing very briefly with the Kansas City Athletics.

Sanford was born in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. He won the National League's Rookie of the Year award in 1957 with the Phillies for a season with outstanding numbers. That year, he was 19-8 with a 3.08 ERA in 33 starts. He had 15 complete games on the season, including three shutouts. Impressively, he also finished the season with 188 strikeouts, which led the league.

His next seven years would be extremely solid, but never quite as impressive as his rookie season; or according to some, he never improved much after it. After being traded to the Giants for the 1959 season, Sanford went 15-12 with a 3.16 ERA in 222 innings pitched and completed 10 games. That year, he started 31 games and made 36 appearances, 5 out of the bullpen.

Sanford's best bid for a Cy Young Award came in 1962 when he finished 24-7 with a 3.43 ERA for a very good Giants team.