---

Herb Score was on his way to superstardom after his first two big league seasons. In his rookie season of 1955, the 22-year old went 16-10 with a league-leading 245 strikeouts. He was selected to the All Star game and named the American League Rookie of the Year.

The following season, Score was even better. He went 20-9, allowed a league low 5.84 hits per nine innings, and again paced the AL in strikeouts, upping his total to 263. Score’s 5 shutouts also led the Junior Circuit while his win total was the second-most in the AL. He was named to his second-straight All Star game.

Only 23 years old, Score entered 1957 with high hopes to build on his early success. Tabbed as the Opening Day starter, Score was the tough-luck loser pitching all 11 innings while striking out ten. He allowed just two earned runs. His next two outings resulted consecutive complete games – one a shutout.

In his 5th start of the year on May 7 with one out in the first inning, Yankee shortstop Gil McDougald hit a screaming line drive that hit Score squarely between his nose and his right eye. Score missed the rest of the season and was never the same.

In the collection is this get-well letter from Cardinals great Stan Musial. Dated May 15, 1957 just eight days after Score got hit, the letter is addressed to the hurler in care of Lakeside Hospital in in Cleveland. Musial writes, “Dear Herb, I can’t possibly express how sorry I was to hear of your accident. Hope you are improving more every day and that you will be back in uniform shortly. Keep your chin up, Stan Musial”. The Man has neatly signed his name at the bottom of the letter.

The date the letter was written Musial tied Cap Anson for 6th place on the All-Time doubles list with 583. By season’s end, Musial would earn the last of his seven batting crowns, leading the league with a .422 on-base percentage and a 1.034 OPS. He finished second in MVP balloting.

---

Herb Score broke into Major League Baseball as one of the game’s best pitchers. In his MLB debut on April 15, 1955 he pitched a complete-game with nine strikeouts. By the time the season ended, Score was the league’s strikeout leader and Rookie of the Year.

The following season he again paced the AL in strikeouts, topped the 20-win plateau and made his second All Star team in as many years. All signs pointed to a long and productive career.

Everything changed on May 7, 1957 when a line drive off of the bat of Yankee second baseman Gil McDougald hit Score squarely in the face breaking facial bones and injuring his eye. Score never regained his form.

In the collection is a pair of Selective Service cards issued to and signed by Herb Score. The top card is a “Selective Service Registration Certificate” and states that Score, “has been duly registered this 7 day of June, 1951”.

Score has signed his name along the right side. The bottom card is a “Selective Service System Notice of Classification” that puts him in the 4-F class. The hurler has penned his signature along the left side of the card.

Some would find it odd that Score was fit enough to be a big league ball player but not fit enough for the US military.

---

After starting with two outstanding years in 1955 and 1956, Herb Score was hit in the face by a screaming line drive off of the bat of Gil McDougald in early 1957. He started 66 games his first two years, then only 10 contests over the next two seasons.

The Indians gave up on him in April of 1960 when they shipped him to the Chicago White Sox. His time in Chicago featured 35 appearances with only six wins. His last big league appearance can on May 4, 1962.

Score stayed close to the game as a broadcaster for the Indians from 1964-1997. He was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2006.

The image above shows the reverse of the Selective Service cards. The top card describes score as having blue eyes, brown hair and a ruddy complexion. The bottom card has a postmark of April, 1953.

---

Herb Score’s first two season in the big leagues featured 36 wins, two All Star appearances, the Rookie of the Year Award, and two years of league-leading strikeout totals. After getting hit in the face by a Gil MacDougal comebacker, he was never the same. Though he pitched parts of six additional MLB seasons, Score won only 19 more games.

Shown here is a pair of 1960 Topps cards autographed by the Indians pitcher. These are the last Topps cards that showed Score with the team for which he is known.

 

---

The Indians shipped Herb Score to the White Sox on April 18, 1960. Score appeared in 35 games for Chicago from 1960-1962, posting 6 wins against 12 losses and a 4.25 earned run average.

In the collection is this 1961 Topps card depicting Score with the Chisox autographed by the man who devoted most of his adult life to America’s national pastime.