Howard "Howie" Pollet

Sport: Baseball

Induction Year: 1981

Howard “Howie” Pollet, a New Orleans native, gained fame as a member of the outstanding St. Louis Cardinals teams of the 1940’s. The stylish left-hander had a 14-year pitching record in the Major Leagues of 131-116 and a career ERA of 3.51. His best season was 1946 when he had a 21-10 record and helped the Cardinals win the World Series. He also had a 20-9 record in 1949 and led the National League in ERA in 1946. He closed out his career with the Pirates, Cubs, and White Sox.

In 1938, when Eddie Dyer was a scout for the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League and supervisor of the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm clubs in the Southwest, a Texas oil man gave him a tip about a 17-year-old left-handed pitcher in New Orleans.

Dyer went to New Orleans to meet the prospect and watch him pitch in an American Legion game. He liked what he saw, and had Howard Joseph Pollet’s name on a contract providing a signing bonus of $3,500 by December. But the signature on the contract was provided by Pollet’s mother, who signed it on behalf of her son, a minor.

When the 1939 season got underway, Dyer was managing the Houston club and Pollet was on his pitching staff.

In 1940, the 19-year-old Pollet was the class of the Texas League. He won 12 consecutive games and posted a 20-7 record as Dyer’s Buffaloes won 105 games and the league championship.

The following year, he improved his record 20-3, pitched a no-hit game and had a 1.16 earned run average as the Buffaloes won the pennant again.

By the time Houston clinched the 1942 title, the Cardinals had purchased Pollet’s contact. He won five games for the Cardinals in 1941 and was 7-5 in 27 appearances the following year. He was 8-4 in 1943 when his career, like many others, was interrupted by World War II.

Pollet’s friendship with Dyer extended beyond baseball. He worked for Dyer’s Houston insurance company in the off-season, and gave Dyer his power of attorney while he was in the service.

After the war, Dyer was in trouble as the first year manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.

His team was favored to win the National League championship for the fourth time in five years, but two of Dyer’s best pitchers – Max Lanier and Fred Martin – jumped to the Mexican League early in the 1946 season.

Then Pollet came to his friend’s rescue.

“I know I can’t make up for those fellows,” he said, “but I’ll tell you what I can do. You let me start one day and give me one day of rest, and I can go in and relieve you the next day. One more day off and I can start again the day after that.”

That’s exactly what he did, starting 32 games and completing 22 of them. He got relief stints in eight more games, leading the National League in innings pitched (266), victories (21) and earned run average (2.10).

Considering the fact that he joined the team the last week of May, it had to be one of the greatest “iron man” efforts in modern baseball history.

On July 12, Pollet won the first game of a doubleheader with the New York Giants. Instead of taking a shower and watching the second game from the stands, he stayed in the bullpen and was ready to save a 5-4 win for Red Barrett in the ninth inning.

Pollet chalked up his 15th and 16th victories two days apart in late August, throwing a three-hitter at the Boston Braves and coming back two days later to get No. 16 in relief against the Phillies.

His eagerness to help the team overruled Pollet’s judgment in a late-season doubleheader with the Giants. When relief pitcher George Munger wasn’t able to stifle a Giants rally, Dyer called for Pollet under the mistaken impression that he had warmed up.

That wasn’t the case, but Pollet took his allotted warm-up pitches and gave it a shot.

“I put everything I had in the first pitch, much to my regret,” he recalled later. “I felt a stab of pain below the shoulder blade.”

The shoulder would be painful for the remainder of the season, and Pollet was shelled by the Cubs twice in the stretch drive. He did manage to beat the Giants, 10-2, to become the first National League lefthander to win 20 games since 1937, but he allowed 11 hits in that game and was favoring his left arm.

“I did not follow through properly to avoid recurrence of pain,” he said.

Despite the injury, Pollet pitched the Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers in the opening game of a best-of-three playoff series. St. Louis also won the next game, wrapping up the pennant.

Pollet dropped a 3-2 decision to the Boston Red Sox in the opening game of the World Series and was ineffective in starting Game 5, but the Cardinals won the Series with Harry “The Cat” Brecheen picking up three pitching victories.

The 1947 season was a nightmare for Pollet.

“Every pitch hurt,” he said. “I couldn’t follow through. I began to pitch with a half-motion, using my elbow instead of my back. My control was terrible. I began to feel a lump in my elbow, and it frightened me. I was afraid I was through.”

He wasn’t though. X-rays revealed a calcium deposit on his elbow, and Pollet underwent surgery. He had another great year in 1949 with a 20-9 record and 2.77 earned run average, but the Dodgers passed the Cardinals in the last four games to win the pennant by one game.

Pollet’s record fell to 14-13 the following year, and he was traded to the Pirates after six appearances the following year. He didn’t win more than eight games in any of his last six seasons with the Pirates, Cubs and White Sox. The bottom line numbers for his career were 131 victories, 25 shutouts and a 3.41 earned run average.

Dyer knew the fans called Pollet “Dyer’s pet” because he worked for the manager in the off-season.

“The fans were right,” he told a reporter near the end of Pollet’s 14-year career. “He was Dyer’s pet. He still is.”