
Gary Peters, lefty pitching ace of the good-pitching/weak-hitting White Sox teams of the mid-1960s, has passed away at the age of 85. Peters combined with Tommy John and Joe Horlen to form a formidable trio that got little run support.
Peters pitched for the White Sox from 1959-1969, then for the Red Sox from 1970-1972.
He pitched only two games—totaling one inning—for the AL Champ 1959 White Sox.
From 1959-1962 he only got in 12 MLB games, pitching only 21 innings, and giong 0-1, 3.00.
So, in 1963 he still qualified as a rookie, and he won the ROY Award by going 19-8 and by leading the AL with an ERA of 2.33. He also finished 8th in the MVP voting. Peters was given MVP consideration 3x, and each time he finished in the top 10.
In 1964, the White Sox finished second, just one game behind the Yankees for the AL pennant. Peteres led the AL with 20 wins, was an All-Star (the first of two occasions) and finished 7th in MVP voting with a 20-8, 2.50 mark.
Peters again led the AL in ERA in 1966 with a 1.98 mark. In 1967, the White Sox finished 4th in a tight 4-team race, just 3 games behind the pennant winning Red Sox. Peters was 16-11, 2.28 and earned his second and last All-Star nod while finishing 9th in MVP voting.
Peters didn’t put up those kinds of numbers after 1967, although he did go 16-11, 4.06 in 1970 and 14-11, 4.37 in 1971.
For his career, Peters was 124-103 with an ERA of 3.25, ERA+ 106. His 162-game average was 13-11, 3.25.
For a pitcher, Peters was a pretty good hitter, hitting .222 with 19 HR. He batted lefty as well. He had seasons of .259, .235, .244 and .271.