Clement Walter Labine (August 6, 1926 – March 2, 2007) was an American right-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) best known for his years with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1950 to 1960. As a key member of the Dodgers in the early 1950s, he helped the team to its first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

title in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

with a win and a save in four games. He is one of eight players in MLB history to have won back-to back World Series championships on different teams, the other seven being

Joc Pederson Joc Russell Pederson ( ; born April 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Br ...

Ben Zobrist Benjamin Thomas Zobrist (; born May 26, 1981), is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chi ...

Jake Peavy Jacob Edward Peavy (born May 31, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants. He batted and threw right- ...

Jack Morris John Scott Morris (born May 16, 1955) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1977 and 1994, mainly for the Detroit Tigers. Morris won 254 games throughout his career. Armed ...

Bill Skowron William Joseph Skowron (December 18, 1930 – April 27, 2012), nicknamed "Moose", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1954 to 1967 for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dod ...

Don Gullett Donald Edward Gullett (born January 6, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that wo ...

, and

Ryan Theriot Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

. He held the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL) record for career saves from 1958 until 1962; his 96 career saves ranked fourth in MLB history when he retired. He also set a Dodgers franchise record of 425 career

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

Youth and early career

Labine was born in

Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,529 at the 2020 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence. Lincoln is part of the Providence metropolitan statistical are ...

, grew up in nearby

Woonsocket Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of ...

, and served as a

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

in World War II. After compiling a 5–1 record for Brooklyn as a rookie in 1951, he shut out the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in game 2 of the National League pennant playoff, 10–0. Labine went on to enjoy several stellar seasons for the Dodgers as a relief pitcher. In 1955, the year the Dodgers finally brought a world championship to Brooklyn, he led the NL with 60 games pitched and 10 relief victories, and earned a career-best 13 wins overall. Although the save was not yet an official statistic, he has been retroactively credited with leading the NL twice (1956 and '57) in that category, with 19 and 17, respectively, and was an All-Star both years.

Move to Los Angeles and late career

Labine accompanied the Dodgers to Los Angeles when they relocated after the 1957 season, and in 1958 surpassed

Al Brazle Alpha Eugene Brazle (October 19, 1913 – October 24, 1973) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. The left-hander was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1936, and later traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Mike Ryba ...

's NL record of 60 career saves. In 1959, he broke

Brickyard Kennedy William Park Kennedy (October 7, 1867 – September 23, 1915), nicknamed "Brickyard" and "Roaring Bill", was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1892 to 1903. He played for the Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms/Superbas (1892–1901), N ...

's franchise record of 381 games pitched; the Dodgers won the World Series again that year, defeating the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, although Labine pitched only one inning in game 1's blowout loss. His career appeared to be in jeopardy in 1960, when the Dodgers traded him to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in June after Labine had compiled an

earned-run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 5.82. The Tigers subsequently released him on August 15, 1960, after he pitched 14 games for them, going 0–3, with an ERA of 5.12. The

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

signed Labine the following day. The Pirates were in the NL pennant race and needed another right-handed reliever to complement

Roy Face Elroy Leon Face (born February 20, 1928), nicknamed The Bullpen Baron, is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. During a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A pioneer of ...

. Labine proved to be a valuable addition to the Pirates' bullpen. In 15 games for the Pirates through the remainder of the season, he compiled a record of 3–0 with three saves and an ERA of 1.48, as he helped the Pirates win the NL pennant and go on to the

1960 World Series The 1960 World Series was played between the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the 1960 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5–13, 1960. In Game 7, ...

, but Labine appeared only in three blowout losses during the series win over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. After remaining with the Pirates in 1961, he ended his career with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, pitching in three games during the Mets' debut 1962 season, including an inning in the Mets' first game. Later that year, the Pirates'

passed Labine's NL mark of 94 career saves. Over all or parts of 13 seasons, Labine appeared in 513 games, winning 77 and losing 56 (.579), with a 3.63 ERA. He appeared in 13 World Series games, winning two and losing two, with a 3.16 ERA. His 96 career saves then trailed only

Johnny Murphy John Joseph Murphy (July 14, 1908 – January 14, 1970) was an All-Star American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (1932, 1934–43, 1946–47) who later became a front office executive in the game. Yankees' relief ace After ...

(107),

Ellis Kinder Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. Surname A *Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series ''St ...

(102), and

Firpo Marberry Frederick "Firpo" Marberry (November 30, 1898 – June 30, 1976) was an American right-handed starting and relief pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1923 to 1936, most notably with the Washington Senators. The sport's first prominent relieve ...

(101) in major league history. In 1966, Labine's Dodger career records of 425 games pitched and 83 saves were broken by

Don Drysdale Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball, D ...

and

Ron Perranoski Ronald Peter Perranoski (April 1, 1936 – October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed relief pitcher from to , most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodg ...

, respectively.

Life after baseball

Following his retirement from baseball, Labine settled again in the Woonsocket area, where he became a designer of men's athletic wear, serving as general manager for the sporting goods division of the Jacob Finklestein's & Sons manufacturing company. His son, Jay, joined the Marine Corps and lost a leg while serving in Vietnam after stepping on a mine. Kahn, Roger (1972). ''The Boys of Summer''. New York: Harper and Row. Labine died at age 80 in

Vero Beach, Florida Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...

, one week after undergoing exploratory brain surgery following a bout with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

; he had been serving as an instructor at the Dodgers' adult fantasy camp at their Dodgertown headquarters.

References

External links

Clem LabineSABR Biography Project
Article written by Alfonso Tusa {{DEFAULTSORT:Labine, Clem 1926 births 2007 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American people of French-Canadian descent Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Rhode Island Brooklyn Dodgers players Detroit Tigers players Greenville Spinners players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers National League All-Stars Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Mets players Newport News Dodgers players People from Woonsocket, Rhode Island Pittsburgh Pirates players Pueblo Dodgers players St. Paul Saints (AA) players United States Army soldiers Paratroopers

Youth and early career

Move to Los Angeles and late career

Life after baseball

See also

References

External links