'Preacher' Roe; pitcher helped lead Brooklyn to World Series

Elwin Charles ''Preacher'' Roe was selected to four consecutive All-Star teams. (Associated Press/File 1952)

LOS ANGELES - Elwin Charles "Preacher" Roe, the cunning left-handed pitcher for the Dodger teams of the late 1940s and early 1950s who was selected to four consecutive All-Star teams, died Sunday of colon cancer in West Plains, Mo., according to the Dodgers website. He was 92.

Armed with an array of off-speed pitches, including the occasional illegal spitball that he later confessed to throwing, Mr. Roe confounded hitters, winning 93 games and losing 37 for the Dodger teams that were good enough to make it to World Series but generally lost to the New York Yankees. Mr. Roe pitched for the Dodgers in three World Series, 1949, 1952, and 1953, shutting out the Yankees 1-0 in 1949, his only series victory. By the time Brooklyn won its first World Series, beating the Yankees in 1955, Mr. Roe had retired.

His best year came in 1951 when he won 22 and lost 3 for the Dodgers, setting a team record that still stands for the highest winning percentage for a 20-game winner. The Sporting News named him pitcher of the year. Two years later, he again led the National League in winning percentage when he posted an 11-2 record for the Dodgers. He had four All-Star appearances with the Dodgers from 1949 to 1952.

He had the reputation of being one of the slowest working pitchers in the majors, which was all part of his plan to play with hitters' minds. Long believed to be skilled in the use of the spitball, Mr. Roe would repeatedly distract the hitter by going to the bill of his cap with his hand. Sometimes he would spit on his wrist and the saliva would drip onto the ball, which would then take interesting dips on the way to the batter.

But for Mr. Roe, the illusion of loading the ball was often just enough.

"I had a wet one and three fake wet ones," he said.

"You don't have to throw it . . . just make 'em think you're going to throw it."

Born Elwin Charles Roe in Ash Flat, Ark., he was the son of a doctor. He was a youngster when he got his nickname from an uncle.

He grew up in Viola, Ark., and attended Harding College in Searcy, Ark., where he developed a hard-throwing style averaging 18 strikeouts a game.

Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1938, Mr. Roe pitched just one game for the Cardinals and spent several years in their minor league system before being traded in 1944 to the Pirates.

He established himself with Pittsburgh, winning 13 games in 1944 and 14 the next year while leading the league in strikeouts and being named to the National League All-Star team. But after the 1945 season, he was seriously injured in a fight during a high school basketball game. Mr. Roe, coaching a girls high school team in Arkansas, was decked by the official and hit his head on the floor, suffering a skull fracture and a concussion.

Recovery was difficult.

Mr. Roe won only three games for Pittsburgh during the 1946 season and four the following year while losing 15. He was traded to the Dodgers in late 1947 along with third baseman Billy Cox and infielder Gene Mauch, who would become a longtime manager.

In Brooklyn, Mr. Roe, an educated and interesting man, played up an image of being a country hick. Of his pitching repertoire, which included a change-up, he once said "I got three pitches: my change; my change off my change; and my change off my change off my change."

After recording double-digit wins for the Dodgers from 1948 to 1953, he won just three games in 1954. He was traded after the season, again with Cox, to the Orioles. But Mr. Roe decided to retire and he moved to West Plains, where he opened a grocery store.

In 1955, he was at the center of controversy when he confessed to sportswriter Dick Young in Sports Illustrated that he used the spitball during his career but said he only did so on four occasions. The article was titled "The Outlawed Spitball Was My Money Pitch."

The article was not received well in the baseball establishment. As a result, Mr. Roe was often kept away from official events.

But Mr. Roe was not embittered and always said that "baseball was good to me and I won't say anything bad about it or anyone it in."