Former Yankees pitcher Bobby Shantz turns 101 on Sept. 26, 2026, after a 16-season major-league career. He won the 1952 American League MVP and spent four years with New York, which he later called the most rewarding stop of his career.
Shantz’s standout season came with Philadelphia in 1952: he won 24 games, posted a 2.48 ERA and earned the AL MVP award. Traded to the Yankees after 1956, he led baseball with a 2.45 ERA in 1957 and won the first American League Gold Glove awarded to a pitcher. He collected eight Gold Gloves across both leagues.
New York won the 1958 championship and reached the pennant in three of Shantz’s four seasons there. He made his only World Series start in 1957 and pitched in relief in Game 4. After the 1960 season, Washington selected him in an expansion draft and traded him to Pittsburgh; he pitched for five teams over his final four seasons before retiring after 1964.
