Preacher Roe dies at 92; pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers

Elwin Charles “Preacher” Roe, the cunning left-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1940s and early ‘50s 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, Roe confounded hitters, winning 93 games and losing 37 for the Dodgers -- which were good enough to make it to the World Series but generally lost to the New York Yankees.

FOR THE RECORD:
Roe obituary: The obituary of Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Elwin Charles “Preacher” Roe in Tuesday’s California section said that his 1-0 decision against the New York Yankees in 1949 was his only World Series victory. Roe was also the winning pitcher against the Yankees in Game 3 of the 1952 World Series. —

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, Roe had retired

His best year came in 1951, when he won 22 games and lost just three 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. A year 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 1949-1952.

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 using the spitball, 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 Roe, the illusion of loading the ball was often 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.”

Elwin Charles Roe was born in Ash Flat, Ark., on Feb. 26, 1916. His father was a doctor, and as a youngster 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 but also a high number of walks.

Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1938, Roe pitched just one game for that team 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. Roe, coaching a girls high school team in Arkansas, was decked by the official and hit his head on the floor, resulting in a skull fracture and a concussion.

Recovery was difficult.

Roe won only three games for Pittsburgh during the 1946 season and had four wins and 15 loses the following year.

He was traded to the Dodgers in late 1947 along with third baseman Billy Cox and infielder Gene Mauch, who would later manage the Angels among other teams.

In Brooklyn, 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 Roe decided to retire. He moved to West Plains and opened a grocery store.

In 1955, he was at the center of controversy when he accepted $2,000 and confessed to sportswriter Dick Young in Sports Illustrated that he used the spitball during his career but said he did so only on four occasions. The article was entitled “The Outlawed Spitball Was My Money Pitch.”

He later said that he had agreed to talk to help in his quest to get the pitch legalized.

The article was not well-received in the baseball establishment, and as a result Roe was often kept away from official events after his retirement.

But Roe was not embittered and always said that “baseball was good to me, and I won’t say anything bad about it or anyone in it.”

Information on survivors and funeral services was not immediately known.

Thurber is a Times staff writer.

jon.thurber@latimes.com