The New York Yankees held a moment of silence during their home opener Monday for "Bullet" Bob Turley, the 1958 Cy Young Award winner and World Series MVP.
Turley, a former Aberdeen Pheasant, died of cancer Saturday in hospice care in Atlanta. He was 82. A three-time All-Star, Turley was 101-85 with a 3.64 earned run average in his 12-year career for five teams.
Turley was 25-5 for the 1949 Aberdeen Pheasants and went the distance in all 30 games, plus making 12 relief appearances. His salary was $200 per month. The Pheasants won the league championship after finishing second to Eau Claire, Wis., in the regular season.
The Pheasants were a Class C minor league baseball team located in Aberdeen from 1946-71, first as the affiliate of the St. Louis Browns until 1953. When the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954 and changed their name to the Orioles, the Pheasants remained in their farm system.
Turley returned to Aberdeen on June 16, 1995, to throw out the first pitch as Pheasants baseball returned to Aberdeen for three seasons in the new Prairie League.
Turley pitched for the Orioles in their first season in Baltimore in 1954. The April 15, 1954, opener at Memorial Stadium was a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox played in front of 46,354 fans. Turley pitched all nine innings, striking out nine. A Baltimore News-Post editorial called it "the most thrilling day in Baltimore history since the bombardment of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812."
In 1955, Turley and another former Pheasant, Don Larsen, were sent to the Yankees as part of the biggest trade in the sport's history that included 17 players. After retiring from baseball, Turley went on to work with financial firm Primerica and lived in Alpharetta, Ga.
In addition to his son Terry, of Suwanee, Ga., Turley is survived by his wife, Janet, of Alpharetta; another son, Don Turley of Woodstock, Ga.; a daughter, Roweena Turley of Orlando, Fla.; and numerous grandchildren.