Billy Loes

Infobox MLB retired
name = Billy Loes
bgcolor1 =
textcolor1 =
bgcolor2 =
textcolor2 =


width =
caption =
position = Pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1929|12|13
deathdate =
bats =Right
throws = Right
debutdate =May 18
debutyear =1950
debutteam =Brooklyn Dodgers
finaldate =September 14
finalyear =1961
finalteam =San Francisco Giants
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value =80-63
stat2label =ERA
stat2value =3.89
stat3label =Strikeouts
stat3value =645
teams =
*Brooklyn Dodgers (1950, 1952-1956)
*Baltimore Orioles (1956-1959)
*San Francisco Giants (1960-1961)
highlights =
*1955 World Series Championship
*National League Pennants: 1952, 1953, 1955
*1957 American League All-Star
hofdate =
hofvote =
hofmethod =

William Loes (born December 13, 1929 in Long Island City, Queens) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1950 through 1961, Loes played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1950, 1952-56), Baltimore Orioles (1956-59) and San Francisco Giants (1960-61). He batted and threw right handed. In an eleven-season career, Loes posted an 80-63 record with 645 strikeouts and a 3.89 ERA in 1190.1 innings pitched. He made the American League All-Star team in 1957.

Trivia

*The book "" (2004) includes short stories from former Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine. Loes is prominent in many of these stories.

*Before the 1952 World Series, Brooklyn Dodgers' manager Charlie Dressen cornered pitcher Billy Loes.:"I see in the paper where you picked the Yankees to beat us in seven games. What's wrong with you," Dressen said.:"I was misquoted," Loes protested. "I picked them in "six" games." - Baseball Anecdotes [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/humor1.shtml]

*Loes also famously said that he didn't want to be a 20-game winner, "Because then I'd be expected to do it every year." [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00EFDC1030F93BA15750C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2]

*Jimmy Breslin, in his book "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?" (about the 1962 New York Mets), referred to Loes as "the only pitcher in history to lose a World Series game because he lost a ground ball in the sun."

*Loes' Greek immigrant father originated from Peloponnese, he worked as a laborer in the fur industry and changed their family name from Semertzis to Loes when he arrived in the States. [http://greek-museum.org/newsletter.htm]

External links

* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=loesbi01 Baseball Almanac] - Player page
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/loesbi01.shtml Baseball Reference] - Career statistics
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/works-progress-administration Answers.com] - References his WPA quote