Who is the man: Bob Veale pitched what would be his last season as a starter in 1970. He was placed in the bullpen for the 1971 season after eight full years of starting.
Can ya dig it: Those dad glasses just don't look right on Veale. I'm used to his horned-rim and goggles look from the '60s.
Right on: I see that style of Pirates cap and Dock Ellis comes to mind instantly.
You see that cat Veale is a bad mother: Veale led the National League in strikeouts in 1964, throwing five more than Bob Gibson (245), 13 more than Don Drysdale (237) and 27 more than Sandy Koufax (223).
Shut your mouth: Veale could throw hard and was intimidating on the mound, but he didn't try to knock people down. Former teammate Gene Clines called him a "gentle giant." When the Pirates placed Veale on waivers in 1972, manager Bill Virdon said, "It wasn't an easy thing to do. Everybody liked Bob."
No one understands him but his woman: Veale grew up with 13 brothers and sisters. He didn't marry until his late 30s because he was waiting until he was done helping all of his siblings attend college.
(A word about the back): The game in which he struck out 16 batters came against the Phillies. He threw a five-hit shutout even though the game was interrupted twice by rain.
At one time the Pirates had pitchers named Moose, Lamb and Veale on their team at the same time. Lindsey Nelson got a big kick out of that. I did discover, listening to an MP3 of a Pirates-Mets game from the early 60's, that when Bob Veale first came up they pronounced his last name as "Veel-ee".
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