"St. Jude, don't leave me"

The words of Cleveland Indians pitcher Herb Score 57 years ago today, as he lay prone on the mound after being hit in the face by a line drive from the New York Yankees' Gil McDougald. The rest of this remarkable story here.

I remember reading about Herb Score when I was a kid, I think in a book called Winners Never Quit.  (I also have the SI magazine pictured at left, in which Score's the cover story.)  Score overcame many things in life, and though his on-field career was cut short (not, incidentally, from being struck by the line drive, but from a later injury), he went on to a long and successful run as a beloved announcer for the Indians.  He may not have been a Hall of Fame pitcher, but he was a winner nonetheless.