PASSINGS: Bob Turley

Bob Turley, 82, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who won the Cy Young Award in 1958 after rallying the New York Yankees past the Milwaukee Braves in the World Series, died of liver cancer Saturday in Atlanta, his family told the Baltimore Sun.

Turley pitched one season for the Baltimore Orioles, 1954, leading the American League with 185 strikeouts while compiling a 14-15 record and a 3.46 earned-run average.

Then “Bullet Bob,” as he came to be known, was traded to the Yankees in a 17-player deal that also sent pitcher Don Larsen to New York. In 1955 he joined a powerhouse Yankees team that featured Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford.

The 6-foot, 2-inch, 215-pound Turley played eight seasons in New York but made his greatest mark in 1958. He went 21-7 with a 2.97 ERA in the regular season, leading the league in victories and complete games, with 19. He threw six shutouts and struck out 168.

In the World Series, after the Yankees had fallen behind the Braves three games to one, Turley came back from a Game 2 loss to pitch a shutout to win Game 5, got a save in Game 6 and then earned the victory in Game 7. He was named the series’ most valuable player and received that year’s Cy Young Award, in an era when one award was given per year instead of one per league.

Turley left the Yankees in 1962 and played part of the 1963 season with the Los Angeles Angels before ending his baseball career with the Boston Red Sox. In 12 seasons, he went 101-85 with a 3.64 ERA and 1,265 strikeouts.

Robert Lee Turley was born Sept. 19, 1930, in Troy, Ill. In 1948 he signed with the St. Louis Browns, who moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles in 1954. He started and won the Orioles’ first home game at Memorial Stadium.

After his retirement, Turley worked for an insurance company in Maryland and later a financial firm in the Atlanta area.

-- Los Angeles Times staff reports

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