SCORE, HERBERT JUDE “HERB” (7 June 1933-11 November 2008) was a pitcher and broadcaster for the CLEVELAND INDIANS.
Score was born in Rosedale, New York, to Anne and Herbert Score. As a child, he survived being hit by a car and a bout with rheumatic fever. As a teenager, he moved with his family to Lake Worth, Florida. There, a police officer alerted Cy Slapnicka – the scout who unearthed Bob Feller, among others – to the hard-throwing lefty. Slapnicka signed Score to a contract with a $60,000 bonus. In 1954, playing for the Indians Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis, he was named minor league player of the year.
The following year, he debuted with the Indians, going 16-10 and setting a rookie record with 245 strikeouts, which led the league. That December, he was named American League Rookie of the Year. In 1956, Score went 20-9 with 263 strikeouts and represented the future of the Indians’ pitching staff. That offseason, the Red Sox offered $1 million for Score, but the Indians turned down the deal.
On 7 May 1957, in a game at CLEVELAND STADIUM against the Yankees, Gil McDougald hit a line drive back to the mound, hitting Score in the eye and breaking his nose. Score spent three weeks in the hospital and didn’t play another game for the rest of the season. Score was never the same pitcher after that, and in 1960, he was traded to the White Sox. He retired in 1962.
Late in the 1963 season, Score started broadcasting Indians games on television, a role he filled for four years before moving to the radio booth, where he stayed until his retirement after the 1997 World Series. The following year, he was involved in a serious car wreck, but recovered to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day 1999. Score had a stroke in 2002, and died in 2008. He was survived by his wife, the former Nancy McNamara, whom he married July 10, 1957. They had a son, David, and three daughters, Mary, Judy and Susan, who died in 1994.
Vincent Guerrieri