Udell Chambers, the Atlanta Braves star that never was…

No Mustache for you! Drawing Credit: Ryan Cothran.

The year after the aforementioned pitching duel against Jim, Jerry just so happened to get drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, his hometown team, and made his Major League debut just 2 years later. In the 1971 offseason, the Cardinals GM at the time traded Reuss and the rumored reason is about as bizarre as one could imagine…

…he didn’t like his mustache.

Reuss went on to a near Hall of Fame career, winning 220 games over a 22 year career with a 3.64 ERA and a 51.7 WAR according to Fangraphs (50 is the unofficial “cutoff” for potential Hall of Famers). Reuss, much like the ageless wonder Julio Franco, had the gift of eternal youth or, if you ask Reuss himself, the determination to work harder than anyone else. So while a 51.7 WAR might sound pretty great, over the course of 22 years, it merely makes him a slightly above average pitcher for a long period of time. In fact, Reuss only appeared in 2 All-Star games and never took home the Cy Young award (finished 2nd in 1980). But this story isn’t about Jerry Reuss.

Of this famed game, likely lost to all except for Mr. Whitney, Jerry Reuss was likely the 2nd best athlete on the field, despite serving 22 years as a Major League Pitcher.  The goat of the story, Udell Chambers, is the focal point of this story and the thought of what could have been.

Next: The Talented Udell Chambers