Dodgers great Erskine dies at 97

Carl Erskine, who pitched in five World Series for the Brooklyn Dodgers and championed inclusion in Major League Baseball and beyond, died Tuesday at the age of 97, the Dodgers confirmed on their website.

Erskine, who played his entire career with the Dodgers, pitched two no-hitters in his 12-year career and won 20 games in 1953, when he struck out a then-record 14 in game three of the World Series against the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers would go on to lose that series, but he helped them win the title in 1955.

After the team stunningly moved to Los Angeles, he was the winning pitcher in their first game at Los Angeles Coliseum in 1958.

"Carl Erskine was an exemplary Dodger," said Dodgers president Stan Kasten. "He was as much a hero off the field as he was on the field -- which given the brilliance of his pitching is saying quite a lot."

Erskine died at Anderson Community Hospital in his hometown of Anderson, Indiana, after a brief illness, his family confirmed to the Indianapolis Star.

Erskine, signed by the Dodgers after the end of World War II and called up in 1948, was among the players immortalized by author Roger Kahn as the "Boys of Summer."

When he arrived in their clubhouse, his stall was next to that of Jackie Robinson, who encountered bitter racism as the first Black player in modern Major League Baseball.

The two became close friends, Erskine crediting Robinson for teaching him important lessons of tolerance, patience, and understanding as he dealt with racial indignations "on a daily basis."

Inspired by his son Jimmy, who was born with Down syndrome in 1960, Erskine later became a champion of special needs education and the Special Olympics.

Jimmy competed in the Special Olympics, and Erskine and his wife Betty became active in fundraising and advocating for the organization.

In recognition of his philanthropic work, Erskine was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the 2023 Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award for "extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball's positive impact on society."