Van Mungo/pagetext

From SABR Encyclopedia

In the mid-1930s Mungo was considered to have the talent of contemporaries Dizzy Dean and Carl Hubbell. However he missed connections, possibly because he laned with the free-wheeling,hard-drinking, fun-loving Brooklyn Dodgers as a 21 year-old. His debut on 9/7/31,was sensational with a three hitter against the Boston Braves and struck out 12 winning the games 2-0 and knocked in both runs with a single and a triple. He won two more games that fall losing 1 and had a 2.32 ERA.

In his first full year he was 13-11 with Brooklyn, then had two 16 victory seasons followed by two 18 winning seasons. All this with a losing Dodger team. What made matters worse he was constantly upset with his teammates ineptitude. He was a wild and mean, high kicking fireballer with a fierce temper. He was known as a drinker and was involved in some bizarre off-the-field incidents