Lew Burdette

Selva Lewis Burdette, Jr. (November 22, 1926 – February 6, 2007) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves. Born in Nitro, West Virginia, he was signed by the New York Yankees in 1947 and made two relief appearances for the team in September 1950 before being traded to the Braves in August 1951 for four-time 20-game winner Johnny Sain.

The team's top right-hander during its years in Milwaukee, Burdette combined with left-hander Warren Spahn and right-hander Bob Buhl to give the Braves one of the best starting rotations in the majors during the 1950s. He won 15 or more games eight times between 1953 and 1961 and led National League pitchers in earned run average. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 1957 World Series, leading the franchise to its first championship in 43 years and the only title in Milwaukee history.

An outstanding control pitcher, Burdette's career average of 1.84 walks per nine innings pitched places him behind only Robin Roberts (1.73), Greg Maddux (1.80), Carl Hubbell (1.82) and Juan Marichal (1.82) among pitchers with at least 3,000 innings since 1920.