In 1950 the pitching heroics of right-hander Robin Roberts carried the Philadelphia Phillies to their first National League pennant in thirty-five years. Roberts was in his second full year in the majors when the usually lackluster Phillies made a strong bid for the league championship. But as the baseball season drew to a close, Philadelphia suddenly began to falter. With a pitching staff in disarray, it fell to Roberts to reverse the downward spiral. He started five times in the last eight days of the season and in the final game defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in ten innings to clinch the pennant for the Phillies. In the years that followed, Roberts proved to be Philadelphia's mainstay. Posting six consecutive seasons of twenty or more victories (1950-55), Roberts's consistency and pinpoint control made him one of the era's best pitchers.
