Claude Passeau
Claude Passeau
Claude William Passeau
Born: April 9, 1909 in Waynesboro, Miss.
Died: August 30, 2003 in Lucedale, Miss.
Debut: 1935 | Pos: P
Ht: 6'3" | Wt: 198 | B: R | T: R
| Yrs | W | L | G | SV | IP | SO | ERA |
| 13 | 162 | 150 | 444 | 21 | 2719.1 | 1104 | 3.32 |
>> Visit the Claude Passeau biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.
Claude Passeau, who pitched a shutout in the 1945 World Series, died on Aug. 30, 2003 in Lucedale, Miss. He was 94.
His major league career lasted 13 years and he posted a 162-150 record with a 3.32 ERA. He was on the All-Star team in 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1946.
In the 1945 World Series, Passeau, playing for the Cubs, pitched a one-hit shutout against Detroit in Game 3.
"It was one of the easiest games I ever pitched," Passeau said in an interview with AP in 1997. "I only pitched to 28 batters. Every time I threw the ball, they swung at it. I walked one and had one get a hit."
The Cubs lost the series in seven games to the Tigers, but Passeau pitched 16.2 innings in the series and finished with a 2.70 ERA. He also had an RBI.
His career included stops with Pittsburgh (1935), the Phillies (1936-39) and the Cubs (1939-47).
In November 1935, the Pirates sent Passeau, along with Earl Grace, to the Phillies for Al Todd. In May 1939, Philadelphia traded him to the Cubs for Joe Marty, Ray Harrell and Kirby Higbe.
In 1940, he finished 20-13 for the Cubs. In 1942, he was 19-14 with a 2.68 ERA, finishing 10th in the voting for National League MVP.
He hit just .192 in his career, but he had 15 home runs and drove in 80 runs.
Following his career in baseball, Passeau moved to Lucedale, Miss., with his family and started a farm equipment dealership. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1964.
Some sources list Passeau as being a member of the 1945 All-Star team. However, the All-Star Game was called off in 1945 because of World War II travel restrictions and Major League Baseball did not name an All-Star team. The Associated Press took a survey of baseball's managers at what would have been the All-Star break -- three of the 16 managers declined to participate -- and published a hypothetical listing of All-Stars that included Passeau.
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