Late Bloomers: Sal Maglie

Big league careers aren’t often launched with demotions, particularly when the player asks for it, but nothing about the long, strange odyssey of Sal Maglie’s career was conventional.

It began by playing for the company team of the chemical plant where he worked, within earshot of the roar of Niagara Falls, and eventually took him to a World Series title in The City That Never Sleeps. Before it deposited him back by those Falls again, Maglie’s career took him up and down in the minors for three franchises, led him to quit baseball and work the chemical plant again during the war, and saw him sign a lucrative deal to pitch in Mexico that nearly cost him the ability to play in the big leagues again. By the time he finally played a full season in the majors he was already 33 years old.

And, oh yeah, he still managed to win over 100 big leagues games and nearly win a Cy Young and MVP, all while earning one of the coolest nicknames the game has ever seen.

Sal Maglie’s path to the Giants was long, but worthwhile. (Getty Images)