Minor leagues and St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles Turley made his professional debut that year in
Minor League Baseball with the
Belleville Stags of the Class D
Illinois State League, pitching to a 9–3
win–loss record. In 1951, he played for San Antonio. He appeared in the Texas League's
All-Star Game, and was named the league's
most valuable player at the end of the season. He struck out 22 batters in one game for San Antonio. Turley played his first game in the major leagues on September 29, 1951. He lost to the
Chicago White Sox. He did not pitch again in 1951, and after the season ended, he enlisted with the
United States Army for two years. Turley returned to the Browns in August 1953, and caught attention for his high strikeout rate. Turley remained with the team after they moved to
Baltimore,
Maryland, to become the
Baltimore Orioles in 1954. He earned $9,000 ($ in current dollar terms) for the 1954 season. He pitched the first game at
Memorial Stadium, striking out nine in a
complete game. For the 1954 season, he led the
American League in strikeouts with 185, but also led the league with 181
walks. and finished in third place in balloting for the
Hickok Belt, given to the professional athlete of the year. While playing for the Orioles, Turley obtained the nickname "Bullet Bob". The
magazine Look wrote a story about Turley, and wanted to measure the velocity of his
fastball. They used a
bullet timer from the
Aberdeen Proving Grounds, which recorded a speed of by the time it reached home plate. The Yankees received Turley,
Billy Hunter,
Don Larsen, and
players to be named later, while the Orioles acquired
Harry Byrd,
Jim McDonald,
Willy Miranda,
Hal Smith,
Gus Triandos,
Gene Woodling, and players to be named later. To complete the trade, the Yankees sent
Bill Miller,
Kal Segrist,
Don Leppert, and Ted Del Guercio to the Orioles, and the Orioles sent
Mike Blyzka,
Darrell Johnson,
Jim Fridley and
Dick Kryhoski to the Yankees. Comprising 17 players, this trade remains the largest in MLB history.
New York Yankees Turley played for the Yankees from 1955 to 1962. In the 1955 season, Turley
won 17 games for the Yankees, The Yankees won the
American League pennant, and advanced to the
1955 World Series, where they faced the
Brooklyn Dodgers. He pitched in the third game of the series but was tabbed for four runs as he was taken out in the second inning of the subsequent 8–3 loss.. He subsequently appeared in two
relief for Game 5 and Game 6 as the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in seven games. Turley had a disappointing season in 1956, with an 8–4 win–loss record and a 5.05
earned run average (ERA). However, the Yankees again won the American League pennant. Turley appeared in the first two games of the
World Series against the Dodgers as a relief pitcher. He was tabbed to start Game 6 against
Clem Labine; Turley pitched a
complete game, but the Yankees lost the game by a 1–0 score to force a decisive Game 7, although the Yankees won that game to win the series and give Turley his first championship. In the 1957 season, Turley developed a
curveball. He finished the season with a 2.71 ERA, good for fourth-best in the American League as the Yankees won the pennant again. In the
World Series that year, facing the
Milwaukee Braves, Turley was tabbed to start Game 3, but after loading the bases in the second inning, he was taken out for
Don Larsen, who finished the game en route to victory. In Game 6, Turley was the starter and threw a complete game, allowing four hits and two runs as the Yankees staved off elimination with a 3–2 victory; the Yankess lost the next day in Game 7 to lose the series. By the 1958 season, Turley changed his delivery in an effort to improve his control, by using a no-wind up
pitching position. Turley started Game 2 of the
World Series against the Braves and proceeded to allow a leadoff home run to
Bill Bruton to go along with two further hits and a walk before being taken out for
Duke Maas, one of four pitchers utilized to get 26 combined outs as the Yankees lost for the second straight game. He also won the
Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, edging
Warren Spahn of the Braves by one vote, and
Lew Burdette of the Braves and
Bob Friend of the
Pittsburgh Pirates by two votes. Turley finished second in the
American League Most Valuable Player Award voting, losing to
Jackie Jensen of the
Boston Red Sox. Additionally, he won
The Sporting News Player of the Year and
Pitcher of the Year Awards. Turley earned a $35,000 salary for the 1959 season, his highest as a baseball player. The Yankees chose Turley to be their
Opening Day starting pitcher for the 1959 season, opposing
Tom Brewer of the Red Sox. The Yankees won the game by a 3–2 score. However, Turley's fastball began to lose its effectiveness. He increased the usage of his
curveball to compensate. and his 3.27 ERA was the seventh best in the American League. He started Game Two of the
1960 World Series against the Pirates, earning the win. He also started the deciding Game Seven, which the Pirates won, taking the series. Turley suffered through discomfort in his right elbow during the 1961 season, which resulted in a 3–5 win–loss record and 5.75 ERA in only 15 games pitched. New manager
Ralph Houk began to emphasize his younger pitchers, as he removed Turley from the starting rotation and used him as a relief pitcher. Though the Yankees reached the
1961 World Series, and defeated the
Cincinnati Reds four games to one, Turley did not make an appearance. After seeking medical attention, Turley was diagnosed with
bone chips in his elbow. He underwent surgery in the offseason to remove the bone chips, and returned to the Yankees confident his performance would improve in 1962. He agreed to a salary cut, from $28,000 to $25,000. However, the bone chips recurred during the 1962 season. As a result, his effectiveness was limited in 1962 as well. During the 1962 season, American League players elected Turley as their player representative, following Woodling's trade to the National League. Over the season, Turley pitched to a 4.57 ERA in only 69 innings. The Yankees defeated the
San Francisco Giants four games to three in the
1962 World Series, but Turley was not an active participant.
Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox, and coaching After the 1962 season, the Yankees sold Turley to the
Los Angeles Angels for cash, in the first move made by new Yankees'
general manager Roy Hamey, who sought to rebuild the Yankees pitching staff. The move was conditional; the Angels could return Turley if they were not satisfied with him. The Angels chose to retain Turley at the start of the 1963 season. Turley struggled, winning two games while losing seven, and the Angels released him in July. A week later, he signed with the
Boston Red Sox. Turley retired after the 1963 season, with a 101–85 win–loss record and a 3.64 ERA in 12 seasons. Turley spent one season as the Red Sox' pitching coach, and was released at the end of the year. He attempted to make a comeback as a pitcher with the
Houston Astros in 1965, but did not make the team. He then agreed to become the pitching coach for the
Richmond Braves of the
International League, a minor league team in the
Atlanta Braves organization, in 1966, but resigned before the start of the 1966 season.
Sign stealing Turley got into the habit while on the bench of stealing signs when he saw the opposing pitcher throw. Using a system of whistling where be whistled if the next pitch was different from the last, he would attempt to help any Yankee who wanted the advice, with
Johnny Blanchard and
Elston Howard being appreciative of the help while
Moose Skowron and
Yogi Berra did not care. In one instance,
Jim Bunning of the
Detroit Tigers noticed the system and pointed to Turley to stop or he would knock down the batter (which happened to be Mickey Mantle). When Turley whistled anyway, he threw a missile in the middle of the box that Mantle missed on, which led to the next batter in Berra pleading that he wasn't listening to whistles. In 1961, even when he was on the injured list, he remained on the bench to do his system, and
Tony Kubek estimated that
Mickey Mantle hit fifty homeruns in part due to Turley, and Mantle once credited half of his home runs to Turley.
Roger Maris and his historic 61st home run was hit after the sign for the pitch was decoded by the third base coach, an acolyte of Turley's system. He authored an article titled "How I Know What Pitchers Will Throw" in the 20 July 1964 issue of
Sports Illustrated which was about his sign stealing based on the tendencies of opposing pitchers. ==Personal life==