View source for Clem Labine

{{Short description|American baseball player (1926–2007)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{no footnotes|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Clem Labine
|image=Clem Labine 1949.jpeg
|caption=Labine in 1949
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1926|8|6}}
|birth_place=[[Lincoln, Rhode Island]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2007|3|2|1926|8|6}}
|death_place=[[Vero Beach, Florida]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 18
|debutyear=1950
|debutteam=Brooklyn Dodgers
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=April 24
|finalyear=1962
|finalteam=New York Mets
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=77–56
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=3.63
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=551
|stat4label=[[Save (baseball)|Saves]]
|stat4value=96
|teams=
* [[Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn]] / [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] ({{mlby|1950}}–{{mlby|1960}})
* [[Detroit Tigers]] ({{mlby|1960}})
* [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{mlby|1960}}–{{mlby|1961}})
* [[New York Mets]] ({{mlby|1962}})
|highlights=
* 2× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1956 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1956]], [[1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1957]])
* 3× [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1955}}, {{wsy|1959}}, {{wsy|1960}})
}}

'''Clement Walter Labine''' (August 6, 1926 – March 2, 2007) was an American right-handed [[relief pitcher]] in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) best known for his years with the [[Los Angeles Dodgers|Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers]] from 1950 to 1960.

As a key member of the Dodgers in the early 1950s, he helped the team to its first [[World Series]] title in [[1955 World Series|1955]] with a [[win (baseball)|win]] and a [[save (baseball)|save]] in four games. He is one of eight players in MLB history to have won back-to back World Series championships on different teams, the other seven being [[Joc Pederson]], [[Ben Zobrist]], [[Jake Peavy]], [[Jack Morris]], [[Bill Skowron]], [[Don Gullett]], and [[Ryan Theriot]].

He held the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) record for career saves from 1958 until 1962; his 96 career saves ranked fourth in MLB history when he retired. At the time of his retirement, he also held the Dodgers franchise record for both career saves (96) and career [[games pitched]] (425).

==Early life==
Labine was born in [[Lincoln, Rhode Island]] in a [[French Canadian]] family, and grew up in nearby [[Woonsocket, Rhode Island|Woonsocket]]. He was raised [[Catholic]].  Labine served as a [[paratrooper]] in [[World War II]].

==Brooklyn==
After compiling a 5–1 record for Brooklyn as a rookie in 1951, Labine shut out the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] in game 2 of the National League pennant playoff, 10–0. He went on to enjoy several stellar seasons for the Dodgers as a relief pitcher. In 1955, the year the Dodgers finally brought a world championship to Brooklyn, Labine led the NL with 60 games pitched and 10 relief victories, and earned a career-best 13 wins overall.

Although the save was not yet an official statistic, Labine has been retroactively credited with leading the NL twice (1956 and '57) in that category, with 19 and 17, respectively, and was an [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] both years.

==Move to Los Angeles and late career==

Labine accompanied the Dodgers to Los Angeles when they relocated after the 1957 season, and in 1958 surpassed [[Al Brazle]]'s NL record of 60 career saves. In 1959, he broke [[Brickyard Kennedy]]'s franchise record of 381 games pitched; the Dodgers won the [[1959 World Series|World Series again that year]], defeating the [[Chicago White Sox]], although Labine pitched only one inning in game 1's blowout loss.

His career appeared to be in jeopardy in 1960, when the Dodgers traded him to the [[Detroit Tigers]] in June after Labine had compiled an [[earned-run average]] (ERA) of 5.82. The Tigers subsequently released him on August 15, 1960, after he pitched 14 games for them, going 0–3, with an ERA of 5.12. The [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] signed Labine the following day.

The Pirates were in the NL pennant race and needed another right-handed reliever to complement [[Roy Face]]. Labine proved to be a valuable addition to the Pirates' bullpen. In 15 games for the Pirates through the remainder of the season, he compiled a record of 3–0 with three saves and an ERA of 1.48, as he helped the Pirates win the NL pennant and go on to the [[1960 World Series]], but Labine appeared only in three blowout losses during the series win over the [[New York Yankees]].

After remaining with the Pirates in 1961, he ended his career with the [[New York Mets]], pitching in three games during the Mets' debut 1962 season, including an inning in the Mets' first game. Later that year, the Pirates' [[Roy Face]] passed Labine's NL mark of 94 career saves.

Over all or parts of 13 seasons, Labine appeared in 513 games, winning 77 and losing 56 (.579), with a 3.63 ERA. He appeared in 13 World Series games, winning two and losing two, with a 3.16 ERA. His 96 career saves then trailed only [[Johnny Murphy]] (107), [[Ellis Kinder]] (102), and [[Firpo Marberry]] (101) in major league history. In 1966, Labine's Dodger career records of 425 games pitched and 83 saves were broken by [[Don Drysdale]] and [[Ron Perranoski]], respectively.

==Life after baseball==
Following his retirement from baseball, Labine settled again in the Woonsocket area, where he became a designer of men's athletic wear, serving as general manager for the sporting goods division of the Jacob Finklestein's & Sons manufacturing company. His son, Jay, joined the Marine Corps and lost a leg while serving in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] after stepping on a [[landmine]]. <ref> Kahn, Roger (1972). ''The Boys of Summer''. New York: Harper and Row.</ref>

Labine died at age 80 in [[Vero Beach, Florida]], one week after undergoing exploratory brain surgery following a bout with [[pneumonia]]; he had been serving as an instructor at the Dodgers' adult fantasy camp at their Dodgertown headquarters.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Baseballstats |mlb=117384 |espn= |br=l/labincl01 |fangraphs=1007230 |brm=labine001cle |retro=L/Plabic101}}
*{{sabrbio|5c97643c}}

{{1955 Brooklyn Dodgers}}
{{1959 Los Angeles Dodgers}}
{{1960 Pittsburgh Pirates}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labine, Clem}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela]]
[[Category:American people of French-Canadian descent]]
[[Category:Asheville Tourists players]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Dodgers players]]
[[Category:Detroit Tigers players]]
[[Category:Greenville Spinners players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Dodgers players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:Navegantes del Magallanes players]]
[[Category:New York Mets players]]
[[Category:Newport News Dodgers players]]
[[Category:Paratroopers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Woonsocket, Rhode Island]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Providence County, Rhode Island]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players]]
[[Category:Pueblo Dodgers players]]
[[Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]