Harold “Hy” Vandenberg

Harold “Hy” Vandenberg was born in Abilene in 1906 but moved to Minneapolis at the age of four.  Vandenberg grew to become a 6’4” right-handed pitcher who played for semi-pro teams while still in high school.  

The Class B Minneapolis Millers signed Vandenberg after an informal tryout, and he pitched for the Millers for three seasons.  In 1935, he landed in Syracuse and was sold to the Boston Red Sox.  Hy Vandenberg appeared in three games.

He was back in the majors in 1937 with the pennant-winning New York Giants but would not win his first game in the majors until 1940 and didn’t win his second until 1944, yet he compiled a 15-10 record.

Vandenberg returned to the minors after the 1940 season and worked at a war plant in Milwaukee.  In 1944, the Cubs bought his contract from the minor league Milwaukee Brewers.  Vandenberg found his greatest major league success in Chicago.

In 1944, Vandenberg appeared in 35 games, starting nine.  He was 7-4 with a 

3.63 earned run average.  His roommate was future Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx.

In 1945, the 1945 Cubs won 98 games and the pennant.  Vandenberg was 7-3 with a 3.49 ERA.  He pitched in two games in the World Series, including the decisive Game 7, and did not allow a run in six innings of work.

With players returning from World War II for the 1946 season, Vandenberg was released and pitched two more years in the minors, where he won 139 games over his career.

Vandenberg lived in the Minneapolis area until his death in 1994 at the age of 88.

For more, read Hy Vandenberg’s Society for American Baseball Research bio.