“He scares you to death. He’s scowling and gnashing his teeth, and if you try to dig in on him, there goes your Adam’s apple. He’s gonna win if it kills you and him both.” So the Cincinnati Reds’ Danny Litwhiler described the unnerving experience of batting against Sal Maglie.

Maglie was known as "Sal the Barber", because he gave close shaves - that is, pitched inside to hitters. He appeared in two All-Star games and had a successful career despite not starting in the major leagues until he was 33 years old.

Born in Niagara Falls, NY, Sal Maglie was a pitcher, scout and a pitching coach. He played from 1945 to 1958 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals, though he left Organized Baseball and played for two seasons (1946 and 1947) in the Mexican League, where he honed his craft. He was the last player to have played for all three New York teams, the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees.

In 1956, Sal finished second in NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and MLB Cy Young Award voting. He threw a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 25 and pitched in the 1956 World Series.

Sal also appeared in two of baseball's most famous games, Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard 'Round the World game in 1951 and Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956.

During his career, Sal was a 2-time NL All-Star (1951 & 1952), the NL ERA Leader in 1950, the NL Wins Leader in 1951, the NL Winning Percentage Leader in 1950, and the NL Shutouts Leader in 1950.

Sportswriter Bill Maddon wrote: "Sal Maglie will never be elected to the Hall of Fame. Unless, that is, there's a Hall of Fame just for pitchers whom you want to have the ball in a game you had to win."

Sal's reputation didn't fare well in Jim Bouton's book "Ball Four" in which, as the pitching coach for the Seattle Pilots, he clashes regularly with Bouton.

"The Barber" also got a call out on Terry Cashman’s “Willie, Mickey and the Duke (Talkin’ Baseball).”

(excerpted from SABR, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)