A native of Holland, Michigan, George Zuverink was a highly regarded Cleveland Indian minor league prospect in the late 1940s. The lanky, 6-ft, 4-inch, 200-pounder posted a 16-7 with Oklahoma City in 1949, and won 20 games in Triple A ball on the West Coast the next year. He was given several tryouts with the pitching-rich Indians before making team in 1951. Zuverink, 24-years-old, appeared in 16 games, hurled 25.3 innings, had a rather high 5.33 ERA with the Tribe in 1951 and wasn't given much opportunity to pitch the next two years, 1952-53. He pitched 2 games with the Cincinnati Reds in 1954 and then was traded early in the spring to the Detroit Tigers. 'Zuv' joined Detroit's starting rotation and he responded by completing 9-of-25 starts, hurled 2 shutouts, posted 4 saves in 10 relief appearance, worked 203 innings and compiled a 9-13 record.

 In July of 1955, the Tigers sold George Zuverink on waivers to the Baltimore Orioles. Detroit gave up on the 28-year-old after he was 0-5 in 14 appearances and had a 7.07 ERA, pitching in 28 1/3 innings. Zuverink responded by finding his pitching grove when he was moved into the Orioles' bullpen. He appeared in 42 games, had 4 saves, a 4-8 record and posted a solid 3.338 ERA. The next three seasons he was one of the best relief closers in baseball. In 1956, he was 7-6, appeared in a team-high 62 games, and had 16 saves. In 1957, he had a 10-6 record, a low 2.48 ERA with 9 saves in 112 2/3 innings. In 1958, Zuverink was 2-2 in 45 games, 3.39 ERA with 7 saves. George Zuverink career numbers: 32-36 record, 3.54 ERA, 265 Games, 32GS, 9GC, 2 Shutouts, 40 Saves, 660 hits in 642.3 innings, 223Ks, 203Ws, allowed 56 HR and he had a .148 batting average with 21 hits. Baseballhistorian.com  from Archives