Based on physical appearance, Jim Konstanty is one of the least likely looking winners of the National League Most Valuable Player award.
But for the incredible 'Whiz Kids' team of 1950, that is exactly what the Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher became.
The right-hander pitched in parts of 13 big league seasons, 7 of those in Philly. The story of this bespectacled young man's rise from the western New York farmland to MLB All-Star and MVP is worth knowing by any true Phils fan.
His real full name was Casimir James Konstanty, and he was born towards the tail end of World War I in the western New York farm country, raised there not far from Buffalo. In 1939 he graduated from Syracuse University, where he played basketball from 1936-39. His degree was in Physical Education, and so he then went to work as a P.E. instructor.
In 1941, already aged 24, the newlywed Konstanty tried out for and made the roster of the unaffiliated Eastern League baseball team in Springfield, Illinois. He didn't have a lot of success
