John Stanley Sanford (May 18, 1929 – March 7, 2000) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Sanford was notable for the meteoric start to his career when, he led the National League with 188 strikeouts as a 28-year-old rookie for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1957. He ended the season with a 19–8 win–loss record and a 3.08 earned run average along with a league-leading 188 strikeouts. His 19 victories were second only to the 21 wins by Warren Spahn.
His next seven years would be extremely solid, but never quite as impressive as his rookie season; or according to some, he never improved much after it. After being traded to the Giants for the season, Sanford went 15–12 with a 3.16 ERA in 222 innings pitched and completed 10 games. He won 16 consecutive decisions from mid-June to mid-September and was named Player of the Month in August for his second straight 6-0 month (he also posted a 3.55 ERA, and 31 SO). He was supposed to start Game 5 October 9, but rain pushed it back a day, which bothered Sanford, who had psyched himself to pitch that day. Sanford gave up a three-run home run to Tom Tresh and a total of five runs (four earned) in innings as the Giants lost 5–3. He pitched better in Game 7, allowing just one run in seven innings against the Yankees when Bill Skowron scored as Tony Kubek hit into a double play in the fifth inning. That run was enough, though, for the Yankees to win 1–0, behind a Ralph Terry shutout. Sanford finished second to Don Drysdale in the voting for the 1962 Cy Young Award. After he left the Giants, his best seasons were behind him. He ended his playing career with the Kansas City Athletics on August 6, at the age of 38.
Career statistics
In a twelve-year major league career, Sanford played in 388 games, accumulating a 137-101 win–loss record along with a 3.69 earned run average in 2,049 innings pitched.