After adding a dancing forkball to his repertoire during winter ball, 23-year-old southpaw Bill Travers delivered a breakout first half for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976. Travers established himself as the team’s ace, compiling a dominant 10–6 record and 1.91 ERA through the front half of the schedule.
His first-half highlights included tossing three shutouts—most notably a four-hit, eight-strikeout duel at Yankee Stadium against Dock Ellis—and earning his first and only career American League All-Star selection. Driven by this dominant initial stretch, Travers went on to finish his finest major league campaign with a team-leading 15 wins, a 2.81 ERA, and 240 innings pitched.
