While working in the Creighton Mine in Sudbury and starring for the company ball team, Phil Marchildon was convinced to try out with the International League’s Toronto Maple Leafs in 1938. The hard-throwing hurler would strike out seven of the nine batters he faced at the tryout and would report to the Leafs training camp the following spring.
After two seasons with the Leafs, Marchildon’s contract was purchased by the Philadelphia A’s. In his first big league season, he recorded 10 wins for the lowly A’s, managed by Connie Mack. For an encore, he would record 17 wins and establish himself as the team’s ace in 1942.
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