Former Braves pitcher Milt Pappas dies

Milt Pappas, who pitched for the Braves' 1969 West Division champions, died Tuesday.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander went 10-8 for the 1968 Braves, 6-10 in 1969 and 2-2 in 1970. He pitched 2.1 innings of relief for the Braves in the 1969 NL championship series against the Mets, allowing three runs.

Pappas won 209 games in his 17-year career with the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Braves and Chicago Cubs, finishing with a career ERA of 3.40 to go along with 1,728 strikeouts and 43 shutouts.

He twice won 17 games for the Cubs, including 1972 when he went 17-7 and came within one pitch of throwing a perfect game. Instead he walked San Diego's Larry Stahl with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and finished with a no-hitter. He disputed the calls by umpire Bruce Froemming for years and his widow said he forever insisted he had thrown a strike.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.