the 1949 season, giving the team a big four of Feller, Bob Lemon, Gene Bearden, and Gromek, who had spent the past year working on his curveball to help him improve on his 1948 season. In his first start of the season, he allowed two hits in an 8–2 victory against the Browns. By the end of May, he had an ERA of 2.80, which was among the lowest on the team, but only had a 2–4 record to show for it due to a lack of run support; the four losses included both a 1–0 and 2–0 defeat. With the increased productivity of Early Wynn and Mike Garcia, Gromek fell out of favor with Boudreau, and he was moved primarily to relief duty. After being pulled in the second inning in a July 16 start against the Athletics, he was kept as a reliever the rest of the year. Gromek finished the season with four wins, six losses, and a 3.33 ERA in 92 innings over 27 games, 12 of them starts. The Indians offered Gromek a salary cut for 1950 due to his losing record the prior year, to which Gromek objected. In voicing his objection, Gromek offered that he would welcome being dealt to his hometown Detroit Tigers. The Indians used a four-man starting rotation for most of the season, relegating Gromek to spot starter status as they had done in prior seasons. The highlight of his season came on May 28 against the Chicago White Sox, throwing a 7–0 complete game shutout, dropping his ERA on the year from 7.98 to 4.94 in the process. Gromek had a 10–7 record and a 3.65 ERA in 31 games on the year. The Indians had a new manager, Al López, entering the 1951 season, and as a result Gromek signed a new contract immediately, feeling that López would utilize him as more than a spot starter and that he would be treated more fairly than he had under Boudreau. Lopez ended up using Gromek the same way Boudreau had, keeping him primarily in the bullpen, but using him as a starting pitcher when one of the regular starters was injured or they needed a second pitcher for a doubleheader. Gromek finished the year with seven wins, four losses, and a 2.77 ERA, lowest on the team, in 27 games. Gromek remained in his spot starter role for the