"At 5-9 and 160 pounds, Wayne Tolleson is a little guy with big aspirations.
Tolleson came to the Yankees in July 1986, a hopeful solution to their shortstop problems. He got off to a fast start in Pinstripes that year, and began the 1987 campaign as the team's starting shortstop. But the troubles that have seemingly haunted the Yankees in that position for the past [half] decade continued. Hitting as high as .270 in late May and playing stellar defense, Tolleson looked to be the cure at shortstop until suffering an injury to his right shoulder. He struggled through the second half of the season, including a 15-day stint on the DL, and underwent arthroscopic surgery on the shoulder last December.
Tolleson has now recovered and is looking forward to this season. In the past he has played shortstop, second and third for the Yankees, and the little guy is again looking to help the club in a big way in 1988."
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"Tolleson got off to a fast start in 1987, hitting .361 (22-for-61) on April 26 after his first 18 games, and as late as May 8 was hitting .300 (27-for-90) after his 27th game. He was still hitting as high as .270 (40-for-148) on May 27 after 44 games. Wayne slumped after that, hitting just .184 (37-for-201) in 77 games for the rest of the season, and finished with a .221 batting average (77-for-349) for the year.
He hit safely in seven of his first eight games of the season, going 13-for-29 (.448) with two doubles and nine runs scored, and hit three doubles in a five-game span from April 12-15, accounting for three of the four doubles he hit all season. Wayne hit his only home run (a solo shot) off Mike Morgan at Seattle on May 15 and had a six-game hitting streak from May 20-27, batting .364 (8-for-22) during that span with an RBI in each of the last five games of that streak.
He had just five extra base hits all season (the homer and four doubles), with the last extra base hit coming on May 27 followed by 204 at-bats without an extra base hit. He had three RBIs on June 26 against Boston, matching his single-game career high; he did not, however, have an RBI after July 20, covering 53 at-bats in his final 30 games (20 games with a plate appearance). Wayne scored three runs on June 29 at Toronto and was ejected from a game on June 30 at Toronto.
Wayne had 15 multi-hit games, including three three-hit games in '87: April 8 at Detroit, June 27 against Boston and July 1 at Toronto. He had four game-winning RBIs in '87: May 15 at Seattle (his homer off Morgan), May 23 at California, June 26 against Boston and July 1 at Toronto.
He was suffering from a sore right shoulder during the second half of the season and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 20 (retroactive to August 19) because of that injury; at that point he was hitting .224 in 112 games. Wayne was activated from the DL on September 4 and went 1-for-10 in the nine games he played after his activation. He had only one hit (September 7 at Boston) in his final 27 at-bats (.037), beginning with his last at-bat on August 5, and his last plate appearance came on September 11 at Toronto.
Tolleson was consistent from both sides of the plate: batting right-handed he hit .218 (24-for-110) with five RBIs, while batting left-handed he hit .222 (53-for-239) with 17 RBIs. He was successful in five out of eight stolen base attempts.
He played 119 games at shortstop and had a fielding percentage of .970, committing only 15 errors in 498 chances, and was eighth in fielding among American League shortstops playing 100 or more games. Tolleson went 21 games, June 8-30, without committing an error. He made three appearances at third base, including one start on July 1 at Toronto.
Tolleson underwent arthroscopic surgery on December 9 to repair frayed rotator cuff muscles in his right shoulder. The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews of the Alabama Sports Medicine Clinic in Birmingham.
In 1986 Tolleson was acquired by the Yankees from the White Sox on July 29 along with Ron Kittle and Joel Skinner in exchange for Ron Hassey, Carlos Martinez and a player to be named later.
In 81 games with the Sox before the trade, he was hitting .250 (65-for-260) with three home runs and 29 RBIs. After going hitless in his first game of the year, he put together a 10-game hitting streak from April 9-19, including two hits apiece in each of the last five games of that steak, batting .395 (15-for-38) in that span with nine RBIs. Tolleson matched his single game career high with three RBIs on April 14 at Detroit. He hit his first home run of the season on April 29 against Baltimore off Scott McGregor, and victimized McGregor again on May 12 at Baltimore for his second homer. He put together another 10-game hitting streak from May 7-17, batting .385 (15-for-39), and hit his third and final homer of the season on June 1 at Toronto off Jimmy Key.
Wayne slumped in June, hitting only .172 (10-for-58) in the month. He hit .224 (32-for-143) lefty and .282 (33-for-117) righty with Chicago. He started 70 games with the White Sox, 60 at third base and 10 at shortstop.
He hit safely in his first nine games as a Yankee, from July 30-August 7, batting .485 (16-for-33) in that span. Wayne tied his single game career high with four hits (4-for-5) on August 2 at Cleveland and scored three runs the following game, August 3 at Cleveland, notching his first and only game winning RBI as a Yankee in '86. Through August 23, after 22 games as a Yankee, he was hitting .338 (27-for-80). Over his next 17 games, from August 24 through September 11, he hit just .143 (8-for-56), dropping his average to .257, his low as a Yankee.
From that point, beginning on September 12, he hit safely in 16 of his final 21 games, batting .329 (26-for-79) in that span with eight runs, four doubles and eight RBIs to finish with a .284 (61-for-215) average as a Yankee in 60 games. In those games he hit .283 (36-for-127) lefty and .284 (25-for-88) righty.
Wayne tied his single-game career high with four hits (4-for-4) on September 13 at Boston, and in the following game, September 14 at Boston, he collected three RBIs. He had 19 multiple hit games, including his two four-hit contests.
Overall in his combined total of 141 games, he hit .265 (126-for-475) with three homers and 43 RBIs. He batted .252 (68-for-270) lefty and .283 (58-for-205) righty. With the Yankees he stole four bases in eight attempts, and for the year was 17-for-27 in stolen base attempts. After joining the Yankees, he played in all but one of the club's remaining 61 games and started 59 times, including 53 starts at shortstop, five at third base and one at second base.
Wayne committed eight errors in 81 games with the White Sox and six errors in 60 games with the Yankees. He went 17 straight games, from August 5 through August 24, without an error and committed just two errors in 35 games from August 5 through September 13. For the season Wayne's overall fielding percentage was .971; with the White Sox it was .960 and with the Yankees it was .979.
In 72 games at third base for Chicago and New York, his fielding percentage was .954. In 74 games at shortstop with those two clubs, his fielding percentage was .981, ranking him fourth among American League shortstops with 10 or more games. Tolleson was the sixth Yankee to start a game at shortstop in 1986.
Tolleson hit .269 at Asheville in his first season of pro ball in 1978, and in 1979 batted .234 for Tulsa in his first year in the AA Texas League. In 1980 he was second in the Texas League with 46 steals (his pro career high) and was named to the league's all-star team. Wayne became a switch-hitter that year.
He hit .261 in 107 games at Wichita in 1981 and made his major league debut in September. Wayne had a fine spring training in 1982 and opened the season with the Rangers. He played sparingly and was optioned to Denver on April 26, then was recalled by Texas on July 23 and went 0-for-23 in his first 12 games.
Wayne started the 1983 season as a utility infielder but became the starting second baseman in late April when a knee injury sidelined Mike Richardt. He was hitting .288 through July 24 but batted just .211 in his last 53 games. He had hitting streaks of 15 and 12 games. Wayne recorded his first major league triple and his first major league home run in the same game - June 11 at Minnesota. He was second on the club with 33 steals and was successful on all eight of his third base steal attempts.
He started the 1984 season well, hitting .297 (22-for-74) in his first 21 games through April 28, but batted just .189 over his final 97 games and slipped to .132 in his last 30 contests, beginning on July 22. Wayne led the Rangers with 22 steals and had two thefts in a game four times. He was successful on 84.6 of his 26 steal attempts, the second best ratio in the AL (20 or more attempts) behind Willie Wilson's 90.3 percent. He also had a .979 fielding percentage (10 errors in 477 total chances) in 109 games at second base.
In his final season with the Rangers in 1985, Wayne topped all Texas regulars with his .313 batting average, the first .300-plus season of his professional career. After hitting .213 in 1984, his 100-point batting average improvement was the most in the major leagues. He finished fifth in the American League among all hitters with 200 or more official trips to the plate.
Wayne hit .333 from the left side in 231 at-bats. He hit .354 at Arlington Stadium and .262 on the road. His best month was April (.385) and his worst month was September/October (.250). Wayne had a 10-game hitting streak, August 30 through September 10, and also had a nine-game streak in late May and early June.
Six of his 18 RBIs were game winners. He tied the Texas club record with two triples in one game, August 11 against Baltimore.
Tolleson appeared in 123 games, 81 at shortstop, 29 at second base and 12 at third base. He was obtained by the White Sox along with Dave Schmidt from the Texas Rangers in November 1985 in exchange for Scott Fletcher, Edwin Correa and Jose Mota.
Born, raised and still residing in Spartanburg, South Carolina, he starred in basketball and football at Spartanburg High and was a prep teammate of NFL quarterback Steve Fuller. Tolleson played baseball and football for four seasons at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He was named All-America as a wide receiver and led the NCAA in pass receptions as a senior, graduating from Western Carolina in 1978."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Sunday, October 23, 2016
1988 Profile: Mike Pagliarulo
"Emphasis is always on improvement with this guy, and he continued to do that. Pagliarulo set career highs with 32 home runs, 87 RBI and a team-leading 12 game winning RBI. He matched the record for the second highest home run total by a Yankee third baseman, behind Graig Nettles' 37 in 1977.
Pagliarulo hit only four of his homers against left-handers. Though he is improving against southpaws, he still has some bad at-bats against them and is a very aggressive player who sometimes get himself in trouble that way. Mike appeared to tire late in the season for the second straight year and did not homer in his last 20 games.
Born in Medford, Mass., the Yankees selected him in the sixth round of the June 1981 draft. His father Charles was an infielder in the Cubs organization in 1958."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1988 Edition
"Quietly, without much fanfare, Mike Pagliarulo is developing into one of the finest third basemen in all of baseball. With a blue-collar work ethic, this determined professional is best known for his 'get dirty' style of play. In 1987, only his third full season with the Yankees, he improved his power stats for the third straight year while providing consistent and sometimes spectacular defense at the hot corner.
Often considered the next coming of third bagger Graig Nettles, Pags doesn't want to be compared to anyone and has set out to establish his own place in Yankee history. His 32 home runs and 87 RBI were both career highs, with his homer total matching Nettles for the second highest single season total hit by a Yankee third baseman (surpassed only by Nettles' 37 in 1977). Pags also led the team with 12 game-winning RBI and showed marked improvement against left-handers, including four homers off southpaws. His only disappointment was a .234 average which, with the way he works, will improve.
'I always say my goal is to get better,' he says. 'I've always improved in the past.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"Pagliarulo was one of the top power hitters in the American League. He hit 32 home runs, which tied him for ninth place in the American League in that category and led the Yankees. Mike ranked third on the club with 87 runs batted in, and his home run and RBI totals were both career highs.
His 32 home runs matched Graig Nettles for the second highest single season total hit by a Yankee third baseman (Nettles hit 32 homers in 1976 to lead the American League in that category), surpassed only by Nettles' club record of 37 home runs by a third baseman, set in 1977. Coupled with his 28 home runs last year, Pagliarulo and Nettles have the top four single season home run totals by a Yankee third baseman.
Pagliarulo averaged one home run every 16.3 at-bats in 1987, the best mark among Yankee regulars and the second best ratio on the team, behind only Ron Kittle's ratio of one homer per 13.25 at-bats. Pagliarulo also led the team with 12 game-winning RBIs, which also set a new career high in that category.
He batted .234 (122-for-522) in 150 games with 26 doubles, three triples and 76 runs scored. In addition to career highs in homers, RBIs and game winning RBIs, he also established career highs in games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles and slugging percentage (.479). Mike was second on the club in games played and doubles, third in RBIs, total bases (250) and slugging percentage (among Yankees with 200 or more at-bats), and fifth in hits and runs scored. He also led the Yankees with 111 strikeouts.
Mike hit four home runs off left-handed pitchers: Joe Sambito (June 19 at Boston), Joel McKeon (July 10 against Chicago), Floyd Bannister (July 24 at Chicago) and Bill Wilkinson (August 18 at Seattle).
His first home run of the season, off Jack Morris of the Tigers in Yankee Stadium on April 20, broke a string of 143 at-bats since his previous home run (his last 99 at-bats of 1986 and his first 44 at-bats of 1987). On May 8 against Minnesota he hit his second career grand slam (off Jeff Reardon in the ninth inning) and, coupled with his earlier solo homer off Mark Portugal, he had his fourth career two-homer game. His five RBIs in that contest established a career single game high.
Mike hit one other grand slam in '87, on September 4 against California off Kirk McCaskill (his 30th homer of the season), and now has three career grand slams. His four RBIs in that game was one of three four-RBI games he had last year in addition to his one five-RBI game, with the other two coming on June 3 against California and June 15 against Baltimore. Mike had four two-homer games: the May 8 game against Minnesota, on May 12 against Chicago (solo homers off Bill Long and Bob James), August 5 at Cleveland (solo homers off Phil Niekro) and August 20 at Seattle (solo homers off Mike Campbell), and now has seven career two-homer games. He hit home runs in back-to-back games five times: June 2-3 against California, June 19-20 at Boston, July 7-8 against Minnesota, August 20 (the two homers at Seattle) and August 21 (at Oakland), and September 4-5 against California.
He had 36 multi-hit games in 1987, including two three-hit games: June 7 at Milwaukee and September 7 at Boston. Mike had two doubles in that September 7 game, one of two games in which he had two doubles (the other was on August 19 at Seattle). He hit two of his three triples on May 20 at Oakland.
Mike started the season slowly, batting just .194 (30-for-155) with six homers and 20 RBIs on May 30 after 44 games, but over his next 63 games, through August 11, he batted .285 (61-for-214) with 18 home runs and 41 RBIs to raise his overall average to .247 (91-for-369), the highest point it would be all year following his eighth game of the season.
In 10 games from July 7-20, he batted .353 (12-for-34) with five home runs, nine RBIs and 13 runs scored. Included in that stretch was a seven-game hitting streak from July 10-20, Pagliarulo's longest hitting streak of the season (matching his career best), when he hit .391 (9-for-23) with three doubles, three home runs, six RBIs and 10 runs scored. In the final game of that streak, July 20 at Minnesota, he scored thee runs, his 1987 single game high.
In six games from August 15-21, seven of his nine hits were for extra bases (five home runs and two doubles) and he had nine RBIs in that span. His last home run came on September 8 at Boston off Al Nipper. Suffering from a sore right elbow, Mike did not hit a home run in his final 20 games of 1987 (covering 68 at-bats), his longest homerless stretch of the season. In those final 20 games he hit just .185 (12-for-65) with just three extra base hits (all doubles) and seven RBIs to lower his batting average from .241 to his final .234 mark.
Against right-handers in 1987 Pagliarulo batted .236 (87-for-369) with 28 home runs and 67 RBIs. Against lefties he hit .230 (35-for-152) with four home runs and 20 RBIs. He was 0-for-8 as a pinch hitter with two strikeouts and batted .233 (28-for-120) with runners in scoring position. His one stolen base of the season came on June 3 against California.
He played 147 games at third base, the most by a Yankee since Nettles played 159 games at third in 1978. Pagliarulo had a fielding percentage of .959, committing only 17 errors in 410 chances, ranking fifth in the AL among third basemen playing 100 or more games. He put together a stretch of 26 errorless games from July 3 through August 5. He made his first career appearance at first base on June 14 against Milwaukee.
In the last month of the season Mike suffered a sore right elbow, which hampered his play, and underwent arthroscopic surgery at NYU medical center, performed by Dr. John Bonamo on October 8, to remove loose bodies in his right elbow.
Mike blossomed into one of the top power hitters on the Yankees in 1986 as he hit 28 home runs, which tied him for 15th place in the American League in that category, and finished tied with Rickey Henderson for second place on the Yankees. His homer total was the fourth highest ever by a Yankee third baseman, surpassed only Graig Nettles' 37 home runs in 1977, his 32 in 1976 and Mike's 32 in 1987.
He began the season slowly, hitting just .215 (13-for-61) at the end of April with three home runs and seven RBIs. His single off Juan Agosto on May 12 at Minnesota broke an 0-for-17 streak against left-handed pitchers since the start of the season. Mike hit two home runs for the second time in his career on May 23 against California, solo homers off Don Sutton and Ken Forsch, and matched his former single game career high of four RBIs on May 25 against California.
Mike hit a home run off Milt Wilcox on May 29 at Seattle. The following night, May 30 at Oakland, he was hit in the face by a Curt Young pitch in the seventh inning. It was feared at first that he might have suffered some broken bones and facial damage that might cause him to miss an extensive amount of games, but the injury proved to be a hairline fracture of his nose, coupled with lacerations on the bridge of his nose and a bruised right forearm. He missed only one game and returned to the lineup on June 1 at Oakland and proceeded to hit home runs in three successive games, becoming the only Yankee to hit homers in three straight contests in 1986.
He hit home runs in back-to-back games against the Orioles on June 7 (a three-run homer off Mike Boddicker) and June 8 (a two-run homer off Ken Dixon), and in the seven games from June 1 through June 8 hit .333 (8-for-24), with five of those eight hits home runs, and added nine RBIs. In 14 games from May 23 through June 8 he batted .367 (18-for-49) with nine home runs and 19 RBIs to raise his average from .185 to .241. Mike went the next 22 games, from June 9 through July 3, covering 89 at-bats, with just two home runs yet had a season-high six-game hitting streak from June 6-11. He matched his single game career high with four hits, all singles, on June 27 against Toronto.
Mike hit solo home runs on consecutive days in Chicago on July 4th (off Richard Dotson) and July 5 (off Joe Cowley). On July 11 at Minnesota, he homered in the first of two consecutive games, a three-run blast, following that the next game with a solo homer. On July 18 against Chicago, he matched his single game career high with four RBIs, including a three-run homer off Floyd Bannister, his second homer off a left-hander in 1986. In the 14 games from July 4 through July 21 he hit safely in 11, batting .396 (19-for-48) with seven home runs and 19 RBIs while raising his average from .253 to .275. Mike was hitting .262 with 21 homers and 49 RBIs at the All-Star break.
He went ten games, July 22 to August 1 (36 at-bats), without a home run or an RBI, then hit two solo homers off Ken Schrom on August 2 at Cleveland. He hit his last homer of the season on August 24 against Oakland off Dave Stewart, going his final 99 at-bats after that without a home run.
Pagliarulo suffered a pulled hamstring running out a triple in that game. At the time of his injury, he was hitting .257 (105-for-408) with 28 home runs and 68 RBIs in 118 games. The injury limited him to four pinch-hit appearances (1-for-4) over the Yankees' next ten games (August 25-September 3). In the 31 games he played following that injury, he hit .156 (15-for-96) with no homers, three RBIs and 31 strikeouts.
He finished the season with a .238 batting average and averaged one home run per 18.0 times at bat, trailing only Dan Pasqua and Ron Kittle in that category. He hit .258 (88-for-341) against righties with 26 homers and 60 RBIs, and .196 (32-for-163) against lefties with two homers and 11 RBIs
Mike had 27 multiple-hit games, including a four-hit game and six three-hit games. He hit two home runs in the same game twice and homered in consecutive games five times, including the streak of three straight. He recorded his first career stolen base on June 1 at Oakland was 1-for-9 (.111) as a pinch hitter with an RBI.
He played 143 games at third base, and his fielding percentage of .953 ranked seventh among third basemen playing 100 or more games. He made two appearances at shortstop- July 2 against Detroit and August 17 at Kansas City.
Mike was signed in 1981 by Yankee scout Fred Ferreira and batted .216 in 72 games at Oneonta with two homers in 245 at-bats. In 1982, he was named utility infielder on the South Atlantic All-Star team. He played a full season at AA Nashville in 1983 and led Southern League third basemen in fielding with a .954 percentage in 133 games with 433 total chances (98 putouts and 315 assists).
He made his major league debut on July 7, 1984 when called up from Columbus to replace the injured Toby Harrah. He hit his first big league home run on July 13 (second game) off Kansas City's Bret Saberhagen. He hit his first grand slam on September 18 off Baltimore's Dennis Martinez.
Pagliarulo became New York's regular third baseman in 1985 and averaged one home run every 20 at-bats. He was hitting only .165 through June 9 (15-for-91) with two home runs and 16 RBIs, then hit .263 (76-for-289) with 17 homers and 46 RBIs through the remainder of the season.
He had his first career two-homer game on July 27 at Texas, hitting a pair of two-run homers good for four RBIs, and had a hitting streak of seven games from July 14-24. He went 4-for-6 on September 9 at Milwaukee, his first career four-hit game. Mike was sent to bat right-handed [by Billy Martin] against Mickey Mahler on September 18 at Detroit, striking out with runners at second and third, two out and the scored tied 2-2.
He played 134 games at third base in '85 and had the third fewest errors for a third baseman with at least 100 games. He hit .278 in 22 pinch-hit appearances. He hit .254 in 126 games against right-handers, .151 in 12 games against southpaws. Mike's 62 RBIs ranked sixth on the club.
Mike graduated in 1978 from Medford (Mass.) High School, where he played baseball, basketball and ran track. In baseball he was All-State two years, MVP and captain. Mike played South Medford Little League, Medford Babe Ruth League and Medford American Legion baseball. He attended the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) and was a finance major. His father, Charles Pagliarulo , was an infielder in the Chicago Cubs organization in 1958.
Mike enjoys golf and going to Boston Celtics and Bruins games."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
Pagliarulo hit only four of his homers against left-handers. Though he is improving against southpaws, he still has some bad at-bats against them and is a very aggressive player who sometimes get himself in trouble that way. Mike appeared to tire late in the season for the second straight year and did not homer in his last 20 games.
Born in Medford, Mass., the Yankees selected him in the sixth round of the June 1981 draft. His father Charles was an infielder in the Cubs organization in 1958."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1988 Edition
"Quietly, without much fanfare, Mike Pagliarulo is developing into one of the finest third basemen in all of baseball. With a blue-collar work ethic, this determined professional is best known for his 'get dirty' style of play. In 1987, only his third full season with the Yankees, he improved his power stats for the third straight year while providing consistent and sometimes spectacular defense at the hot corner.
Often considered the next coming of third bagger Graig Nettles, Pags doesn't want to be compared to anyone and has set out to establish his own place in Yankee history. His 32 home runs and 87 RBI were both career highs, with his homer total matching Nettles for the second highest single season total hit by a Yankee third baseman (surpassed only by Nettles' 37 in 1977). Pags also led the team with 12 game-winning RBI and showed marked improvement against left-handers, including four homers off southpaws. His only disappointment was a .234 average which, with the way he works, will improve.
'I always say my goal is to get better,' he says. 'I've always improved in the past.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"Pagliarulo was one of the top power hitters in the American League. He hit 32 home runs, which tied him for ninth place in the American League in that category and led the Yankees. Mike ranked third on the club with 87 runs batted in, and his home run and RBI totals were both career highs.
His 32 home runs matched Graig Nettles for the second highest single season total hit by a Yankee third baseman (Nettles hit 32 homers in 1976 to lead the American League in that category), surpassed only by Nettles' club record of 37 home runs by a third baseman, set in 1977. Coupled with his 28 home runs last year, Pagliarulo and Nettles have the top four single season home run totals by a Yankee third baseman.
Pagliarulo averaged one home run every 16.3 at-bats in 1987, the best mark among Yankee regulars and the second best ratio on the team, behind only Ron Kittle's ratio of one homer per 13.25 at-bats. Pagliarulo also led the team with 12 game-winning RBIs, which also set a new career high in that category.
He batted .234 (122-for-522) in 150 games with 26 doubles, three triples and 76 runs scored. In addition to career highs in homers, RBIs and game winning RBIs, he also established career highs in games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles and slugging percentage (.479). Mike was second on the club in games played and doubles, third in RBIs, total bases (250) and slugging percentage (among Yankees with 200 or more at-bats), and fifth in hits and runs scored. He also led the Yankees with 111 strikeouts.
Mike hit four home runs off left-handed pitchers: Joe Sambito (June 19 at Boston), Joel McKeon (July 10 against Chicago), Floyd Bannister (July 24 at Chicago) and Bill Wilkinson (August 18 at Seattle).
His first home run of the season, off Jack Morris of the Tigers in Yankee Stadium on April 20, broke a string of 143 at-bats since his previous home run (his last 99 at-bats of 1986 and his first 44 at-bats of 1987). On May 8 against Minnesota he hit his second career grand slam (off Jeff Reardon in the ninth inning) and, coupled with his earlier solo homer off Mark Portugal, he had his fourth career two-homer game. His five RBIs in that contest established a career single game high.
Mike hit one other grand slam in '87, on September 4 against California off Kirk McCaskill (his 30th homer of the season), and now has three career grand slams. His four RBIs in that game was one of three four-RBI games he had last year in addition to his one five-RBI game, with the other two coming on June 3 against California and June 15 against Baltimore. Mike had four two-homer games: the May 8 game against Minnesota, on May 12 against Chicago (solo homers off Bill Long and Bob James), August 5 at Cleveland (solo homers off Phil Niekro) and August 20 at Seattle (solo homers off Mike Campbell), and now has seven career two-homer games. He hit home runs in back-to-back games five times: June 2-3 against California, June 19-20 at Boston, July 7-8 against Minnesota, August 20 (the two homers at Seattle) and August 21 (at Oakland), and September 4-5 against California.
He had 36 multi-hit games in 1987, including two three-hit games: June 7 at Milwaukee and September 7 at Boston. Mike had two doubles in that September 7 game, one of two games in which he had two doubles (the other was on August 19 at Seattle). He hit two of his three triples on May 20 at Oakland.
Mike started the season slowly, batting just .194 (30-for-155) with six homers and 20 RBIs on May 30 after 44 games, but over his next 63 games, through August 11, he batted .285 (61-for-214) with 18 home runs and 41 RBIs to raise his overall average to .247 (91-for-369), the highest point it would be all year following his eighth game of the season.
In 10 games from July 7-20, he batted .353 (12-for-34) with five home runs, nine RBIs and 13 runs scored. Included in that stretch was a seven-game hitting streak from July 10-20, Pagliarulo's longest hitting streak of the season (matching his career best), when he hit .391 (9-for-23) with three doubles, three home runs, six RBIs and 10 runs scored. In the final game of that streak, July 20 at Minnesota, he scored thee runs, his 1987 single game high.
In six games from August 15-21, seven of his nine hits were for extra bases (five home runs and two doubles) and he had nine RBIs in that span. His last home run came on September 8 at Boston off Al Nipper. Suffering from a sore right elbow, Mike did not hit a home run in his final 20 games of 1987 (covering 68 at-bats), his longest homerless stretch of the season. In those final 20 games he hit just .185 (12-for-65) with just three extra base hits (all doubles) and seven RBIs to lower his batting average from .241 to his final .234 mark.
Against right-handers in 1987 Pagliarulo batted .236 (87-for-369) with 28 home runs and 67 RBIs. Against lefties he hit .230 (35-for-152) with four home runs and 20 RBIs. He was 0-for-8 as a pinch hitter with two strikeouts and batted .233 (28-for-120) with runners in scoring position. His one stolen base of the season came on June 3 against California.
He played 147 games at third base, the most by a Yankee since Nettles played 159 games at third in 1978. Pagliarulo had a fielding percentage of .959, committing only 17 errors in 410 chances, ranking fifth in the AL among third basemen playing 100 or more games. He put together a stretch of 26 errorless games from July 3 through August 5. He made his first career appearance at first base on June 14 against Milwaukee.
In the last month of the season Mike suffered a sore right elbow, which hampered his play, and underwent arthroscopic surgery at NYU medical center, performed by Dr. John Bonamo on October 8, to remove loose bodies in his right elbow.
Mike blossomed into one of the top power hitters on the Yankees in 1986 as he hit 28 home runs, which tied him for 15th place in the American League in that category, and finished tied with Rickey Henderson for second place on the Yankees. His homer total was the fourth highest ever by a Yankee third baseman, surpassed only Graig Nettles' 37 home runs in 1977, his 32 in 1976 and Mike's 32 in 1987.
He began the season slowly, hitting just .215 (13-for-61) at the end of April with three home runs and seven RBIs. His single off Juan Agosto on May 12 at Minnesota broke an 0-for-17 streak against left-handed pitchers since the start of the season. Mike hit two home runs for the second time in his career on May 23 against California, solo homers off Don Sutton and Ken Forsch, and matched his former single game career high of four RBIs on May 25 against California.
Mike hit a home run off Milt Wilcox on May 29 at Seattle. The following night, May 30 at Oakland, he was hit in the face by a Curt Young pitch in the seventh inning. It was feared at first that he might have suffered some broken bones and facial damage that might cause him to miss an extensive amount of games, but the injury proved to be a hairline fracture of his nose, coupled with lacerations on the bridge of his nose and a bruised right forearm. He missed only one game and returned to the lineup on June 1 at Oakland and proceeded to hit home runs in three successive games, becoming the only Yankee to hit homers in three straight contests in 1986.
He hit home runs in back-to-back games against the Orioles on June 7 (a three-run homer off Mike Boddicker) and June 8 (a two-run homer off Ken Dixon), and in the seven games from June 1 through June 8 hit .333 (8-for-24), with five of those eight hits home runs, and added nine RBIs. In 14 games from May 23 through June 8 he batted .367 (18-for-49) with nine home runs and 19 RBIs to raise his average from .185 to .241. Mike went the next 22 games, from June 9 through July 3, covering 89 at-bats, with just two home runs yet had a season-high six-game hitting streak from June 6-11. He matched his single game career high with four hits, all singles, on June 27 against Toronto.
Mike hit solo home runs on consecutive days in Chicago on July 4th (off Richard Dotson) and July 5 (off Joe Cowley). On July 11 at Minnesota, he homered in the first of two consecutive games, a three-run blast, following that the next game with a solo homer. On July 18 against Chicago, he matched his single game career high with four RBIs, including a three-run homer off Floyd Bannister, his second homer off a left-hander in 1986. In the 14 games from July 4 through July 21 he hit safely in 11, batting .396 (19-for-48) with seven home runs and 19 RBIs while raising his average from .253 to .275. Mike was hitting .262 with 21 homers and 49 RBIs at the All-Star break.
He went ten games, July 22 to August 1 (36 at-bats), without a home run or an RBI, then hit two solo homers off Ken Schrom on August 2 at Cleveland. He hit his last homer of the season on August 24 against Oakland off Dave Stewart, going his final 99 at-bats after that without a home run.
Pagliarulo suffered a pulled hamstring running out a triple in that game. At the time of his injury, he was hitting .257 (105-for-408) with 28 home runs and 68 RBIs in 118 games. The injury limited him to four pinch-hit appearances (1-for-4) over the Yankees' next ten games (August 25-September 3). In the 31 games he played following that injury, he hit .156 (15-for-96) with no homers, three RBIs and 31 strikeouts.
He finished the season with a .238 batting average and averaged one home run per 18.0 times at bat, trailing only Dan Pasqua and Ron Kittle in that category. He hit .258 (88-for-341) against righties with 26 homers and 60 RBIs, and .196 (32-for-163) against lefties with two homers and 11 RBIs
Mike had 27 multiple-hit games, including a four-hit game and six three-hit games. He hit two home runs in the same game twice and homered in consecutive games five times, including the streak of three straight. He recorded his first career stolen base on June 1 at Oakland was 1-for-9 (.111) as a pinch hitter with an RBI.
He played 143 games at third base, and his fielding percentage of .953 ranked seventh among third basemen playing 100 or more games. He made two appearances at shortstop- July 2 against Detroit and August 17 at Kansas City.
Mike was signed in 1981 by Yankee scout Fred Ferreira and batted .216 in 72 games at Oneonta with two homers in 245 at-bats. In 1982, he was named utility infielder on the South Atlantic All-Star team. He played a full season at AA Nashville in 1983 and led Southern League third basemen in fielding with a .954 percentage in 133 games with 433 total chances (98 putouts and 315 assists).
He made his major league debut on July 7, 1984 when called up from Columbus to replace the injured Toby Harrah. He hit his first big league home run on July 13 (second game) off Kansas City's Bret Saberhagen. He hit his first grand slam on September 18 off Baltimore's Dennis Martinez.
Pagliarulo became New York's regular third baseman in 1985 and averaged one home run every 20 at-bats. He was hitting only .165 through June 9 (15-for-91) with two home runs and 16 RBIs, then hit .263 (76-for-289) with 17 homers and 46 RBIs through the remainder of the season.
He had his first career two-homer game on July 27 at Texas, hitting a pair of two-run homers good for four RBIs, and had a hitting streak of seven games from July 14-24. He went 4-for-6 on September 9 at Milwaukee, his first career four-hit game. Mike was sent to bat right-handed [by Billy Martin] against Mickey Mahler on September 18 at Detroit, striking out with runners at second and third, two out and the scored tied 2-2.
He played 134 games at third base in '85 and had the third fewest errors for a third baseman with at least 100 games. He hit .278 in 22 pinch-hit appearances. He hit .254 in 126 games against right-handers, .151 in 12 games against southpaws. Mike's 62 RBIs ranked sixth on the club.
Mike graduated in 1978 from Medford (Mass.) High School, where he played baseball, basketball and ran track. In baseball he was All-State two years, MVP and captain. Mike played South Medford Little League, Medford Babe Ruth League and Medford American Legion baseball. He attended the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) and was a finance major. His father, Charles Pagliarulo , was an infielder in the Chicago Cubs organization in 1958.
Mike enjoys golf and going to Boston Celtics and Bruins games."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
1988 Profile: Tommy John
"Developed into one of the biggest surprises of the season. The veteran was a mainstay on the Yankee staff with a team-leading 33 starts, and the Yankees won 23 of those starts. John left three games after not allowing a run through six innings, and his 13 victories were his most since he won 22 for the Yankees in 1980.
John ranks 24th on the all-time win list with 277. He notched his 46th shutout by two-hitting Detroit, 7-0, on August 8. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was signed by Cleveland as a free agent on June 12, 1961.
Said to have a bionic left arm, John's left elbow was reconstructed in 1974 using a tendon in his right forearm in an operation that was the first of its kind on an athlete. He rejoined the Yankees as a free agent on May 2, 1986."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1988 Edition
"A group of players was sitting in the Yankee clubhouse last year reading an article on Tommy John.
'What are they saying about the aging left-hander?' John asked, making fun of the references that the game was beyond him. In 1987 he had the last laugh. The number 65 he wore last spring signified his chances of making the club. But this was a man who came back from dramatic elbow surgery in the 1970s and is said to be pitching with a teenage arm. He looked like it last year.
John was wearing his customary 25 after spring training, and at age 44 became the Yankees' most durable pitcher. He led the team in starts (33), innings pitched (187 2/3) and was second in wins (13-6). It was his most impressive year in all these categories in nearly five seasons, giving his veteran of 24 major league seasons new hopes for a strong 1988.
'You have to accept the fact that you are physically less than you were when you were 22 or 23,' he admits, 'but I also know I can pitch a whole better now than I did then.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"T.J. defied time and nature in 1987 and compiled a 13-6 mark with a 4.03 ERA. The Yankees won 22 of the 33 games he started, including nine of his first ten. He was removed from four starts without allowing a run through six innings (including three when he went seven innings), with New York going 4-0 and Tommy going 2-0.
He got a no-decision in his April 19 start against Kansas City, tossing seven scoreless, 4-hit innings. In his next start on April 26 at Cleveland, he allowed just one ball hit out of the infield in seven innings, allowing no runs and winning 14-2. The following outing, May 2 at Minnesota, Tommy threw two addition scoreless innings and extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 16 before yielding a third inning run in that start. In his first 10 games through June 5, he was 6-1 with a 3.34 ERA (21 ER, 56.2 IP), and through June 15 Tommy's record was 7-2 with a 3.23 ERA (25 ER, 69.2 IP) in 12 starts.
In back-to-back starts against Boston on June 20 at Fenway and on June 26 in New York, T.J. combined to allow 14 earned runs in six innings. On July 20 at Minnesota, he notched his first complete game of '87 and his first complete game win since tossing a shutout against Boston on July 8, 1984 while with California; it was T.J.'s first complete game as a Yankee since August 30, 1986 at Seattle. Through July 30 (20 games), he was 10-3 with a 3.87 ERA (50 ER, 116.1 IP).
Tommy threw his 46th career shutout and seventh career 2-hitter on August 8 at Detroit, winning 7-0 (his first shutout since that July 1984 game against Boston). His shutout tied him with Jack Powell and Doc White for 26th on the all-time shutout list, and with Al Downing for 20th place on the all-time Yankee shutout list with 12. It was the low-hit complete game of '87 for the Yankees. Tommy's last previous 2-hitter came as a Yankee on June 6, 1980 at Seattle. Four of his seven career 2-hitters have come as a Yankee.
His shortest outing of '87 came on August 19 at Seattle, lasting just one inning due to a stomach disorder (Charles Hudson came on to throw eight scoreless relief innings). From August 14 to October 2, T.J. went 2-2 with a 4.75 ERA (29 ER, 55 IP) in 11 starts, with the Yankees going 6-5; those five losses came in consecutive starts by T.J. from September 6 through September 27. He stopped that skein on October 2 by winning his last start of the year, a 7-hit, 3-1 complete game win over Baltimore. Tommy pitched at least six innings in 16 of his last 23 starts.
With the retirement of Phil Niekro and Pete Rose, Tommy is the game's oldest active player, turning 45 in May. He is playing in his 25th major league season, tying the record set by Hall of Fame second baseman Eddie Collins (1906-30) and pitcher Jim Kaat (1959-83). Tommy now has been to 27 spring training camps, first attending camp with Cleveland in 1962.
T.J.'s .684 winning percentage in 1987 ranked fifth in the American League among pitchers with at least 15 decisions. His 33 starts led the Yankees, while his 13 wins were second to Rick Rhoden's 16. His 33 starts in 33 games were the most he's made since 1983 when he pitched in 34 games (all starts) for California. His 13 wins were his most since he won 14 in 1982.
His 187.2 innings pitched also led the Yankee staff and was his highest total since he pitched 234.2 innings in '83. His 63 strikeouts were his most since '83, and his 47 walks were the fewest he's allowed in a season of at least 150 innings pitched since allowing 39 in 1982.
Tommy came to New York's 1986 spring camp as a non-roster invitee and appeared in three games, starting once. His spring numbers were 0-0, 2.00 ERA in nine innings pitched, two runs, nine hits, two walks and eight strikeouts [1.22 WHIP].
The veteran southpaw was signed as a free agent on May 2 and made his first regular season appearance with the Yankees that day, pitching 2.1 innings in relief against Texas and allowing one run. It was his first appearance in a Yankee uniform since August 29, 1982 at Toronto, his final outing prior to the August 31 trade that sent him to California, and his first game as a Yankee at Yankee Stadium since August 24, 1982.
T.J. appeared in eight games, posting a 3-1, 3.62 mark before suffering a strained left Achilles tendon, forcing him on to the 21-disabled list on June 12. While on the disabled list, Tommy was assigned to Ft. Lauderdale under the guidelines of baseball's injury rehabilitation program on July 25, remaining there through August 7. While in Florida he appeared in three games, going 2-0, 0.00 ERA including a shutout.
He was activated from the disabled list on August 8, and won his next two starts in impressive fashion, combining for no runs in 7.2 innings pitched on August 8 against Kansas City and in 7.1 innings pitched against Cleveland on August 13. Tommy suffered a bruised left instep after being hit by a comebacker off the bat of Seattle's Alvin Davis in his August 19 start; x-rays were eventually taken, the results of which were negative. He tossed his first complete game in over two years on August 30 at Seattle, losing the 1-0 decision.
Tommy's season came to an end when he suffered a fractured left thumb when he fell off the bullpen pitching mound in Oakland on September 3. Although he announced on July 24 that he would become the pitching coach at the University of North Carolina, he resigned the position on November 21, a month after assuming his duties.
T.J. made his first career appearance [with Cleveland] on September 6, 1963, a relief stint at Washington, and his first career start came on September 14 at Los Angeles, losing the 4-3 decision. He notched his first career win on May 3, 1964, a 6-0 shutout over Baltimore.
In 1965 Tommy recorded the first of his 16 double-figure-win seasons, going 14-7 [with the Chicago White Sox], and recorded all three of his American League saves. He tied for the AL lead with six shutouts in 1966, and recorded the first victory by an AL pitcher at Anaheim Stadium, beating the Angels 3-1 on April 19. He tied for the AL lead with five shutouts in 1967, and in 1968 went 10-5 with a 1.98 ERA until suffering a broken collarbone in a fight with Detroit's Dick McAuliffe in early August.
T.J. led the White Sox staff with a 3.26 ERA in 1969 and averaged seven innings per start. His total of 271 innings pitched in 1970 still remains his second highest single season total, and he matched his career high of 138 strikeouts. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after his third straight sub-.500 year in 1971.
In 1972, Tommy lost just two games in 23 starts made after May 17, while winning eight. He damaged his left elbow in a collision at home plate on September 23 against San Francisco and underwent surgery for the removal of bone chips five days later. He led NL pitchers with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage (56 total chances) in '72 and recorded his 1,000th career strikeout on June 25 against Atlanta. With a 16-7 mark in 1973, T.J. led the N.L. with a .696 won-lost percentage, winning his last five decisions. He recorded his 100th career win on June 8 against the Mets at Shea. His 3.10 ERA led the Dodger staff.
Tommy was 13-3 in 1974 and was the top winner in the National League, when he ruptured a ligament in his left elbow on July 17 while pitching against Montreal. His .813 won-lost percentage stood up as the best in the league, despite not pitching again. At first, it was thought the condition would improve with rest, but surgery was eventually prescribed. The operation was performed on September 25 as a tendon from his right forearm was removed and used in the reconstruction of his left elbow. The operation, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe, was the first of its kind on an athlete, and Jobe told Tommy he would never pitch again.
Following surgery, Tommy spent the entire 1975 season on the disabled list. He used that time undergoing therapy, running and exercising his newly reconstructed left elbow.
T.J. made one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history in 1976, earning NL Comeback Player of the Year honors from the Sporting News. He also won the Fred Hutchinson Award given annually to the player who best exemplifies the competitive instincts, character and desire of Fred Hutchinson. His 3.09 ERA was sixth best in the league. His best outings came on July 23, throwing a 4-hitter against San Diego, and on September 14, shutting out the Reds.
One of five 20-game winners in the NL in 1977, Tommy was one of four NL pitchers to win eight straight, June 18- August 3. He was NL Player of the Week, August 8-14, hurling a 2-hitter over the Reds and a 4-hitter over Atlanta, and on August 8 hit his first homer since May 19, 1968 off Cincinnati's Paul Moskau. His 2.78 ERA was fifth in the NL and he finished second to Steve Carlton in the Cy Young Award voting. Tommy won 14 of his last 17 decisions and won the NLCS clincher in rain over Philadelphia.
In 1978 T.J. was 4-0, 1.80 ERA in April and 3-1, 1.95 ERA in July. He had three relief outings with a win and a save, allowing no runs. He threw a 4-hit shutout over Philadelphia in the second game of the NLCS and beat the Yankees in the World Series opener, 11-5.
[With the Yankees] in 1979 Tommy won at least 20 games (21) for the second time in his career, finishing second in the AL to Mike Flanagan, and his 2.96 ERA was second in the league to teammate Ron Guidry's 2.78. He was tied for fourth with 36 games started, tied for second with 17 complete games, second with 276.1 innings pitched, tied for sixth with three shutouts and sixth with a .692 won-lost percentage. His nine homers allowed were the fewest among AL starters.
Tommy won his first nine decisions of '79 and 10 of his first 11. He was the American League's first ever Pitcher of the Month in April, going 4-0 with a 1.12 ERA. Tommy made his only relief appearance of the year on May 1 at California. He recorded four straight complete game wins from May 5-20, and his best game of the year was a 2-0, 2-hit shutout over Boston on May 20. T.J. was AL Player of the Week, May 14-20, with a 2-0, 1.50 mark.
He was named the left-handed starter on the UPI All-Star team. He became only the eighth pitcher to win 20 games in both leagues; the others were Jerry Koosman, Andy Messersmith, Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins, Joe McGinnity, Jesse Tannehill and Al Orth.
His 22 wins in 1980 are a career high. That year he led the AL with six shutouts, was tied for second with Mike Norris in wins, tied for fourth in both starts (36) and complete games (16), fifth in innings pitched, tied for fifth with a .710 won-lost percentage and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting behind Steve Stone, Norris, and Rich Gossage.
Tommy won his 200th career game, a 2-hit shutout at Seattle on June 6, and threw three shutouts in three starts against Chicago. He won five of his last seven decisions and seven of his last ten. He was named to his fourth All-Star team and was voted by the players to the Sporting News All-Star squad as the left-handed pitcher. At 43-18, Tommy was the winningest pitcher in the majors for the '79 and '80 seasons.
His 2.64 ERA in 1981 was fourth best in the AL, yet the Yankees scored just 12 runs in his eight losses. He cut his left index finger on a razor on June 5 and was placed on the DL. He was reactivated on August 9 for the second half [after the strike]. On August 13, his son Travis fell from a third-floor window and was critically injured.
Tommy pitched five consecutive complete games from September 3 to September 25 and won Game 2 of the World Series against his former Dodger teammates. He was the winningest pitcher [in the AL] from 1979-81 with a 52-36 record.
T.J. began the 1982 season with the Yankees and was 10-10 with a 3.60 ERA before the August 31 trade that sent him to California. With New York, he threw shutouts against both the Angels on April 28 and Blue Jays on May 25 and won four of his last five decisions as a Yankee. Tommy threw his eighth career 3-hitter on August 29 at Toronto; two of his eight career 3-hitters have come as a Yankee. He made seven starts with California, going 4-2, and pitched a complete game 8-3 victory against Milwaukee in Game 1 of the ALCS.
In 1983, Tommy led the Angel staff in starts and innings pitched. He suffered his first losing season since 1971, yet nine of his 13 defeats came in games in which the Angels scored two or fewer runs. He was 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA at home, 3-7 with a 7.13 ERA on the road. Tommy made his 600th major league appearance on July 15 at Baltimore.
In 1984 he held opponents to three or fewer runs in his first 11 starts, pitching to a 3-3, 2.48 mark. He had four complete games by the All-Star break, including a 4-0 shutout over Boston on July 8- career shutout No. 45- and recorded career win No. 250- a 2-hitter against Oakland on May 1. Tommy struck out Yankee Omar Moreno on May 18 to record career strikeout No. 2000. He dropped five of seven decisions in the second half before shifting to the bullpen, and on September 5 made his first relief appearance since July 31, 1982.
T.J. began the 1985 season in the Angel starting rotation but was both starting and relieving after his first four starts. He was 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA as a starter, 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in relief; his Angel wins came on April 28, starting at Seattle, and on May 11 in relief at Milwaukee.
He was released by the Angels on June 19, was signed by Modesto (the Class-A California League affiliate of Oakland) on July 12, and was 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA at Modesto. Tommy was then assigned to Madison (of the Class-A Midwest League), another A's affiliate, and appeared in one game, going 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He was signed to a major league contract by the A's on July 26.
Tommy made his first [major league] appearance since June 5, and first start since June 2, that day at Milwaukee, notching his first of two wins with Oakland. The other win came in Oakland on August 27 against New York, throwing seven scoreless innings while giving up only three hits. After that, he went on to lose his final five starts (21 earned runs, 20.2 innings pitched, 9.14 ERA).
Tommy grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana. He received 35 scholarship offers upon graduation from Gerstmeyer High School, where he played both basketball and baseball.He attended Indiana State in Terre Haute, and following the 1979 season was given the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest award given by the school. An avid golfer, he has hosted the Tommy John Celebrity Invitational Golf Classic for the past 10 years, with proceeds directed to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles for cancer research. Tommy also works with the International Save-A-Child group and the March of Dimes.
Tommy enjoys reading and World War II history, and his favorite spectator sports are golf, pro and college basketball, hockey and basketball. The Chicago Cubs were his favorite team as a youngster and his favorite players were Hank Sauer and Whitey Ford. His toughest opponents have been Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs, Roberto Clemente and Billy Williams, and his favorite ballpark is Yankee Stadium. Tommy John, Sr. helped his career the most.
T.J. has worn #25 for 24 years. His favorite entertainers are Don Rickles and Willie Nelson. His favorite restaurant is Chanteclair in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He has authored two books, 'The Tommy John Story' and, with his wife Sally, 'The Sally and Tommy John Story.' The latter book recounts qualities of love and caring and how their Christian faith helped sustain them through near tragedy when their son Travis (age 3 at the time) fell 27 feet from an apartment window on August 13, 1981, and survived a 14-day coma and a one-month hospital stay. Travis is fine today."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
John ranks 24th on the all-time win list with 277. He notched his 46th shutout by two-hitting Detroit, 7-0, on August 8. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was signed by Cleveland as a free agent on June 12, 1961.
Said to have a bionic left arm, John's left elbow was reconstructed in 1974 using a tendon in his right forearm in an operation that was the first of its kind on an athlete. He rejoined the Yankees as a free agent on May 2, 1986."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1988 Edition
"A group of players was sitting in the Yankee clubhouse last year reading an article on Tommy John.
'What are they saying about the aging left-hander?' John asked, making fun of the references that the game was beyond him. In 1987 he had the last laugh. The number 65 he wore last spring signified his chances of making the club. But this was a man who came back from dramatic elbow surgery in the 1970s and is said to be pitching with a teenage arm. He looked like it last year.
John was wearing his customary 25 after spring training, and at age 44 became the Yankees' most durable pitcher. He led the team in starts (33), innings pitched (187 2/3) and was second in wins (13-6). It was his most impressive year in all these categories in nearly five seasons, giving his veteran of 24 major league seasons new hopes for a strong 1988.
'You have to accept the fact that you are physically less than you were when you were 22 or 23,' he admits, 'but I also know I can pitch a whole better now than I did then.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"T.J. defied time and nature in 1987 and compiled a 13-6 mark with a 4.03 ERA. The Yankees won 22 of the 33 games he started, including nine of his first ten. He was removed from four starts without allowing a run through six innings (including three when he went seven innings), with New York going 4-0 and Tommy going 2-0.
He got a no-decision in his April 19 start against Kansas City, tossing seven scoreless, 4-hit innings. In his next start on April 26 at Cleveland, he allowed just one ball hit out of the infield in seven innings, allowing no runs and winning 14-2. The following outing, May 2 at Minnesota, Tommy threw two addition scoreless innings and extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 16 before yielding a third inning run in that start. In his first 10 games through June 5, he was 6-1 with a 3.34 ERA (21 ER, 56.2 IP), and through June 15 Tommy's record was 7-2 with a 3.23 ERA (25 ER, 69.2 IP) in 12 starts.
In back-to-back starts against Boston on June 20 at Fenway and on June 26 in New York, T.J. combined to allow 14 earned runs in six innings. On July 20 at Minnesota, he notched his first complete game of '87 and his first complete game win since tossing a shutout against Boston on July 8, 1984 while with California; it was T.J.'s first complete game as a Yankee since August 30, 1986 at Seattle. Through July 30 (20 games), he was 10-3 with a 3.87 ERA (50 ER, 116.1 IP).
Tommy threw his 46th career shutout and seventh career 2-hitter on August 8 at Detroit, winning 7-0 (his first shutout since that July 1984 game against Boston). His shutout tied him with Jack Powell and Doc White for 26th on the all-time shutout list, and with Al Downing for 20th place on the all-time Yankee shutout list with 12. It was the low-hit complete game of '87 for the Yankees. Tommy's last previous 2-hitter came as a Yankee on June 6, 1980 at Seattle. Four of his seven career 2-hitters have come as a Yankee.
His shortest outing of '87 came on August 19 at Seattle, lasting just one inning due to a stomach disorder (Charles Hudson came on to throw eight scoreless relief innings). From August 14 to October 2, T.J. went 2-2 with a 4.75 ERA (29 ER, 55 IP) in 11 starts, with the Yankees going 6-5; those five losses came in consecutive starts by T.J. from September 6 through September 27. He stopped that skein on October 2 by winning his last start of the year, a 7-hit, 3-1 complete game win over Baltimore. Tommy pitched at least six innings in 16 of his last 23 starts.
With the retirement of Phil Niekro and Pete Rose, Tommy is the game's oldest active player, turning 45 in May. He is playing in his 25th major league season, tying the record set by Hall of Fame second baseman Eddie Collins (1906-30) and pitcher Jim Kaat (1959-83). Tommy now has been to 27 spring training camps, first attending camp with Cleveland in 1962.
T.J.'s .684 winning percentage in 1987 ranked fifth in the American League among pitchers with at least 15 decisions. His 33 starts led the Yankees, while his 13 wins were second to Rick Rhoden's 16. His 33 starts in 33 games were the most he's made since 1983 when he pitched in 34 games (all starts) for California. His 13 wins were his most since he won 14 in 1982.
His 187.2 innings pitched also led the Yankee staff and was his highest total since he pitched 234.2 innings in '83. His 63 strikeouts were his most since '83, and his 47 walks were the fewest he's allowed in a season of at least 150 innings pitched since allowing 39 in 1982.
Tommy came to New York's 1986 spring camp as a non-roster invitee and appeared in three games, starting once. His spring numbers were 0-0, 2.00 ERA in nine innings pitched, two runs, nine hits, two walks and eight strikeouts [1.22 WHIP].
The veteran southpaw was signed as a free agent on May 2 and made his first regular season appearance with the Yankees that day, pitching 2.1 innings in relief against Texas and allowing one run. It was his first appearance in a Yankee uniform since August 29, 1982 at Toronto, his final outing prior to the August 31 trade that sent him to California, and his first game as a Yankee at Yankee Stadium since August 24, 1982.
T.J. appeared in eight games, posting a 3-1, 3.62 mark before suffering a strained left Achilles tendon, forcing him on to the 21-disabled list on June 12. While on the disabled list, Tommy was assigned to Ft. Lauderdale under the guidelines of baseball's injury rehabilitation program on July 25, remaining there through August 7. While in Florida he appeared in three games, going 2-0, 0.00 ERA including a shutout.
He was activated from the disabled list on August 8, and won his next two starts in impressive fashion, combining for no runs in 7.2 innings pitched on August 8 against Kansas City and in 7.1 innings pitched against Cleveland on August 13. Tommy suffered a bruised left instep after being hit by a comebacker off the bat of Seattle's Alvin Davis in his August 19 start; x-rays were eventually taken, the results of which were negative. He tossed his first complete game in over two years on August 30 at Seattle, losing the 1-0 decision.
Tommy's season came to an end when he suffered a fractured left thumb when he fell off the bullpen pitching mound in Oakland on September 3. Although he announced on July 24 that he would become the pitching coach at the University of North Carolina, he resigned the position on November 21, a month after assuming his duties.
T.J. made his first career appearance [with Cleveland] on September 6, 1963, a relief stint at Washington, and his first career start came on September 14 at Los Angeles, losing the 4-3 decision. He notched his first career win on May 3, 1964, a 6-0 shutout over Baltimore.
In 1965 Tommy recorded the first of his 16 double-figure-win seasons, going 14-7 [with the Chicago White Sox], and recorded all three of his American League saves. He tied for the AL lead with six shutouts in 1966, and recorded the first victory by an AL pitcher at Anaheim Stadium, beating the Angels 3-1 on April 19. He tied for the AL lead with five shutouts in 1967, and in 1968 went 10-5 with a 1.98 ERA until suffering a broken collarbone in a fight with Detroit's Dick McAuliffe in early August.
T.J. led the White Sox staff with a 3.26 ERA in 1969 and averaged seven innings per start. His total of 271 innings pitched in 1970 still remains his second highest single season total, and he matched his career high of 138 strikeouts. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after his third straight sub-.500 year in 1971.
In 1972, Tommy lost just two games in 23 starts made after May 17, while winning eight. He damaged his left elbow in a collision at home plate on September 23 against San Francisco and underwent surgery for the removal of bone chips five days later. He led NL pitchers with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage (56 total chances) in '72 and recorded his 1,000th career strikeout on June 25 against Atlanta. With a 16-7 mark in 1973, T.J. led the N.L. with a .696 won-lost percentage, winning his last five decisions. He recorded his 100th career win on June 8 against the Mets at Shea. His 3.10 ERA led the Dodger staff.
Tommy was 13-3 in 1974 and was the top winner in the National League, when he ruptured a ligament in his left elbow on July 17 while pitching against Montreal. His .813 won-lost percentage stood up as the best in the league, despite not pitching again. At first, it was thought the condition would improve with rest, but surgery was eventually prescribed. The operation was performed on September 25 as a tendon from his right forearm was removed and used in the reconstruction of his left elbow. The operation, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe, was the first of its kind on an athlete, and Jobe told Tommy he would never pitch again.
Following surgery, Tommy spent the entire 1975 season on the disabled list. He used that time undergoing therapy, running and exercising his newly reconstructed left elbow.
T.J. made one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history in 1976, earning NL Comeback Player of the Year honors from the Sporting News. He also won the Fred Hutchinson Award given annually to the player who best exemplifies the competitive instincts, character and desire of Fred Hutchinson. His 3.09 ERA was sixth best in the league. His best outings came on July 23, throwing a 4-hitter against San Diego, and on September 14, shutting out the Reds.
One of five 20-game winners in the NL in 1977, Tommy was one of four NL pitchers to win eight straight, June 18- August 3. He was NL Player of the Week, August 8-14, hurling a 2-hitter over the Reds and a 4-hitter over Atlanta, and on August 8 hit his first homer since May 19, 1968 off Cincinnati's Paul Moskau. His 2.78 ERA was fifth in the NL and he finished second to Steve Carlton in the Cy Young Award voting. Tommy won 14 of his last 17 decisions and won the NLCS clincher in rain over Philadelphia.
In 1978 T.J. was 4-0, 1.80 ERA in April and 3-1, 1.95 ERA in July. He had three relief outings with a win and a save, allowing no runs. He threw a 4-hit shutout over Philadelphia in the second game of the NLCS and beat the Yankees in the World Series opener, 11-5.
[With the Yankees] in 1979 Tommy won at least 20 games (21) for the second time in his career, finishing second in the AL to Mike Flanagan, and his 2.96 ERA was second in the league to teammate Ron Guidry's 2.78. He was tied for fourth with 36 games started, tied for second with 17 complete games, second with 276.1 innings pitched, tied for sixth with three shutouts and sixth with a .692 won-lost percentage. His nine homers allowed were the fewest among AL starters.
Tommy won his first nine decisions of '79 and 10 of his first 11. He was the American League's first ever Pitcher of the Month in April, going 4-0 with a 1.12 ERA. Tommy made his only relief appearance of the year on May 1 at California. He recorded four straight complete game wins from May 5-20, and his best game of the year was a 2-0, 2-hit shutout over Boston on May 20. T.J. was AL Player of the Week, May 14-20, with a 2-0, 1.50 mark.
He was named the left-handed starter on the UPI All-Star team. He became only the eighth pitcher to win 20 games in both leagues; the others were Jerry Koosman, Andy Messersmith, Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins, Joe McGinnity, Jesse Tannehill and Al Orth.
His 22 wins in 1980 are a career high. That year he led the AL with six shutouts, was tied for second with Mike Norris in wins, tied for fourth in both starts (36) and complete games (16), fifth in innings pitched, tied for fifth with a .710 won-lost percentage and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting behind Steve Stone, Norris, and Rich Gossage.
Tommy won his 200th career game, a 2-hit shutout at Seattle on June 6, and threw three shutouts in three starts against Chicago. He won five of his last seven decisions and seven of his last ten. He was named to his fourth All-Star team and was voted by the players to the Sporting News All-Star squad as the left-handed pitcher. At 43-18, Tommy was the winningest pitcher in the majors for the '79 and '80 seasons.
His 2.64 ERA in 1981 was fourth best in the AL, yet the Yankees scored just 12 runs in his eight losses. He cut his left index finger on a razor on June 5 and was placed on the DL. He was reactivated on August 9 for the second half [after the strike]. On August 13, his son Travis fell from a third-floor window and was critically injured.
Tommy pitched five consecutive complete games from September 3 to September 25 and won Game 2 of the World Series against his former Dodger teammates. He was the winningest pitcher [in the AL] from 1979-81 with a 52-36 record.
T.J. began the 1982 season with the Yankees and was 10-10 with a 3.60 ERA before the August 31 trade that sent him to California. With New York, he threw shutouts against both the Angels on April 28 and Blue Jays on May 25 and won four of his last five decisions as a Yankee. Tommy threw his eighth career 3-hitter on August 29 at Toronto; two of his eight career 3-hitters have come as a Yankee. He made seven starts with California, going 4-2, and pitched a complete game 8-3 victory against Milwaukee in Game 1 of the ALCS.
In 1983, Tommy led the Angel staff in starts and innings pitched. He suffered his first losing season since 1971, yet nine of his 13 defeats came in games in which the Angels scored two or fewer runs. He was 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA at home, 3-7 with a 7.13 ERA on the road. Tommy made his 600th major league appearance on July 15 at Baltimore.
In 1984 he held opponents to three or fewer runs in his first 11 starts, pitching to a 3-3, 2.48 mark. He had four complete games by the All-Star break, including a 4-0 shutout over Boston on July 8- career shutout No. 45- and recorded career win No. 250- a 2-hitter against Oakland on May 1. Tommy struck out Yankee Omar Moreno on May 18 to record career strikeout No. 2000. He dropped five of seven decisions in the second half before shifting to the bullpen, and on September 5 made his first relief appearance since July 31, 1982.
T.J. began the 1985 season in the Angel starting rotation but was both starting and relieving after his first four starts. He was 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA as a starter, 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in relief; his Angel wins came on April 28, starting at Seattle, and on May 11 in relief at Milwaukee.
He was released by the Angels on June 19, was signed by Modesto (the Class-A California League affiliate of Oakland) on July 12, and was 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA at Modesto. Tommy was then assigned to Madison (of the Class-A Midwest League), another A's affiliate, and appeared in one game, going 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He was signed to a major league contract by the A's on July 26.
Tommy made his first [major league] appearance since June 5, and first start since June 2, that day at Milwaukee, notching his first of two wins with Oakland. The other win came in Oakland on August 27 against New York, throwing seven scoreless innings while giving up only three hits. After that, he went on to lose his final five starts (21 earned runs, 20.2 innings pitched, 9.14 ERA).
Tommy grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana. He received 35 scholarship offers upon graduation from Gerstmeyer High School, where he played both basketball and baseball.He attended Indiana State in Terre Haute, and following the 1979 season was given the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest award given by the school. An avid golfer, he has hosted the Tommy John Celebrity Invitational Golf Classic for the past 10 years, with proceeds directed to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles for cancer research. Tommy also works with the International Save-A-Child group and the March of Dimes.
Tommy enjoys reading and World War II history, and his favorite spectator sports are golf, pro and college basketball, hockey and basketball. The Chicago Cubs were his favorite team as a youngster and his favorite players were Hank Sauer and Whitey Ford. His toughest opponents have been Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs, Roberto Clemente and Billy Williams, and his favorite ballpark is Yankee Stadium. Tommy John, Sr. helped his career the most.
T.J. has worn #25 for 24 years. His favorite entertainers are Don Rickles and Willie Nelson. His favorite restaurant is Chanteclair in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He has authored two books, 'The Tommy John Story' and, with his wife Sally, 'The Sally and Tommy John Story.' The latter book recounts qualities of love and caring and how their Christian faith helped sustain them through near tragedy when their son Travis (age 3 at the time) fell 27 feet from an apartment window on August 13, 1981, and survived a 14-day coma and a one-month hospital stay. Travis is fine today."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
Thursday, October 13, 2016
1988 Profile: Charles Hudson
"A storybook season, without the happy ending.
Charles Hudson began the year as a long reliever, but became a last-minute replacement in the Yankees home opener. He pitched a three-hit masterpiece and started the year with six straight victories. This streak included the first nine-inning shutout of his career. Then the roof fell in.
In his next seven appearances, including two in relief, he struggled with his control and was optioned to Columbus. Hudson returned to the bullpen in July, and in August ran off a string of 22 scoreless innings. But while he had flashes of excellence, he was inconsistent from appearance to appearance.
Despite everything, the hard-throwing righty led the team with six complete games and two shutouts, was second on the club with 100 strikeouts, and third with 11 wins. If the Yankees can work out Hudson's problems of 1987, he could mean the difference in their 1988 pennant hopes."
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"Charles began the 1987 season strongly, going 6-0 in his first eight games with a 2.02 ERA (13 ER, 58 IP) with 44 hits, 19 walks and 35 strikeouts [1.09 WHIP]. His 6-0 start was the best by any Yankee pitcher since Tommy John began 1980 with a 7-0 record. Of those eight games (through May 15), seven were starts, with his first appearance of the year in a relief role on April 8 at Detroit. In that game, Charles pitched 4.1 innings in relief of Tommy John, retiring all 13 batters he faced with three strikeouts, and received credit for the Yankees' 6-5 win over the Tigers.
That earned Charles a start for his Yankee Stadium debut, on April 13 against Cleveland (the home opener), and he threw a complete game, allowing the Indians just three hits (all solo home runs) while recording 10 strikeouts to receive credit for the Yankees' 11-3 victory. The 10 strikeouts was his season high and matched his career strikeout high, set on October 2, 1985 at Montreal while with the Phillies. In addition, the 3-hitter matched his career low-hit game, July 20, 1983 while with the Phillies.
In his next outing on April 19 against Kansas City, also at Yankee Stadium (Game 1), Charles recorded New York's first complete game shutout of the year, blanking the Royals on seven hits, three walks and seven strikeouts, winning 5-0. It was the first nine-inning shutout of his career, having thrown a rain-shortened shutout as a Phillie in 1984, and the first complete game shutout by a Yankee at Yankee Stadium since Ed Whitson shut out Texas 6-0 on July 12, 1985. With that complete game, Charles became the first Yankee to throw back-to-back complete games since Phil Niekro did so on September 13 and 18, 1985 against Toronto and Detroit, respectively.
When Tommy John, Pat Clements and Dave Righetti combined on a 1-0 shutout in Game 2 of that doubleheader following Charles' shutout, it marked the 14th time in their history the Yankees won a doubleheader via shutouts in both games, with the previous instance occurring on September 25, 1977 when Ron Guidry and a combined Ed Figueroa-Sparky Lyle shutout stopped the Blue Jays at Toronto. Charles threw back-to-back complete games again on May 4 at Chicago, winning 6-1, and on May 10 against Minnesota, also winning 6-1; that game also marked his third complete game in his first three Yankee Stadium starts.
In his next seven appearances (five starts) after his 6-0 start, however, from May 20 through July 19, Charles went 1-2 with a 7.50 ERA (20 ER, 24 IP). Included in those games was an 0-2 record and a 9.47 ERA (20 ER, 19 IP) in his five starts. As a result he was optioned to Columbus on June 20. At the time of his option, Charles was 6-2 with a 3.62 ERA (15 G, 12 GS, 82 IP, 79 H, 34 R, 33 ER, 9 HR, 30 BB, 53 K [1.33 WHIP]).
While with the Clippers he appeared in five games (two starts), going 0-2 with a 6.07 ERA. Charles was recalled from Columbus on July 6, and in his 20 games with the Yankees through the end of the season following his recall (including four starts), he went 4-5 with a 3.59 ERA (72.2 IP, 58 H, 29 R, 29 ER, 10 HR, 27 BB, 47 K [1.18 WHIP].
He threw 21 scoreless innings in six outings between August 3 and August 24, and ran the string to a career high 22.1 innings before [yielding a run] on August 28. Included in that span was eight shutout innings in relief of Tommy John (who was forced to leave after one inning pitched with a stomach disorder) on August 19 at Seattle, gaining credit for the win as John and Hudson combined for an 8-0, 5-hit shutout.
In his final five outings of the year (two starts, three relief appearances) he was 2-1, allowing seven earned runs in 30 innings pitched (2.10 ERA). Charles threw his second shutout of the season on September 29 against Boston, limiting the Red Sox to four hits in a 6-0 Yankee win, becoming the first Yankee pitcher to throw two complete game shutouts in Yankee Stadium [in the same season] since both Dave Righetti and Ron Guidry threw two apiece in 1983. In his next start on October 4 against Baltimore, his last one in 1987, he threw another complete game, a 4-2 loss but his sixth complete game of the year and the third time in '87 he had back-to-back complete games.
His six complete games and two shutouts led the Yankees and he was second on the club with 100 strikeouts. Charles finished with a record of 11-7 in 35 games (16 starts) and a 3.61 ERA, and his 11 wins was the third highest total on the team. His six complete games led the Yankees and was the most by a Yankee pitcher since Ron Guidry (11) and Phil Niekro (7) in 1985. He achieved single season bests in wins and complete games. Charles allowed 19 home runs, 12 of which (including the first five) were solo. As a starter he was 6-5 with a 4.12 ERA (45 ER, 98.1 IP), while as a reliever he was 5-2 with a 2.88 ERA (18 ER, 56.1 IP).
In 1981, his first pro season, Charles was 5-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 14 games with Helena. He posted a 15-5 record and a 1.85 ERA in 1982 with Peninsula of the Carolina League. He led the league in ERA, wins and shutouts, was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year and was a Carolina League All-Star.
Charles recorded his first major league win at Pittsburgh on June 19, 1983. On July 20 against Houston, he had a no-hitter through 8.1 innings broken up by Craig Reynolds' bloop single, eventually giving up three hits, which is tied for the lowest-hit complete game of his career. He also had a career high five-game winning streak.
He beat the Dodgers 7-2 in Game Three of the '83 National League Championship Series, allowing just four hits in nine innings while becoming the first rookie to hurl a complete game in NLCS history. Charles was 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA in two starts in the '83 World Series against the Orioles. He was named to the Baseball Digest Rookie Team.
Charles posted his first career shutout on July 5, 1984 against Atlanta in a rain-shortened seven-inning game. He suffered a fractured rib on August 9 and missed 22 days of the season. He started switch-hitting in '84 and doubled off Dennis Eckersley in his first major league at-bat as a left-handed hitter on July 30.
In 1985 Charles set season highs in games (33), innings pitched (193.0) and strikeouts (122). He struck out a career high 10 batters at Montreal on October 2 and had the second longest consecutive scoreless inning streak on the Phillie staff (16.2 innings).
He started the season in the bullpen, where he was 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA, and moved into the starting rotation on May 14, replacing Jerry Koosman. Charles was 8-11, 3.85 ERA in 26 starts. He experienced six one-run losses and four two-run losses, and in his 11 losses as a starter the Phillies scored 27 runs, an average of 2.45 per game. He was the starting pitcher in the Phils' record-setting 26-7 game against the Mets on June 11 and had three hits on August 18 at Chicago.
He was used by the Phillies as a reliever in his first two games in 1986, going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA, then made 23 straight starts. Charles was sent back to the bullpen on September 2 for the remainder of the season. As a starter in those 23 games he was 6-10 with a 5.24 ERA and gave up all 20 of his homers as a starter. The Phillies scored just 25 runs in his 10 losses, an average of 2.5 runs per game. In his 10 games as a reliever, he was 1-0 with no saves and a 3.10 ERA.
Through June 10 Charles was 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA over his first 11 games, but had a career high six-game losing streak from June 15 through July 10 with a 7.16 ERA. Over his next five starts, from July 20 through August 9, he was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA. Charles made three more starts after that without a decision and then came out of the bullpen in his final eight appearances without a decision or a save.
In his 9-3 victory at Cincinnati on July 20, he had season highs of eight innings pitched and seven strikeouts; he also went eight innings in a 2-0 loss to Montreal on June 15. Charles' best outing came on May 31 against San Diego, hurling seven shutout innings and giving up five hits to gain credit for the Phillies' 1-0 victory. His longest outing as a reliever was three innings, on three occasions: April 7 at Cincinnati (Opening Day), September 8 at Chicago and September 17 against St. Louis. Overall in 1986 he was 7-10 with a 4.94 ERA.
Charles was acquired by the Yankees in December 1986 from the Phillies with pitcher Jeff Knox in exchange for outfielder Mike Easler and infielder Tom Barrett.
Charles is a graduate of South Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX) High School where he played baseball. He was converted from shortstop to pitcher at Prairie View A & M (TX) University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management. Charles pitched in the NAIA playoffs in 1980 and 1981.
His hobbies are backgammon, chess and dominoes and his favorite spectator sports are basketball and football. His favorite team growing up was the Dallas Cowboys, his favorite player was Drew Pearson and his favorite ballpark is Dodger Stadium. His favorite entertainers are Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood and Stevie Wonder."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
Charles Hudson began the year as a long reliever, but became a last-minute replacement in the Yankees home opener. He pitched a three-hit masterpiece and started the year with six straight victories. This streak included the first nine-inning shutout of his career. Then the roof fell in.
In his next seven appearances, including two in relief, he struggled with his control and was optioned to Columbus. Hudson returned to the bullpen in July, and in August ran off a string of 22 scoreless innings. But while he had flashes of excellence, he was inconsistent from appearance to appearance.
Despite everything, the hard-throwing righty led the team with six complete games and two shutouts, was second on the club with 100 strikeouts, and third with 11 wins. If the Yankees can work out Hudson's problems of 1987, he could mean the difference in their 1988 pennant hopes."
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"Charles began the 1987 season strongly, going 6-0 in his first eight games with a 2.02 ERA (13 ER, 58 IP) with 44 hits, 19 walks and 35 strikeouts [1.09 WHIP]. His 6-0 start was the best by any Yankee pitcher since Tommy John began 1980 with a 7-0 record. Of those eight games (through May 15), seven were starts, with his first appearance of the year in a relief role on April 8 at Detroit. In that game, Charles pitched 4.1 innings in relief of Tommy John, retiring all 13 batters he faced with three strikeouts, and received credit for the Yankees' 6-5 win over the Tigers.
That earned Charles a start for his Yankee Stadium debut, on April 13 against Cleveland (the home opener), and he threw a complete game, allowing the Indians just three hits (all solo home runs) while recording 10 strikeouts to receive credit for the Yankees' 11-3 victory. The 10 strikeouts was his season high and matched his career strikeout high, set on October 2, 1985 at Montreal while with the Phillies. In addition, the 3-hitter matched his career low-hit game, July 20, 1983 while with the Phillies.
In his next outing on April 19 against Kansas City, also at Yankee Stadium (Game 1), Charles recorded New York's first complete game shutout of the year, blanking the Royals on seven hits, three walks and seven strikeouts, winning 5-0. It was the first nine-inning shutout of his career, having thrown a rain-shortened shutout as a Phillie in 1984, and the first complete game shutout by a Yankee at Yankee Stadium since Ed Whitson shut out Texas 6-0 on July 12, 1985. With that complete game, Charles became the first Yankee to throw back-to-back complete games since Phil Niekro did so on September 13 and 18, 1985 against Toronto and Detroit, respectively.
When Tommy John, Pat Clements and Dave Righetti combined on a 1-0 shutout in Game 2 of that doubleheader following Charles' shutout, it marked the 14th time in their history the Yankees won a doubleheader via shutouts in both games, with the previous instance occurring on September 25, 1977 when Ron Guidry and a combined Ed Figueroa-Sparky Lyle shutout stopped the Blue Jays at Toronto. Charles threw back-to-back complete games again on May 4 at Chicago, winning 6-1, and on May 10 against Minnesota, also winning 6-1; that game also marked his third complete game in his first three Yankee Stadium starts.
In his next seven appearances (five starts) after his 6-0 start, however, from May 20 through July 19, Charles went 1-2 with a 7.50 ERA (20 ER, 24 IP). Included in those games was an 0-2 record and a 9.47 ERA (20 ER, 19 IP) in his five starts. As a result he was optioned to Columbus on June 20. At the time of his option, Charles was 6-2 with a 3.62 ERA (15 G, 12 GS, 82 IP, 79 H, 34 R, 33 ER, 9 HR, 30 BB, 53 K [1.33 WHIP]).
While with the Clippers he appeared in five games (two starts), going 0-2 with a 6.07 ERA. Charles was recalled from Columbus on July 6, and in his 20 games with the Yankees through the end of the season following his recall (including four starts), he went 4-5 with a 3.59 ERA (72.2 IP, 58 H, 29 R, 29 ER, 10 HR, 27 BB, 47 K [1.18 WHIP].
He threw 21 scoreless innings in six outings between August 3 and August 24, and ran the string to a career high 22.1 innings before [yielding a run] on August 28. Included in that span was eight shutout innings in relief of Tommy John (who was forced to leave after one inning pitched with a stomach disorder) on August 19 at Seattle, gaining credit for the win as John and Hudson combined for an 8-0, 5-hit shutout.
In his final five outings of the year (two starts, three relief appearances) he was 2-1, allowing seven earned runs in 30 innings pitched (2.10 ERA). Charles threw his second shutout of the season on September 29 against Boston, limiting the Red Sox to four hits in a 6-0 Yankee win, becoming the first Yankee pitcher to throw two complete game shutouts in Yankee Stadium [in the same season] since both Dave Righetti and Ron Guidry threw two apiece in 1983. In his next start on October 4 against Baltimore, his last one in 1987, he threw another complete game, a 4-2 loss but his sixth complete game of the year and the third time in '87 he had back-to-back complete games.
His six complete games and two shutouts led the Yankees and he was second on the club with 100 strikeouts. Charles finished with a record of 11-7 in 35 games (16 starts) and a 3.61 ERA, and his 11 wins was the third highest total on the team. His six complete games led the Yankees and was the most by a Yankee pitcher since Ron Guidry (11) and Phil Niekro (7) in 1985. He achieved single season bests in wins and complete games. Charles allowed 19 home runs, 12 of which (including the first five) were solo. As a starter he was 6-5 with a 4.12 ERA (45 ER, 98.1 IP), while as a reliever he was 5-2 with a 2.88 ERA (18 ER, 56.1 IP).
In 1981, his first pro season, Charles was 5-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 14 games with Helena. He posted a 15-5 record and a 1.85 ERA in 1982 with Peninsula of the Carolina League. He led the league in ERA, wins and shutouts, was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year and was a Carolina League All-Star.
Charles recorded his first major league win at Pittsburgh on June 19, 1983. On July 20 against Houston, he had a no-hitter through 8.1 innings broken up by Craig Reynolds' bloop single, eventually giving up three hits, which is tied for the lowest-hit complete game of his career. He also had a career high five-game winning streak.
He beat the Dodgers 7-2 in Game Three of the '83 National League Championship Series, allowing just four hits in nine innings while becoming the first rookie to hurl a complete game in NLCS history. Charles was 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA in two starts in the '83 World Series against the Orioles. He was named to the Baseball Digest Rookie Team.
Charles posted his first career shutout on July 5, 1984 against Atlanta in a rain-shortened seven-inning game. He suffered a fractured rib on August 9 and missed 22 days of the season. He started switch-hitting in '84 and doubled off Dennis Eckersley in his first major league at-bat as a left-handed hitter on July 30.
In 1985 Charles set season highs in games (33), innings pitched (193.0) and strikeouts (122). He struck out a career high 10 batters at Montreal on October 2 and had the second longest consecutive scoreless inning streak on the Phillie staff (16.2 innings).
He started the season in the bullpen, where he was 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA, and moved into the starting rotation on May 14, replacing Jerry Koosman. Charles was 8-11, 3.85 ERA in 26 starts. He experienced six one-run losses and four two-run losses, and in his 11 losses as a starter the Phillies scored 27 runs, an average of 2.45 per game. He was the starting pitcher in the Phils' record-setting 26-7 game against the Mets on June 11 and had three hits on August 18 at Chicago.
He was used by the Phillies as a reliever in his first two games in 1986, going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA, then made 23 straight starts. Charles was sent back to the bullpen on September 2 for the remainder of the season. As a starter in those 23 games he was 6-10 with a 5.24 ERA and gave up all 20 of his homers as a starter. The Phillies scored just 25 runs in his 10 losses, an average of 2.5 runs per game. In his 10 games as a reliever, he was 1-0 with no saves and a 3.10 ERA.
Through June 10 Charles was 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA over his first 11 games, but had a career high six-game losing streak from June 15 through July 10 with a 7.16 ERA. Over his next five starts, from July 20 through August 9, he was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA. Charles made three more starts after that without a decision and then came out of the bullpen in his final eight appearances without a decision or a save.
In his 9-3 victory at Cincinnati on July 20, he had season highs of eight innings pitched and seven strikeouts; he also went eight innings in a 2-0 loss to Montreal on June 15. Charles' best outing came on May 31 against San Diego, hurling seven shutout innings and giving up five hits to gain credit for the Phillies' 1-0 victory. His longest outing as a reliever was three innings, on three occasions: April 7 at Cincinnati (Opening Day), September 8 at Chicago and September 17 against St. Louis. Overall in 1986 he was 7-10 with a 4.94 ERA.
Charles was acquired by the Yankees in December 1986 from the Phillies with pitcher Jeff Knox in exchange for outfielder Mike Easler and infielder Tom Barrett.
Charles is a graduate of South Oak Cliff (Dallas, TX) High School where he played baseball. He was converted from shortstop to pitcher at Prairie View A & M (TX) University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management. Charles pitched in the NAIA playoffs in 1980 and 1981.
His hobbies are backgammon, chess and dominoes and his favorite spectator sports are basketball and football. His favorite team growing up was the Dallas Cowboys, his favorite player was Drew Pearson and his favorite ballpark is Dodger Stadium. His favorite entertainers are Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood and Stevie Wonder."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
Thursday, October 6, 2016
1988 Profile: Rick Rhoden
"Matched career in victories despite injury problems. Rhoden was scratched from his Opening Day assignment after suffering an intercostal muscle when he slipped on a mound in spring training. This resulted in a slow start as he dropped three of his first five decisions. He did not pitch after September 7 due to discomfort in his right shoulder; he never returned to form after he was hit by a line drive in Seattle on August 18.
Rhoden threw his fourth career 2-hitter, a 4-1 win over the White Sox on May 6. He went 12-3 from May 6 through August 2. Expected to have a better year this season because he will know the league better, he relies heavily on working to hitters' weaknesses.
Born in Boynton Beach, Florida, Rhoden was acquired from the Pirates with Pat Clements and Cecilio Guante for Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher and Logan Easley in November of 1986. A scratch golfer, he was the victim of Osteomeyelitis as a youngster."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1988 Edition
"The Yankees were looking to ease their pitching problems when they traded for veteran pitcher Rick Rhoden in November 1986. Having gone 15-12 with the lowly Pirates the previous year, Rhoden was expected to become the Yankees' number one pitcher in 1987. That's exactly what he did. After nearly 12 seasons in the National League, Rhoden came to New York and led the team in wins (16-10), equaling his career high.
Even more impressive is his consistency. Rhoden is one of only eight major leaguers to have won 10 or more games in each of the last six seasons (1987 being the ninth time in his career). It was also his sixth straight season of 100 or more strikeouts.
And still, 1987 could be called a disappointment for the right-hander after two freak injuries. In March he was injured after slipping on the mound during an exhibition, and after admittedly 'surviving' the first month of the season was 11-5 at the All-Star break. He then injured his right shoulder on August 18 after being hit there by a line drive. At the time he was 14-6 and in strong contention for the Cy Young Award.
The Yankees are anxious to see what he'll do in an injury-free year. Rhoden vows, 'I know that when I'm 100 per cent and pitching well, I can run off some wins.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"His spring training preparation for 1987 was severely interrupted on March 16 at Winter Haven against Boston. An injury occurred while Rick was warming up to begin the second inning of that start. He suffered an intercostal muscle strain (the muscles between the ribs) on the right side. Rick left the game at that point and did not pitch again until April 1. The injury caused him to miss his Opening Day starting assignment on April 6, delaying his first appearance of the season until April 10.
Rick got off to a good start in 1987, posting a 6-3 mark with a 3.70 ERA in his first 11 games through June 2. In his most impressive start of '87, he tossed his fourth career 2-hitter on May 6 at Chicago, his first 2-hitter since August 9, 1984 against the Mets at Shea; the only hits were by Ron Hassey and Ron Karkovice. Rick's longest winning streak was four games from May 2 through May 28. At the All-Star break he was 11-5 with a 3.69 ERA.
Beginning with the 2-hitter through August 2, Rick made 18 appearances (17 starts) and went 12-3 with a 3.28 ERA (43 ER, 118 IP). His overall record at that point was 14-6 with a 3.56 ERA in 23 games (22 starts). The beginning of the end of Rick's '87 season came on August 18 at Seattle, when in the sixth inning he was hit on his right shoulder by a line drive off the bat of Alvin Davis. The injury sustained caused him discomfort for the remainder of the year. He did not miss a turn in the rotation and won his next start on August 23 at Oakland, but was forced to leave after five innings with right shoulder stiffness. Rick pitched just two innings in his August 29 start against Seattle and was forced to leave with a stiff right shoulder. He missed his next start but made two more, September 7 at Boston (his last win) and September 12 at Toronto (his last loss), before his season ended. In his four post-injury starts he was 2-2 with a 5.06 ERA (9 ER, 16 IP).
Rhoden led the Yankees with 16 wins in 1987, matching the personal career high he set in 1977 with Los Angeles. The last Yankee right-hander to win more games was Ed Figueroa, a 20-game winner for the Yankees in 1978. This was Rhoden's sixth straight double-figure win season, and the ninth of his career. He is one of only eight major league pitchers to win 10+ games in each of the last six seasons (the others are Floyd Bannister, Bill Gullickson, Charlie Hough, Jack Morris, Shane Rawley, John Tudor and Fernando Valenzuela). He has a lifetime home park record of 87-50 for a .635 won-loss percentage (10-3 at Yankee Stadium, 48-37 at Three Rivers Stadium and 29-10 at Dodger Stadium).
He led the Yankee staff with 61 walks and 107 strikeouts. His four complete games were second on the staff, as were his 29 starts and 181.2 innings pitched. 1987 was his sixth straight season with 100+ strikeouts, and the seventh of his career. In 16 starts in which he pitched six innings or more, Rhoden allowed just 29 earned runs in 120.1 innings pitched, going 12-3 with a 2.17 ERA and averaging 7.5 innings in those starts. In his other 13 starts, he was 4-7 with a 7.13 ERA (47 ER, 51.1 IP).
His error on June 18 against Baltimore was his only miscue of '87 and broke a string of 92 errorless games and 139 errorless chances since his last error on August 4, 1984 against the Mets. It was only the fifth season in his 11 full years Rick has committed an error. He has just six lifetime errors in 500 total career chances, a .998 fielding percentage (150 putouts, 346 assists).
Rick was acquired by the Yankees along with pitchers Cecilio Guante and Pat Clements from the Pittsburgh Pirates in November 1986 in exchange for pitchers Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher and Logan Easley. He had one of his best seasons in the major leagues for Pittsburgh in '86 and finished in a tie for fifth place in the National League Cy Young Award balloting. He was voted Pirates MVP in a poll of the Pittsburgh media.
He tied for second in the NL in complete games (12), was fourth in innings pitched (253.2), fourth in ERA (2.84), tied for eighth in wins (15) and 11th in strikeouts (159). He led the Pirates in wins, ERA, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts and tied for the team lead in starts (34). Rhoden established career highs in complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts. His 12 complete games were the most by a Pirate since Jerry Reuss had 15 in 1975.
Rhoden was one of two pitchers to start 30 National League games from 1982-86 (Fernando Valenzuela is the other), and in 1986 put together his fifth straight double-figure win season and the eighth of his career. He also surpassed 200 innings pitched for the fifth straight year and sixth time in his career, and went over 2,000 innings pitched for his career on July 17 against San Diego. Rick is one of four NL pitchers to win 10 or more NL games in each of the last five seasons (the others are Valenzuela, Bill Gullickson and Nolan Ryan).
He completed seven of his last 13 starts and won six of his last 12 decisions, but was 0-5 in his last six starts; the Pirates scored a total of 23 runs in his 12 losses. His ERA did not go over 3.00 at any point during the season. Rick had a batting average-against of .228 (211 hits/926 at-bats) while giving up 45 doubles, seven triples and seven home runs. He had six pickoffs, and opposing base stealers were caught 16 times against him in 36 attempts.
Rick fanned 10 in a 3-hitter at Montreal on June 21 and struck out a career high 11 batters on June 27 against Montreal. He was National League Pitcher of the Month in June, going 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA in six starts. Rick was selected to the All-Star team for the second time, but did not appear in the game.
He had a scoreless inning streak of 19.1 innings, the longest by a Pirate in '86, from July 22 through August 6 and recorded his 16th career shutout on August 1 against St. Louis, giving up five hits. Rhoden posted a 5-1 record in August with a 2.73 ERA, completing four of his seven starts.
A good hitter, Rhoden has a lifetime .240 average (175-for-730), with nine home runs and 74 RBIs. He led major league pitchers with a .278 batting average (25-for-90) in '86, based on a minimum of 50 plate appearances, and batted .318 (7-for-22) with runners in scoring position. Rick batted .325 (13-for-40) against left-handers with four doubles and five RBIs, and hit .240 (12-for-50) against right-handers with five doubles, a home run and five RBIs. He has batted over .300 three times (1976, 1980, 1984) and has collected 20 or more hits three times (1976, 1982, 1984).
His one homer in '86 came in his last game as a Pirate, on September 30 at St. Louis, a solo shot off Danny Cox; he also had a double in that game along with two RBIs. Rick was the recipient of the NL Silver Slugger Award for the third straight year. Among active pitchers through 1986, his nine career home runs ranked second in the NL behind Bob Forsch (10) and was fourth in the majors behind Forsch, Tom Seaver (12) and Steve Carlton (13).
Rick had 32 putouts and 34 assists in '86 without an error to lead NL pitchers in fielding. His 32 putouts were a career high, surpassing his previous high of 21 in 1982.
Four of his 16 National League shutouts have come against the Reds, including a 2-hitter and a pair of 3-hitters. He has blanked eight NL teams (all but Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Montreal).
Rhoden was the Dodgers' first round pick in the June 1971 draft (20th player selected overall), and in his first pro game fanned 13 for Daytona Beach (A) in a shutout against Tampa. He began 1972 at El Paso (AA) but was promoted to Albuquerque (AAA) in just his second pro season. Rick went 4-9 at Albuquerque in 1973; he was on the disabled list from July 20-August 15.
In 1974 he was recalled from Albuquerque on July 5 and made his major league debut on the same night, working 0.2 scoreless innings in relief at Montreal. He was optioned back to Albuquerque and was recalled again in September, and worked six innings in relief on September 22 against San Diego to earn his first major league win. Rick made his first major league start in 1975 on April 20 in Los Angeles against San Francisco (no decision, 7.0 IP, 9 hits, 3 runs). In 1976, he won his first nine games, was selected to the NL All-Star team and pitched a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game. Rick finished 11th in the NL in ERA that year and batted .308 (20-for-65).
Rick won his first five decisions of 1977 and 10 of his first 13, and set a personal career high with 16 victories that season. He hit three homers and drove in 12 runs. His double against against the Yankees off Ron Guidry in Los Angeles in Game Four of the '77 World Series is the last extra base hit by a pitcher in World Series play. Rick won his first four games of 1978 (three complete games) but developed arm trouble and was sent to the bullpen in August. He was acquired by the Pirates four days into the 1979 season, but made only one appearance (May 8 at Atlanta) before being placed on the disabled list on May 12. Rick underwent surgery by Dr. Frank Jobe for the removal of bone chips in his right shoulder on June 28.
He rebounded from his 1979 shoulder surgery in 1980. He opened the year at Portland (Pirates' AAA affiliate) and tossed a no-hitter on April 23 to defeat Phoenix 1-0. Rick was recalled by Pittsburgh on June 10. He lost his first three starts with the Bucs, but rebounded to a 7-5 record and batted .375 (15-for-40). Rick went 6-0 in his first 10 starts in 1981 and led the Pirates in wins, starts, complete games, shutouts (10th in the NL), innings pitched and strikeouts. In 1982, he led the Pirate staff in starts, innings pitched and losses, and tied for the team lead in complete games. Rick hit three homers, the most by a Pirate pitcher since Johnny Lindell hit four in 1953, and drove in 12 runs. He came into the '82 season with a 13-0 lifetime April record but lost three April outings. He reached the 1,000 innings pitched mark on May 30 against San Francisco.
Rick recorded his first major league save on April 17, 1983, working three scoreless innings against Chicago. He went to a shorter windup in late August with excellent results. He ranked ninth in the NL in ERA, sixth in innings pitched and eighth in strikeouts. He led the Pirates in ERA and innings pitched and tied for the team lead in starts.
In 1984 Rick went 8-2 with a 2.22 ERA in 15 starts after the All-Star break, dropping his ERA from 3.21 to 2.72 (fourth best in the NL). He was fourth in the league in innings pitched, tied for ninth in wins and tied for fourth in shutouts. Rick walked one or fewer in 15 of his 33 starts and two or fewer in 24; his walks per nine innings pitched ratio of 2.34 was the league's seventh best. He pitched an average of 7.22 innings per start, sixth best in the NL (minimum 10 starts). He led the NL with a 1.88 ERA in home games (and was 8-3 at Three Rivers) and batted .333 (28-for-84) to win his first NL Silver Slugger Award.
Rick tossed his third career 2-hitter on August 9 at New York to blank the Mets while fanning 10 hitters, his career high until '86. He had a stretch of 104 innings pitched without yielding a homer between July 14 and September 22. He had a 10-game hitting streak between July 25 and September 11, hitting .500 (14-for-28) in that span.
He struggled to a 10-15 mark in 1985, only the second time in his career he finished under .500 for a full season. Rick walked two or fewer batters in 24 of his career high 35 starts. He went seven or more innings in 16 of his 35 starts, going 6-4 with a 2.34 ERA in those games. He had five pickoffs, and opposing runners were 19-for-31 in steal attempts.
Career win No. 100 came on May 25 at Atlanta, with Rick pitching a complete game to defeat the Braves 8-2. His other complete game came on August 16 when he beat the Mets 7-1, giving up nine hits and one earned run. Rick fanned a season high nine batters in seven innings at San Francisco on July 25, and the reached 1,000 mark in career strikeouts on September 6 at Houston, striking out Glenn Davis. He posted a 3-1 record in August with a 3.53 ERA in five starts.
He won his second NL Silver Slugger Award in '85, batting .189 (14-for-74) with six RBIs. He struck out just seven times in 78 plate appearances, and three of his six RBIs were game winners.
Rick was a victim of Osteomyeletis as a youngster. At the age of eight, he was hurt while playing on a 40-foot strip of plastic, hosed down with water, upon which youngsters slide for distance. His right knee was severely cut by a pair of rusty scissors wedged in the grass under the water slide. Two months later he was struck with the original fever of Osteomyeletis. Rick underwent surgery to remove part of his left knee so that his left leg would not outgrow his affected right leg. He was forced to wear a brace until he was 12 and later had to walk with the aid of a cane.
Rick graduated from Atlantic High School in Boynton, Florida, where he was an outstanding baseball and basketball player. He was a big Bob Gibson fan as a youngster. He played winter ball in the Dominican Republic early in his career.
Rick is a scratch golfer and enjoys fishing, and is an avid pro wrestling fan- his favorite wrestler is Hulk Hogan. He was the established table tennis champ of Dodgertown and was L.A.'s bubble gum blowing champion. He was a member of the major league all-star squad that toured Japan in November of 1986, and he won two games in that series (the U.S. won six of the seven games). Rick has a son, Tanner."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
Rhoden threw his fourth career 2-hitter, a 4-1 win over the White Sox on May 6. He went 12-3 from May 6 through August 2. Expected to have a better year this season because he will know the league better, he relies heavily on working to hitters' weaknesses.
Born in Boynton Beach, Florida, Rhoden was acquired from the Pirates with Pat Clements and Cecilio Guante for Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher and Logan Easley in November of 1986. A scratch golfer, he was the victim of Osteomeyelitis as a youngster."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1988 Edition
"The Yankees were looking to ease their pitching problems when they traded for veteran pitcher Rick Rhoden in November 1986. Having gone 15-12 with the lowly Pirates the previous year, Rhoden was expected to become the Yankees' number one pitcher in 1987. That's exactly what he did. After nearly 12 seasons in the National League, Rhoden came to New York and led the team in wins (16-10), equaling his career high.
Even more impressive is his consistency. Rhoden is one of only eight major leaguers to have won 10 or more games in each of the last six seasons (1987 being the ninth time in his career). It was also his sixth straight season of 100 or more strikeouts.
And still, 1987 could be called a disappointment for the right-hander after two freak injuries. In March he was injured after slipping on the mound during an exhibition, and after admittedly 'surviving' the first month of the season was 11-5 at the All-Star break. He then injured his right shoulder on August 18 after being hit there by a line drive. At the time he was 14-6 and in strong contention for the Cy Young Award.
The Yankees are anxious to see what he'll do in an injury-free year. Rhoden vows, 'I know that when I'm 100 per cent and pitching well, I can run off some wins.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"His spring training preparation for 1987 was severely interrupted on March 16 at Winter Haven against Boston. An injury occurred while Rick was warming up to begin the second inning of that start. He suffered an intercostal muscle strain (the muscles between the ribs) on the right side. Rick left the game at that point and did not pitch again until April 1. The injury caused him to miss his Opening Day starting assignment on April 6, delaying his first appearance of the season until April 10.
Rick got off to a good start in 1987, posting a 6-3 mark with a 3.70 ERA in his first 11 games through June 2. In his most impressive start of '87, he tossed his fourth career 2-hitter on May 6 at Chicago, his first 2-hitter since August 9, 1984 against the Mets at Shea; the only hits were by Ron Hassey and Ron Karkovice. Rick's longest winning streak was four games from May 2 through May 28. At the All-Star break he was 11-5 with a 3.69 ERA.
Beginning with the 2-hitter through August 2, Rick made 18 appearances (17 starts) and went 12-3 with a 3.28 ERA (43 ER, 118 IP). His overall record at that point was 14-6 with a 3.56 ERA in 23 games (22 starts). The beginning of the end of Rick's '87 season came on August 18 at Seattle, when in the sixth inning he was hit on his right shoulder by a line drive off the bat of Alvin Davis. The injury sustained caused him discomfort for the remainder of the year. He did not miss a turn in the rotation and won his next start on August 23 at Oakland, but was forced to leave after five innings with right shoulder stiffness. Rick pitched just two innings in his August 29 start against Seattle and was forced to leave with a stiff right shoulder. He missed his next start but made two more, September 7 at Boston (his last win) and September 12 at Toronto (his last loss), before his season ended. In his four post-injury starts he was 2-2 with a 5.06 ERA (9 ER, 16 IP).
Rhoden led the Yankees with 16 wins in 1987, matching the personal career high he set in 1977 with Los Angeles. The last Yankee right-hander to win more games was Ed Figueroa, a 20-game winner for the Yankees in 1978. This was Rhoden's sixth straight double-figure win season, and the ninth of his career. He is one of only eight major league pitchers to win 10+ games in each of the last six seasons (the others are Floyd Bannister, Bill Gullickson, Charlie Hough, Jack Morris, Shane Rawley, John Tudor and Fernando Valenzuela). He has a lifetime home park record of 87-50 for a .635 won-loss percentage (10-3 at Yankee Stadium, 48-37 at Three Rivers Stadium and 29-10 at Dodger Stadium).
He led the Yankee staff with 61 walks and 107 strikeouts. His four complete games were second on the staff, as were his 29 starts and 181.2 innings pitched. 1987 was his sixth straight season with 100+ strikeouts, and the seventh of his career. In 16 starts in which he pitched six innings or more, Rhoden allowed just 29 earned runs in 120.1 innings pitched, going 12-3 with a 2.17 ERA and averaging 7.5 innings in those starts. In his other 13 starts, he was 4-7 with a 7.13 ERA (47 ER, 51.1 IP).
His error on June 18 against Baltimore was his only miscue of '87 and broke a string of 92 errorless games and 139 errorless chances since his last error on August 4, 1984 against the Mets. It was only the fifth season in his 11 full years Rick has committed an error. He has just six lifetime errors in 500 total career chances, a .998 fielding percentage (150 putouts, 346 assists).
Rick was acquired by the Yankees along with pitchers Cecilio Guante and Pat Clements from the Pittsburgh Pirates in November 1986 in exchange for pitchers Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher and Logan Easley. He had one of his best seasons in the major leagues for Pittsburgh in '86 and finished in a tie for fifth place in the National League Cy Young Award balloting. He was voted Pirates MVP in a poll of the Pittsburgh media.
He tied for second in the NL in complete games (12), was fourth in innings pitched (253.2), fourth in ERA (2.84), tied for eighth in wins (15) and 11th in strikeouts (159). He led the Pirates in wins, ERA, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts and tied for the team lead in starts (34). Rhoden established career highs in complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts. His 12 complete games were the most by a Pirate since Jerry Reuss had 15 in 1975.
Rhoden was one of two pitchers to start 30 National League games from 1982-86 (Fernando Valenzuela is the other), and in 1986 put together his fifth straight double-figure win season and the eighth of his career. He also surpassed 200 innings pitched for the fifth straight year and sixth time in his career, and went over 2,000 innings pitched for his career on July 17 against San Diego. Rick is one of four NL pitchers to win 10 or more NL games in each of the last five seasons (the others are Valenzuela, Bill Gullickson and Nolan Ryan).
He completed seven of his last 13 starts and won six of his last 12 decisions, but was 0-5 in his last six starts; the Pirates scored a total of 23 runs in his 12 losses. His ERA did not go over 3.00 at any point during the season. Rick had a batting average-against of .228 (211 hits/926 at-bats) while giving up 45 doubles, seven triples and seven home runs. He had six pickoffs, and opposing base stealers were caught 16 times against him in 36 attempts.
Rick fanned 10 in a 3-hitter at Montreal on June 21 and struck out a career high 11 batters on June 27 against Montreal. He was National League Pitcher of the Month in June, going 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA in six starts. Rick was selected to the All-Star team for the second time, but did not appear in the game.
He had a scoreless inning streak of 19.1 innings, the longest by a Pirate in '86, from July 22 through August 6 and recorded his 16th career shutout on August 1 against St. Louis, giving up five hits. Rhoden posted a 5-1 record in August with a 2.73 ERA, completing four of his seven starts.
A good hitter, Rhoden has a lifetime .240 average (175-for-730), with nine home runs and 74 RBIs. He led major league pitchers with a .278 batting average (25-for-90) in '86, based on a minimum of 50 plate appearances, and batted .318 (7-for-22) with runners in scoring position. Rick batted .325 (13-for-40) against left-handers with four doubles and five RBIs, and hit .240 (12-for-50) against right-handers with five doubles, a home run and five RBIs. He has batted over .300 three times (1976, 1980, 1984) and has collected 20 or more hits three times (1976, 1982, 1984).
His one homer in '86 came in his last game as a Pirate, on September 30 at St. Louis, a solo shot off Danny Cox; he also had a double in that game along with two RBIs. Rick was the recipient of the NL Silver Slugger Award for the third straight year. Among active pitchers through 1986, his nine career home runs ranked second in the NL behind Bob Forsch (10) and was fourth in the majors behind Forsch, Tom Seaver (12) and Steve Carlton (13).
Rick had 32 putouts and 34 assists in '86 without an error to lead NL pitchers in fielding. His 32 putouts were a career high, surpassing his previous high of 21 in 1982.
Four of his 16 National League shutouts have come against the Reds, including a 2-hitter and a pair of 3-hitters. He has blanked eight NL teams (all but Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Montreal).
Rhoden was the Dodgers' first round pick in the June 1971 draft (20th player selected overall), and in his first pro game fanned 13 for Daytona Beach (A) in a shutout against Tampa. He began 1972 at El Paso (AA) but was promoted to Albuquerque (AAA) in just his second pro season. Rick went 4-9 at Albuquerque in 1973; he was on the disabled list from July 20-August 15.
In 1974 he was recalled from Albuquerque on July 5 and made his major league debut on the same night, working 0.2 scoreless innings in relief at Montreal. He was optioned back to Albuquerque and was recalled again in September, and worked six innings in relief on September 22 against San Diego to earn his first major league win. Rick made his first major league start in 1975 on April 20 in Los Angeles against San Francisco (no decision, 7.0 IP, 9 hits, 3 runs). In 1976, he won his first nine games, was selected to the NL All-Star team and pitched a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game. Rick finished 11th in the NL in ERA that year and batted .308 (20-for-65).
Rick won his first five decisions of 1977 and 10 of his first 13, and set a personal career high with 16 victories that season. He hit three homers and drove in 12 runs. His double against against the Yankees off Ron Guidry in Los Angeles in Game Four of the '77 World Series is the last extra base hit by a pitcher in World Series play. Rick won his first four games of 1978 (three complete games) but developed arm trouble and was sent to the bullpen in August. He was acquired by the Pirates four days into the 1979 season, but made only one appearance (May 8 at Atlanta) before being placed on the disabled list on May 12. Rick underwent surgery by Dr. Frank Jobe for the removal of bone chips in his right shoulder on June 28.
He rebounded from his 1979 shoulder surgery in 1980. He opened the year at Portland (Pirates' AAA affiliate) and tossed a no-hitter on April 23 to defeat Phoenix 1-0. Rick was recalled by Pittsburgh on June 10. He lost his first three starts with the Bucs, but rebounded to a 7-5 record and batted .375 (15-for-40). Rick went 6-0 in his first 10 starts in 1981 and led the Pirates in wins, starts, complete games, shutouts (10th in the NL), innings pitched and strikeouts. In 1982, he led the Pirate staff in starts, innings pitched and losses, and tied for the team lead in complete games. Rick hit three homers, the most by a Pirate pitcher since Johnny Lindell hit four in 1953, and drove in 12 runs. He came into the '82 season with a 13-0 lifetime April record but lost three April outings. He reached the 1,000 innings pitched mark on May 30 against San Francisco.
Rick recorded his first major league save on April 17, 1983, working three scoreless innings against Chicago. He went to a shorter windup in late August with excellent results. He ranked ninth in the NL in ERA, sixth in innings pitched and eighth in strikeouts. He led the Pirates in ERA and innings pitched and tied for the team lead in starts.
In 1984 Rick went 8-2 with a 2.22 ERA in 15 starts after the All-Star break, dropping his ERA from 3.21 to 2.72 (fourth best in the NL). He was fourth in the league in innings pitched, tied for ninth in wins and tied for fourth in shutouts. Rick walked one or fewer in 15 of his 33 starts and two or fewer in 24; his walks per nine innings pitched ratio of 2.34 was the league's seventh best. He pitched an average of 7.22 innings per start, sixth best in the NL (minimum 10 starts). He led the NL with a 1.88 ERA in home games (and was 8-3 at Three Rivers) and batted .333 (28-for-84) to win his first NL Silver Slugger Award.
Rick tossed his third career 2-hitter on August 9 at New York to blank the Mets while fanning 10 hitters, his career high until '86. He had a stretch of 104 innings pitched without yielding a homer between July 14 and September 22. He had a 10-game hitting streak between July 25 and September 11, hitting .500 (14-for-28) in that span.
He struggled to a 10-15 mark in 1985, only the second time in his career he finished under .500 for a full season. Rick walked two or fewer batters in 24 of his career high 35 starts. He went seven or more innings in 16 of his 35 starts, going 6-4 with a 2.34 ERA in those games. He had five pickoffs, and opposing runners were 19-for-31 in steal attempts.
Career win No. 100 came on May 25 at Atlanta, with Rick pitching a complete game to defeat the Braves 8-2. His other complete game came on August 16 when he beat the Mets 7-1, giving up nine hits and one earned run. Rick fanned a season high nine batters in seven innings at San Francisco on July 25, and the reached 1,000 mark in career strikeouts on September 6 at Houston, striking out Glenn Davis. He posted a 3-1 record in August with a 3.53 ERA in five starts.
He won his second NL Silver Slugger Award in '85, batting .189 (14-for-74) with six RBIs. He struck out just seven times in 78 plate appearances, and three of his six RBIs were game winners.
Rick was a victim of Osteomyeletis as a youngster. At the age of eight, he was hurt while playing on a 40-foot strip of plastic, hosed down with water, upon which youngsters slide for distance. His right knee was severely cut by a pair of rusty scissors wedged in the grass under the water slide. Two months later he was struck with the original fever of Osteomyeletis. Rick underwent surgery to remove part of his left knee so that his left leg would not outgrow his affected right leg. He was forced to wear a brace until he was 12 and later had to walk with the aid of a cane.
Rick graduated from Atlantic High School in Boynton, Florida, where he was an outstanding baseball and basketball player. He was a big Bob Gibson fan as a youngster. He played winter ball in the Dominican Republic early in his career.
Rick is a scratch golfer and enjoys fishing, and is an avid pro wrestling fan- his favorite wrestler is Hulk Hogan. He was the established table tennis champ of Dodgertown and was L.A.'s bubble gum blowing champion. He was a member of the major league all-star squad that toured Japan in November of 1986, and he won two games in that series (the U.S. won six of the seven games). Rick has a son, Tanner."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
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