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Search - Strike Three!

Strike Three
Author: Thomas A. Tomsick

Strike Three 3! My Years in the 'Pen is a story of the top strikeout pitching staff in the history of the American League. The major focus of the book is the impressive strikeout records of the Cleveland Indians pitching staff of 1964-68, led by the Big 3 of Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, and Luis Tiant. The hypothesis is presented that this staff... more », and the Big 3, were, as a group, the top strikeout staff in the history of the American League. The staff was the first to strike out (SO) 1100 AL batters, and SO 7.0 / 9 innings in 1964. They set a new mark at 7.13 SO / 9 Innings in 1965. They would lead the league with over 1100 SO for a record-setting 5 years. They would be the only staff to SO 7 batters / 9 innings for 5 consecutive years while leading the rest of the league in SO by more than 1 SO / 9 innings. Led by McDowell, Tiant, and Siebert, they would set a season record with 1189 SO in 1967 that would stand for 30 years, to be broken only in the drug era in 1997 (the year before McGwire broke Roger Maris home run record). McDowell and Siebert were the first starting duo to strike out 9 batters / 9 innings in 1965. This would only be done three times subsequently, twice by McDowell and Tiant in 67 and 68. The Big 3 enjoyed individual records as well, especially McDowell who continues to hold individual records and still remains high on the all-time strikeouts list. The accomplishments of the 3 collectively, all within the first 5 continuous years of their major league careers, will likely never be repeated. Appended to this hypothesis, and broadening its impact, is the proposal that latter-day records, some of which ultimately wiped out the individual-season record of the Tribe s staff, were achieved in the era of performance-enhancing drugs, with probable causal relationship. The attention to drugs has been primarily directed at their impact on home run records, this book refocuses on the potential effect on pitching records that may also have been operative. Recent acknowledgements by hitters, such as by Mark McGuire and by pitchers, such as Andy Pettitte, and others, that they used performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids and human growth hormone (hGH) raises the spectre of a complicated interaction of their effects upon the forces of offense and defense in conflict on the field. Accusations by Ferguson Jenkins that McGuire should apologize to pitchers ignores the fact that some pitchers should apologize to hitters. The recent indictment of Roger Clemens refocuses on the issue of pitchers strikeout records and performance-enhancing drugs. The primary hypothesis above is virtually irrefutable: the numbers speak for themselves, changes in the game over the years notwithstanding. The secondary hypothesis may be untestable: the variables taken into account are numerous and complex. The central theme is presented from the perspective of the observations of the Indians bullpen catcher for the years 1964-66. Wound around the staff s accomplishments are the author's personal experiences that offer insight into the behind-the scenes activities of the bullpen and batting practice catcher, in the clubhouse and on the field, with comparisons afforded of the 60 s to modern-day practices. The text is supplemented by a collection of photographs that recall people and places of the years in question, and serve as a retrospective of old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, with its nooks and crannies hidden amidst its cavernous confines. A second thread is the resolution of the author s personal conflict between career choice of professional ball player, first unobtainable but later becoming within reach, versus medicine, and the course of events that determined the decision process.

ISBN-13: 9780981726960
ISBN-10: 0981726968
Publication Date: 6/23/2010
Pages: 220
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Cincinnati Book Publishers
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 1
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