He attended Stanford University as a pre-med student on an academic scholarship,[5][3] graduating in 1963.[6] He pitched on the school's baseball team as a walk-on,[3] and was its MVP as a junior.[1] He was a walk-on player on the basketball team as well,but did not see a future as there was a star player ahead of him.[4][3] He has been inducted into Stanford's Athletics Hall of Fame as a baseball player.[7]
During his college years,the Baltimore Orioles had an interest in Lonborg,and he played as an amateur on teams sponsored by the Orioles during his college career.[1] In 1963,he played in the Basin League for the Oriole-sponsored Winner Pheasants,along with future Oriole hall of fame pitcher Jim Palmer,and future Oriole player and .300 hitter Merv Rettenmund.[8][1][9]
On August 14,1963,he signed as an amateur free agent with the Boston Red Sox.[10] The Red Sox had offered him a much higher signing bonus than the Orioles.[1]
Professional baseball career
Longborg spent only one year in the Red Sox minor league system (1964) before being called up to the team in 1965.[11] In his rookie year for Boston,Lonborg had a 9–17 win loss record and 4.47 earned run average (ERA). In 1966,he improved his record to 10–10,and his ERA to 3.86.[2]
That year,the Red Sox were involved in a four-way race for the AL pennant with the Detroit Tigers,Minnesota Twins,and Chicago White Sox;the race was reduced to three teams after the White Sox lost a doubleheader to the Kansas City Athletics,on September 27. The Red Sox and Twins faced each other in the season's final series and entered the final day (October 1) tied for first place;the Tigers were half a game out of first and needed to sweep a doubleheader from the California Angels to force a playoff between the winner of the Red Sox–Twins game. Lonborg outdueled Twins ace Dean Chance in that finale,while the Tigers defeated the Angels in the first game but lost the second,putting the Red Sox in the World Series for the first time since 1946.[1][14]
In that World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals,Lonborg pitched a one-hit shutout in Game 2 on October 5,[15] only the fourth one-hitter in Series history. He followed that up with another victory in Game 5 four days later by limiting the Cards to three hits,and pitching a complete game again.[16] Longborg's boyhood idol Sandy Koufax was calling the World Series as a television broadcaster,and gave Longborg game preparation advice on visualizing himself pitching,that aided Longborg's success in his two victories.[1]
Called upon to pitch the seventh and deciding game with only two days rest,he lasted six innings,but allowed six earned runs in a 7–2 loss.[17] Teammate Dan Osinski remembered,"Lonborg couldn't break a pane of glass in the bullpen when he was warming up. We all knew that,and [Dick Williams] still started him. You know he could have pitched the bullpen an inning apiece,or something. It just gave Gibson too big a lead against us that we couldn't come back from."[18] Shortly after being fired by the Red Sox,pitching coach Sal Maglie also criticized Williams's handling of Lonborg. "It was obvious Lonborg didn't have it. Williams should have gotten him out sooner,and I told him so. It was a crime that he let a man who'd done such a great job for him all season take a pounding like that. It was degrading."[19]
Lonborg received the 1967Cy Young Award,with 90% of the votes,[20] (becoming the first Red Sox pitcher so honored[21]). He was selected to the 1967 AL All-Star team,though he did not play in the All-Star Game,[22] and finished prominently in voting for the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) award (placing 6th in the voting,with teammate Yastrzemski winning the award).[2][20]
Lonborg in 1971
In December of 1967,Lonborg tore the ligaments in his left knee while skiing,and his pitching career thereafter was marked by many injuries.[23][24] In trying to compensate for his knee injury,he developed right shoulder problems that lasted the remainder of his career.[1] After pitching 273.1 innings in 1967,he never threw more than 167.2 innings in a season over the next four years with the Red Sox,and won only 27 games from 1968 through 1971.[2] In both 1970 and 1971,he spent time with the Triple-ALouisville Colonels while trying to recover from his injuries and to regain his pitching form,and he finished the 1971 season with the Red Sox going 10–7,his best record since 1967.[1][24][25] It would not be until 1976,years after leaving Boston,that Lonborg's right shoulder would be pain free.[24]
Lonborg was traded along with George Scott,Ken Brett,Billy Conigliaro,Joe Lahoud and Don Pavletich to the Milwaukee Brewers in a ten-player trade that also sent Tommy Harper,Marty Pattin,Lew Krausse and minor-league outfielder Pat Skrable to the Red Sox on October 10,1971.[26] In 1972,he had his second best season to date,with at 14–12 record,2.83 ERA,and 143 strikeouts in 223 innings for the Brewers.[2] His success was in part attributable to pitching coach Wes Stock,who changed Lonborg from a power pitcher into one who relied on control and change of speed.[24]
With the Philadelphia Phillies needing to improve its pitching staff beyond Steve Carlton,a future hall of fame pitcher and 329 game winner,[27] both Lonborg and Brett were acquired along with Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson from the Brewers for Don Money,John Vukovich and Bill Champion on October 31,1972.[28] Like Stock,Phillies pitching coach Ray Rippelmeyer suggested adjustments that improved Lonborg's pitching significantly.[24] Lonborg spent the next six and a half seasons with Philadelphia before his release midway through the 1979 season.[10] In 1974,he was 17–13 with a 3.21 ERA,leading the Phillies starting pitchers (including Carlton) in wins and ERA;and in 1976 Lonborg was 18–10 with a 3.08 ERA,second among starting pitchers in wins (Carlton had 20),and first in ERA.[2][10][29][30] The Phillies reached the NL championship series in 1976 and 1977,losing both times. Lonborg pitched one game in each series,losing each.[31][2] The Phillies lost the NL championship again in 1978,but Lonborg did not appear in the playoffs.[32][2]
On the Boston-based sitcomCheers, the photo of Sam Malone pitching is actually that of Lonborg. At times, Sam also wore Lonborg's number 16 Red Sox jersey.[34]
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