Lance McCullers | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Born: Tampa, Florida, U.S. | March 8, 1964|
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
August 12, 1985, for the San Diego Padres | |
Last MLB appearance | |
June 4, 1992, for the Texas Rangers | |
MLB statistics | |
Win–loss record | 28–31 |
Earned run average | 3.25 |
Strikeouts | 442 |
Teams | |
Lance Graye McCullers Sr. (born March 8,1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres,New York Yankees,Detroit Tigers,and Texas Rangers between 1985 and 1992.
McCullers was an offensive lineman and defensive tackle while attending Tampa Catholic High School,but switched to baseball following an injury. He was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1982 MLB draft and traded to the Padres in 1983. In the 1984 and 1985 seasons he played for the Miami Marlins,Beaumont Golden Gators,and Las Vegas Stars.
McCullers was promoted to the Padres after Goose Gossage suffered an injury. He was traded to the Yankees and then to the Tigers. He was diagnosed with blood clots in his throwing arm in 1990,and doctors told him to not pitch again. However,he returned to baseball following surgery and played for the Oklahoma City 89ers before the Texas Rangers bought out his contract. He became a free agent and signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he pitched for the Albuquerque Dukes and Calgary Cannons.
McCullers attended Chamberlain High School in Tampa,Florida [1] ,and transferred to Tampa Catholic High School in 1981. [2] He played football as an offensive lineman and defensive tackle until he experienced an arm injury and decided to focus on baseball. [3] Playing for the school's baseball team with Tino Martinez and Rich Monteleone,Tampa Catholic won the Class 3A state championship in 1982. [4] McCullers committed to attend the University of Miami to play college baseball for the Miami Hurricanes. The Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the second round,with the 41st overall selection,of the 1982 MLB draft. He signed with the Phillies and reported to the Helena Phillies of the Rookie-level Pioneer League. [5] In 1983,McCullers pitched for the Spartanburg Phillies of the Class A South Atlantic League. [6] He had a 9–4 win–loss record and a 3.40 earned run average (ERA). [7]
On September 20,1983,the Phillies sent McCullers,Darren Burroughs,Marty Decker,and Ed Wojna to the San Diego Padres to complete an earlier trade made on August 31,1983,in which the Phillies sent players to be named later to the Padres for Sixto Lezcano. [6] McCullers began the 1984 season with the Miami Marlins of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and had a 6–4 win–loss record with a 2.40 ERA for Miami before was promoted to the Beaumont Golden Gators of the Class AA Texas League on July 16. [8] He had a 4–1 record and a 2.11 ERA for Beaumont. [9] McCullers began the 1985 season with the Las Vegas Stars of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL). [10]
Due to an injury to Goose Gossage,the Padres promoted McCullers to the major leagues as a relief pitcher in August 1985. [7] He made his major league debut with the Padres on August 12,1985, [11] and his teammates started calling him "Baby Goose". McCullers had a 2.31 ERA in 21 appearances for the Padres. He started the 1986 season as a setup man to Gossage,but was shifted into the starting rotation in July in place of Mark Thurmond. [7] He returned to pitching in a relief role in August. [12] In 1987,McCullers led the Padres with 16 saves and all National League relief pitchers with 123+1⁄3 innings pitched. [13] The Padres traded Gossage before the 1988 season and manager Larry Bowa named him the new closer. McCullers struggled and was demoted to a setup reliever for new closer Mark Davis. [14]
On October 24, 1988, the Padres traded McCullers, Stan Jefferson, and Jimmy Jones to the New York Yankees for Jack Clark and Pat Clements. [15] McCullers struggled with his consistency early in the season, recording a 6.27 ERA in June and a 9.00 ERA in July. [4] McCullers began to improve his performance when Dave Righetti helped him with his slider. [16] McCullers got more regular work after the Yankees replaced Dallas Green as manager with Bucky Dent, [17] and he finished the 1989 season with a 4.57 ERA. [4]
McCullers pitched infrequently for the Yankees in the 1990 season. On June 4, 1990, the Yankees traded McCullers and Clay Parker to the Detroit Tigers for Matt Nokes. McCullers had pitched to a 3.60 ERA in 11 games for the Yankees before the trade. [18]
In July 1990, McCullers was diagnosed with a blood clot in his throwing arm. He spent five days in the hospital while doctors attempted to dissolve the clot, which doctors determined was not able to travel to his heart, which could cause a stroke. Continued numbness and loss of pulse in his hand led to another inpatient stay in the hospital and surgery to remove the clot from his wrist. Doctors told McCullers that pieces of the clot were in his hand and that he should not pitch again or the clots could force him to require amputation of a finger or the hand. His contract expired after the 1990 season and McCullers was out of baseball in 1991. [4]
After having a successful surgery in September 1991, [19] McCullers attended a tryout with the Texas Rangers in 1992. [20] He received an invitation to spring training with the Rangers, but did not make their Opening Day roster. [19] He began the 1992 season with the Oklahoma City 89ers of the Class AAA American Association. In May, the Rangers purchased his contract, promoting him to the major leagues. [21] He earned the win in his first appearance with Texas. [22] In June, McCullers refused an outright assignment to Oklahoma City, becoming a free agent. [23] He signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in July, [24] and pitched for the Albuquerque Dukes of the PCL. [25] In 1993, he pitched for the Calgary Cannons of the PCL. [26] [27]
McCullers's wife, Stacie, played tennis for Louisiana State University. [4] Their son, Lance McCullers Jr., pitches for the Houston Astros. [28] McCullers managed his son in Amateur Athletic Union baseball before he began his professional career. [29]
The McCullers family owns L&M Trees, a pumpkin and Christmas tree supplier based in Lutz, Florida. McCullers and his siblings took over operation of the business after their father died in 2000. [30]
Gaylord Jackson Perry was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for eight teams from 1962 to 1983, becoming one of the most durable and successful pitchers in history. A five-time All-Star, Perry was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. He won the American League (AL) award in 1972 after leading the league with 24 wins with a 1.92 earned run average (ERA) for the fifth-place Cleveland Indians, and took the National League (NL) award in 1978 with the San Diego Padres after again leading the league with 21 wins; his Cy Young Award announcement just as he turned the age of 40 made him the oldest to win the award, which stood as a record for 26 years. He and his older brother Jim Perry, who were Cleveland teammates in 1974–1975, became the first brothers to both win 200 games in the major leagues, and remain the only brothers to both win Cy Young Awards.
Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1972 and 1994. He pitched for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres.
Hideki Irabu was a Japanese professional baseball player of American and Japanese mixed ancestry. He played professionally in both Japan and the United States. Irabu played for the Lotte Orions / Chiba Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and for the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
David William Eiland is an American former professional baseball player who was a pitcher for ten Major League Baseball seasons. Eiland played college baseball for the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, and thereafter, played professionally for the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He has also been a pitching coach for the New York Yankees, the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals.
Dennis Lee Rasmussen is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees (1984–87), Cincinnati Reds (1987–88), Chicago Cubs (1992), and Kansas City Royals. He batted and threw left-handed.
Matthew Brian Bush is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres with the first overall draft pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft.
Christopher David Stewart is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Ian Patrick Kennedy is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Between 2007 and 2023, he played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, and Philadelphia Phillies.
Below are lists of Rule 5 draft results since 1997. Players selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) phase of the Rule 5 draft must be kept on their new team's active roster for the entire following MLB season, or they are placed on waivers and offered back to their original team if not claimed. Players chosen in the Minor League Baseball phase(s) of the Rule 5 draft remain with their new organization without restrictions.
Christopher Charles Welsh is an American sportscaster and former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers, and Cincinnati Reds. Welsh spent his final season as an active player with the Reds and later became a sportscaster for the team.
Freddy Antonio Guzmán is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Tampa Bay Rays in five seasons between 2004 and 2013.
Curtis Ross Ohlendorf is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, and Cincinnati Reds, and in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
The 1989 New York Yankees season was the 87th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 74–87, finishing in fifth place, 14.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. New York was managed by Dallas Green and Bucky Dent. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.
Mark Alan Littell, nicknamed "Country" and "Ramrod", was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball in 1973 and from 1975 to 1982 for the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals. He was a member of the Royals' division champions in 1976 and 1977, leading the 1976 team with 16 saves. Littell had a career earned run average (ERA) of 3.32 and saved 56 games from 1976 to 1981. Bone spurs in his elbow cut his career short, forcing him to retire midway through the 1982 season at the age of 29, before the Cardinals went on to win the World Series. After his playing career, he coached in the minor leagues and in college baseball.
Gene Locklear is an American professional baseball outfielder and commercial artist. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees from 1973 to 1977 and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in 1978. Locklear began painting as a child and became a professional artist during his baseball career.
Below is a partial list of Minor League Baseball players in the New York Yankees system.
Kirby Kali Yates is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves. He made his MLB debut in 2014, and was an All-Star in 2019, when he led the National League in saves. He made the All-Star team again in 2024.
Blake Ashton Snell is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres.
Kyle Harris Higashioka is a Japanese-American professional baseball catcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees. He also played for the United States national baseball team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Glenn David Otto Jr. is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Houston Astros organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link)