TIM STODDARD: UNSUNG HERO OF THE 80's YANKEES PEN

Tim Stoddard was one of the unsung heroes of the Yankees bullpen in the middle 1980’s. He came to us at a time when the Yankees desperately needed help with their relief pitching. The combined ERA of the men originally slated to set up closer Dave Righetti lived in the neighborhood of 5.00. Additionally, they had a personnel problem named Ed Whitson. After a year and a half of verbal abuse, hate mail, threats on his life, and a bar fight with then-manager Billy Martin, it was time for Whitson to go. So, on July 9, 1986, the team sent Whitson to San Diego and Tim Stoddard became a Yankee. His job was to raise the level of the game in the bullpen, and he quickly inserted his 3.83 ERA into the bullpen mix.

He made 24 appearances in the second half of 1986, 18 times with inherited runners on base, and only allowed 24% of them to score. His job was to put the fire out. In the following year, Stoddard posted a 3.50 ERA and got some help from Cecilio Guante. His proficiency in stranding runners increased, allowing only 22% of them to score. He also filled in as an occasional backup closer in 1987, converting eight out of nine save opportunities, when Righetti was starting to struggle closing out games.

His final year with the Yankees was in 1988, which was not a good year for him. Despite establishing himself as a reliable setup guy, it all came apart in 1988. At times, he looked good, and at other times, he looked lost. His ERA fluctuated between 6 and 8 throughout the season. By late August of that year, he had given up earned runs in seven consecutive appearance. Most of them involved multiple earned runs surrendered. So, at age 35, the Yankees released him. He pitched one more year in 1989 with the Cleveland Indians, appearing in 12 games with a very respectable 2.95 ERA.

These days Tim Stoddard serves as the Assistant Coach of the Northwestern Wildcats college baseball team. He has a strong record of accomplishment with coaching pitchers, as his pitching staffs have achieved two Big Ten ERA titles in his tenure at NU, read HERE. As of this writing, twelve of his pitchers have been selected in the MLB draft. He also is the holder of two curious records. First, he is one of only two players to have made it to the World Series (he was a member of the 1979 Orioles) and to the Final Four of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Kenny Lofton was the other. Second, he was the first pitcher to have ever given up a broken bat home run, read HERE.

 It wouldn't be a complete Stoddard tribute if I didn't mention one of our favorite appearances ever by Tim.  When he appeared in the film Rookie of the Year.  

We were proud to have him as a member of our team, and we wish him all the best.

 
--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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WHY YOUNG YANKEE FANS KNOW NOTHING ABOUT "REAL" LOSING

(In Photo: Al Leiter, left, and Mike Pagliarulo)
Not too long ago, at my day job, I was having a conversation with an intern. She was about 20 years old and somehow the conversation turned to music. In the course of this conversation it came out that she had never heard of Kurt Cobain or Nirvana. Immediately, 2 things popped in
my mind:

1. I feel old.
   
2. I’ve turned into my parents for saying things like “back in my day…” or “you kids these days….”

But I digress; this conversation got me thinking back to the late 80's and early ‘90s of Yankee baseball. In those days, the Yankees were AWFUL. I remember going to games with my dad, buying an $8 upper deck ticket and moving to the 3rd base boxes in the 2nd inning because the Stadium was empty. Watch Yankeeography or YouTube Don Mattingly clips – check out all the empty seats.Now, you kids who grew up becoming fans of the Yankees in 1994, 1995 and 1996... that's when the Yankees started getting good...you definitely missed the dark day. I’m sure some of your first memories were making the playoffs in ‘95, or winning the World Series in ‘96. Your biggest disappointments are watching the 2001 team lose Game 7 of the World Series to the Diamondbacks or choking to the Red Sox in 2004... I still have nightmares about that one.

Me? I remember some pretty horrendous years before 1996. How about watching George Steinbrenner trade away all of our young prospects in the late 80’s for over-the-hill veterans? Anyone remember Mariners star Jay Buhner? He was a Yankee; traded for Ken Phelps. How’d that work out?(In Photo: Doug Drabek)
Doug Drabek had a decent career with the Pirates but he had potential with the Yankees before that. That's OK, we traded him away for Pat Clements, Cecilio Guante, and Rick Rhoden. Terrific move that turned out to be.

This one was my favorite from the early 80's: Fred McGriff for Dale Murray. McGriff who went on to be a 5 time All-Star and Murray was 3-6 over his 3 year stint with the Yanks. This went on year after year.

When the Yanks were bounced from the playoffs last year, I heard many complaining and deciding that change was needed. You kids don’t know about change and losing. Try being a Pirates fan, or read about the Yankees when they finished in 5th place in 1988 or 7th place in 1990...and change happened... that's losing.

Finally, my message is this: Enjoy these good times, but don’t forget the bad times. Take heed when taking shots at Mets fans. Why? Because you never know when the dark days may return...let's hope they never do.

--Lem Allen, BYB Contributor

Email me at:bybcurmudgeon@gmail.com

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