Steve Stone (baseball player)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steven Michael Stone (born July 14, 1947 in Euclid, Ohio) is a former American Major League Baseball player and current sportscaster.

He was one of the best Jewish pitchers in major league history, 3rd career-wise in wins (107) and strikeouts (1,065), behind Ken Holtzman and Sandy Koufax, and 9th in games (320).^[1]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Draft 3 Minor league career 4 Major league career 5 Sportscasting career 6 Trivia 7 Books 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Stone played high school ball at Charles F. Brush High School for Ohio high school baseball Coach Jim Humpall. Growing up he also won several tennis championships, was a ping pong champion, and was a proficient golfer.

At Kent State University, Stone was an outstanding pitcher and his catcher was Thurman Munson. He was selected to the All Mid-American Conference team, and was named team captain as a junior. He had a 2.00 ERA in the Cape Cod League in 1968. He also starred on the bowling and volleyball teams. He also became a Brother in Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. He graduated in 1970 with a teaching degree in history and government.[1]

[edit] Draft

In 1968 he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 16th round of the draft, but did not sign. In February 1969 he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 4th round of the draft (secondary phase).

[edit] Minor league career

From 1969-71 Stone pitched in the minor leagues, compiling a 32-24 record and striking out nearly a batter an inning.^[2]

[edit] Major league career

Stone was a starting pitcher for several teams from 1971-81.

San Francisco Giants (1971-72)

In November 1972, after suffering a sore arm, he was traded by the Giants with Ken Henderson to the Chicago White Sox for Tom Bradley.

Chicago White Sox (1973)

In 1973 he was 4th in the AL in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (7.04), and 8th in hit batsmen (7).

Chicago Cubs (1974-76)

In December 1973 he was traded by the White Sox with Jim Kremmel, Ken Frailing, and Steve Swisher to the Chicago Cubs for Ron Santo.

In 1975 he was 12-8 and pitched 214.3 innings.

Chicago White Sox (1977-78)

In November 1976, after suffering a torn rotator cuff and undertaking cryotherapy after refusing surgery and cortisone injections, he signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox for $60,000, turning down offers from 4 other teams.

In 1977 he was 15-12.

Baltimore Orioles (1979-81)

In November 1978 he signed a 4-year, $760,000 deal as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, again turning down 4 other offers.

In 1979 Stone was 11-7, and was 7th in the league in fewest hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (8.37). Stone began developing patterns of music listening, met with a psychic, and tried meditation and optimistic thought patterns. He read Sandy Koufax's autobiography five times, and changed his uniform number from 21 to Koufax's old number, 32.

His best year was undoubtedly 1980, when he went 25-7 for the Orioles, won the Cy Young Award and The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award, and came in 9th in the AL MVP voting.

Stone had decided to try for one big year, throwing more curveballs -- over 50% -- at the expense of his arm. He later said "I knew it would ruin my arm. But one year of 25-7 is worth five of 15-15." He led the league in wins and won-lost percentage (.781), and was 2nd in games started (37), 7th in ERA (3.23), strikeouts (149), hits allowed/9 IP (8.04), and hit batsmen (6), and 9th in innings (250.7). At one point, he had won 14 games in a row. He also pitched 3 perfect innings in the All-Star Game that year.

The heavy curveball diet took its toll, and Stone struggled with tendonitis in 1981, going 4-7 with a 4.60 ERA, and retiring a year after his best season at age 34.

"I used to try not to lose before," Stone said in 1980. "Now, when I go out, I go out to win every time, and I'm certain I am. I try to envision myself literally walking off the mound a winner. I allow no negatives in my thinking. When certain ones start creeping in, I erase them and make it like a blank blackboard waiting to be filled in with things like, 'The team is going to play well, is going to score some runs, I'm going to throw strikes, I'm going to win.' "[2]

[edit] Sportscasting career

From 1983-97, Stone was a color commentator for the WGN television broadcasts of the Chicago Cubs, teaming for 15 years with Hall of Fame announcer Harry Caray. After Harry Caray's death in February 1998, Stone was paired with Caray's grandson Chip Caray. Stone left the booth due to health reasons in 2000, and returned to the Cubs booth in 2003 and 2004.

Highly regarded as a broadcaster, Stone refused a contract extension as the Cubs color-man after the 2004 season amid a controversy involving Cubs players who felt he was being overly critical of their performance. Even so, he was a fan favorite. This was apparent at the Cubs' last home game of 2004, when, after the game had ended and all the players had left the field, nearly everyone left in the stadium looked up to the broadcast booth and chanted "Stoney! Stoney!" for several minutes. The main reason he was so well-liked was his ability to accurately predict what might happen in various game situations, explaining to the audience why the strategy or pitch would be successful prior to the play. A famous example of this was him expressing "I wouldn't pitch to this guy" in a 2004 game mere seconds before the batter Adam Dunn hit a home run off Cubs pitcher Mike Remlinger to give the Reds the lead.

Stone later expressed frustration with Cubs manager Dusty Baker for not controlling his players.

At one point during the 2004 season, Kent Mercker (a Cubs left-hander at the time) called the broadcast booth from the bullpen during a game to complain about comments made, and he also confronted Stone in a hotel lobby.^[3] Among the comments that reportedly irked Mercker were Chip Caray's praise of Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt.

It was also reported that Mercker and left fielder Moises Alou yelled and shouted at Stone on a team charter plane to an away game in 2004, and that Alou tried to have Stone and Caray banned from the team charter flights.^[4]

In early 2005 Stone was hired by Chicago radio station WSCR to provide commentary and host a weekly talk show, and by ESPN to work some of the network's baseball telecasts.

[edit] Trivia

• Breaking the stereotype of ballplayers in his era, Stone said: "Charlie Fox (manager of the Giants in 1971) felt the only way a ballplayer could perform was to chew tobacco, wear a sloppy uniform and, as he put it, not be afraid to get a bloody nose, and eat, drink and sleep baseball. I never thought a bloody nose was all that comfortable, and tobacco upsets my stomach. I like to eat - but not baseball - and I never thought sleeping with the game would be all that enjoyable. I think he thought reading hurt your eyes."^[5]

• A flamethrower, who had been clocked at 95 mph with the Giants, Stone had arm trouble and became a control pitcher.

• Stone was the pitcher who yielded Duane Kuiper's only career home run in 3,379 at bats.

• When he joined Baltimore in 1979, he found a "metaphysical" approach to the game, switched his uniform to Koufax's # 32, and his efforts helped the Orioles win a pennant.

• In the 1980s, Stone was well-known for his endorsement of Consort hair products and, in Chicago-area markets, Illinois Vehicle Insurance.

• Stone was also known as baseball's "galloping gourmet." He was a restaurateur in Chicago, Illinois, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Stone was a published poet, chess player, and was competitive at table-tennis.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Books

• Where's Harry? (1999) (with Barry Rozner) Taylor Publishing ISBN 0-87833-233-2

[edit] References

1. ^ http://jewishmajorleaguers.org/crrldrs/crrldrs.html
2. ^ http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Steve-Stone.shtml
3. ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20041020/ai_n12563996
4. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/john_donovan/09/03/wouldbe.contenders/index.html
5. ^ http://www.jewsinsports.org/Publication.asp?titleID=1&current_page=269

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Interview in The Heckler
• Jewish Major League career leaders

Preceded by Mike Flanagan

American League Cy Young Award 1980

Succeeded by Rollie Fingers