Top Blue Jays Player #4: Dave Stieb
Position: Pitcher
Seasons With the
Jays: 15 (1979-1992, 1998)
All-Star Game
Selection: 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1990)
Stats: Games Pitched 439 Innings Pitched 2873
Wins/Losses 175-134 Saves
3
ERA 3.42 Strike
outs 1658
Games Started 408 Games
Finished 14
Complete Games 103 Shutouts 30
With all due respect to Roy
Halladay, Dave Stieb is the best pitcher in the history of the Toronto
Blue Jays. He was the first legitimate ace the franchise had and he made the
All-Star team seven times, while becoming the first Blue Jay to start an
All-Star Game in 1983. He is also at the top of the list in the franchise
leaders in wins, innings pitched, complete games, shutouts and strike outs.
He would have won even more games and maybe a Cy Young Award or two if
he had received better run support. But his moodiness on the mound may have also
contributed to the lack of run support. He didn’t exactly win any friends with
his teammates. Stieb had a habit of staring disgustedly at a player who made an
error behind him. His antics on the mound when something didn’t go his way were
something that improved as he matured as a person, but in the beginning, temper
tantrums were the norm when he was on the mound.
Stieb wasn’t a pitching prospect
when he played college ball at Southern Illinois University. The Jays were
scouting him as an outfielder, but he failed to impress the scouts until he was
put in the game as a relief pitcher. It was his pitching ability that got him
drafted in the fifth round of the 1978 Amateur Draft.
He made his debut with Toronto
in 1979, posting an 8-8 record in 18 starts. Included in those starts was an
impressive seven complete games. He had a 4.31 ERA and 52 strikeouts. His
progression continued in 1980, even though he suffered a losing season at
12-15. His ERA improved to 3.71, he struck out 108 and he completed 14 games.
In the strike-shortened season
of 1981, he was 11-10, had a 3.19 ERA and 89 strike outs. But he truly became
the staff ace in 1982 when he won 17 games (against 14 losses) and had a 3.25
ERA. He led the American League with 19 complete games, five shutouts, 288 1/3
innings pitched and finished fourth in Cy Young voting.
The Jays became a legitimate
contender in 1983 and Stieb led the pitching charge. His 17-12 record, 3.04 ERA
and 187 strike outs helped Toronto to the first winning season in franchise history.
A second place followed in 1984, with Stieb posting a 16-8 record and 2.83 ERA.
The following season would see
the Blue Jays win the American League East for the first time, but nothing
epitomized Stieb’s lack of run support more than this season. Even though he
led the American League with a 2.48 ERA, his win/loss record was a rather
modest 14-13. However, he was still considered the team’s ace and got the
starting assignment for the first ever Toronto Blue Jay playoff game in the
ALCS against the Kansas City Royals.
In that game, Stieb pitched
eight scoreless innings, surrendering only three hits and striking out eight
batters. He would pitch three times in the series, posting a 1-1 record, a 3.10
ERA with 18 strike outs.
But 1986 would be a rather disappointing
season for the right-handers as he suffered a losing record (7-12) while being
lit up for a 4.74 ERA. He rebounded in 1987 (13-9, 4.09, 115) but would really
regain his All-Star from in 1988. Near the end of the season, he lost two
no-hitters with two out in the ninth inning. He would win 16 games and throw
four shutouts.
Another 17 wins followed in 1989
as Stieb helped the Blue Jays rebound from a poor start to capture the division
title for a second time. He suffered losses in both of his ALCS starts against
the Oakland Athletics as the Jays dropped the series in five games.
Stieb excelled in 1990, winning
a career high 18 games, while posting a 2.93 ERA and striking out 125 batters.
On September 2nd, he threw the first—and to date, only—no-hitter in
club history when he blanked the Indians in Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, 3-0.
Unfortunately, the Jays lost the division title on the final day of the season.
1991 was the beginning of the
end for Stieb’s Blue Jay career. A series of shoulder and back injuries limited
him to only nine starts and he was on the disabled list when the team won the
division title again. He attempted a comeback in 1992, but it was clear he was
no longer the pitcher he had once been. Injuries limited him again and he had a
below-average 4-6 record with a 5.04 ERA. While he was with the team when they
won the World Series, it was a bitter-sweet moment for Stieb, as the club’s ace
for so-many near-misses, was unable to contribute when the team reached
baseball’s mountain top.
He was released after the season
and signed with the Chicago White Sox for 1993, but appeared in only four
games. After being out of baseball for four years, he attempted a comeback with
Toronto in 1998 at the age of 40. He pitched in 19 games, only three starts and
was rather ineffective.
After his career, Stieb was
honoured as the first pitcher to be named to the club’s “Level of Excellence.”
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