That Mattick and LaMacchia were even there to scout was a bit of a fluke; that Stieb even came in to pitch was a huge break for everyone concerned. Hall of Famer Bob Lemon was switched to the mound when he couldn’t hit major league pitching – he even played centrefield the day another converted outfielder, Bob Feller, hurled a no-hitter. I finished fourth, led by Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays and his league-leading 2.48 ERA. Stieb appeared in 6 more All Star Games, starting in 1983 and 84. [13] But arguably his best pitch was his slider that had a late and very sharp break, especially difficult for right-handed batters to handle. Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, Illinois) Draft. ( Log Out /  Next Post Next Larry Stuefloten. Growing up in Southern California, Stieb’s parents would not allow him or his brother Steve (who later caught in the Braves organization) to pitch, fearing the wear and tear on their arms. [4] Previously, on September 24 and 30, 1988, Stieb had no-hitters broken up with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth inning in two consecutive starts. The first came in August of 1980, when the Blue Jays finished a game from the night before that was suspended after 15 innings. Toronto Blue Jays Opening Day starting pitchers, List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders, List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders, Aug 24, 1985, Blue Jays at White Sox Play by Play and Box Score, "Jays sign Stieb to 11-year deal for $25 million", "Catching up with Blue Jays Legend Dave Stieb about His New Life and Improbable Comeback", Boxscore from Stieb's no-hitter at Retrosheet, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dave_Stieb&oldid=996725801, American expatriate baseball players in Canada, Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, September 25, 1998, for the Toronto Blue Jays, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 28 December 2020, at 08:09. ( Log Out /  //pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js. Mattick and LaMacchia looked at each other in disbelief, and decided to stick around for another inning or so. Dave and Steve starred for their Lincoln Glen Little League team, Letterman, with Dave playing in the outfield and Steve playing shortstop. Stieb was a workhorse, averaging an astounding 275 IP from 1982-85. With the Salukis’ starting pitcher wearing down, Stieb jogged in from the outfield to take over duties on the mound. Scouted by Bobby Mattick and Al LaMacchia of the Blue Jays as an outfield prospect in a varsity game, Stieb's performance failed to impress until he was pressed into service as a relief pitcher. Remarkably, only five Hall of Fame pitchers made their MLB debuts in the 15-year span of 1971 to 1985: Goose Gossage, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Lee … Tim was voted California Bay Area’s “High School Athlete of the Decade” at the conclusion of the 1980s. By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada He was the Toronto Blue Jays’ first ace. Previous Post Previous Stephen Steele. According to Head Coach Richard “Itchy” Jones, Sports Illustrated, “A Rare Bird: The Natural,” by Ron Fimrite, May 16, 1983. Only Jack Morris won more games in the 1980s. Stieb currently resides in Reno, Nevada where he works as a building contractor. Stieb, of course, had never pitched at any level prior to his brief stint with the Salukis, and he still envisioned himself as an outfielder first. data-ad-client=”ca-pub-4488255860547018″ Despite not having picked up a bat in over a year, Stieb acquitted himself well, hitting a line drive down the left field line that just went into the seats foul before striking out (the NL held on to win, 5-4). Stieb, a Tokay High School alumus, and the Titans are two wins from advancing to the College World Series. In a strange twist of fate, Stieb’s agent, Bob LaMonte, Stieb’s former high school football coach, foresaw the beginning of the end of MLB’s mega-money contracts. Despite Stieb’s hitting heroics, he hadn’t garnered a lot of attention from professional scouts prior to the 1978 draft. Stieb's autobiography was titled Tomorrow I'll Be Perfect, and was released in 1986. Baseball history is full of players with plus arms whose struggles at the plate (most often in the minors) led their organizations to convince them that their future was on the mound. On August 29, 2010, Stieb threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Rogers Centre, celebrating the 20th anniversary of his no-hitter game, with the anniversary coming four days after the celebration. Stieb only threw a total of 17 innings for Southern Illinois that spring. His pitching surprised and convinced the Blue Jays to draft him. The Blue Jays assigned him to High Class A Dunedin of the Florida State League after the draft, and he played his first game there on June 29, 1978. ( Log Out /  > Homered in his first two Major League games to tie the American League record. He went 5-0, and was promoted to Triple A Syracuse in May, where he went 5-2, with a 2.13 ERA. Dave Stieb happened to begin his MLB career at a period in history in which there was an unusual dearth of new Hall of Fame quality pitchers. Oak Grove (San Jose,CA) Colleges. And to be blunt, they didn’t come away impressed with Stieb the outfielder. 3 School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. He also pitched the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history on September 2, 1990. [8] In 1998, after a five-year hiatus from baseball, Stieb returned to the Blue Jays and pitched in 19 games. MLB Draft: What Should the Blue Jays Do. And with baseball’s increased reliance on power arms in the bullpen, teams are not hesitant to encourage strong-armed position players to make the switch. data-ad-format=”auto”>. Later on in his career he developed his breaking ball repertoire, and he became very effective with a "dead fish" curveball[14] that would break into the dirt as the batter swung. 2530 Berryessa Road #432 ... educational, and athletic opportunities for the students of the East Side Union High School District. Altogether, as a member of the Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox, Stieb went 176-137 with a 3.44 ERA and 1,669 strikeouts. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Stieb won 140 games in the 1980s, the second-highest total by a pitcher in that decade, behind only Jack Morris. Early in his career, Stieb would also frequently yell at his teammates after errors, for plays that he thought they should have made. > Broke in with the Yankees and homered for his first ML hit, connecting off Dave Stieb at Toronto on May 22, 1980. > Enjoyed his finest season in 1983, hitting combined .306 in 119 games for the Padres and Phillies. For the Toronto Blue Jays, no turnaround was more dramatic or more rapid than that of Dave Stieb, the winningest pitcher in club history. Having gone to Oak Grove High School and been in the same company with Rich Campbell and Dave Stieb and a Mike Holmgren was absolutely miraculous." It’s not unusual for a light-hitting infielder or outfielder (or even a catcher) to be converted to pitching. On September 2, 1990, he pitched the first (and, to date, only) no-hitter in Blue Jays history, defeating the Cleveland Indians 3–0. data-ad-slot=”7466862109″ Some notables include Campbell High’s Craig Morton, who went on to a memorable NFL career. From the approximately 16,000 Semifi nalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notifi ed of this designation. 1 Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Canada, 420-757 West Hastings St. - Federal Tower, Vancouver, BC, V6C 1A1, Canada. It was the third time in two seasons that Stieb had lost a no-hitter with two out in the ninth inning. ... High School Player High School Player High School Pitcher Comm. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); //pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js View all posts by Clutchlings. College Pitcher College Player College Player College Pitcher College Pitcher Minor League Player Minor League Player Minor League Pitcher Major League Player Stieb's older brother Steve was a catcher and pitcher in the minor leagues from 1979 to 1981. 2 School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. [3] Scouted by Bobby Mattick and Al LaMacchia of the Blue Jays as an outfield prospect in a varsity game, Stieb's performance failed to impress until he was pressed into service as a relief pitcher. While throwing batting practice as a guest instructor in spring training in 1998, Stieb was encouraged to make a comeback after his nasty slider had returned. Stieb, a seven-time All-Star and the 1985 American League ERA leader, played in Toronto from 1979 through 1992. Stieb entered the league primarily as a power pitcher,[11] relying on a high, inside fastball to strike batters out. This wasn’t the first time Stieb had come into a game in relief. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. After showing Maldonado mostly sliders, Stieb threw a neck-high fastball on 2-2 and got him to swing through it. Whereas with other pitchers this would be seen as a sign of weakness, with Stieb it was perceived as the best way to motivate himself to get out of a jam. Working every day for several weeks with Mattick, Stieb worked on expanding his repertoire of pitches, which at first consisted of a “heavy” fastball that sunk on righthanded hitters, and a slider he had picked up from Coach Newman at Southern Illinois. And few have fought harder to stay on the mound than Lemanczyk, who tossed 11 complete games for a hapless Blue Jays squad in their inaugural season. The Blue Jays assigned him to High Class A Dunedin of the Florida State League after the draft, and he played his first game there on June 29, 1978. Before there was Dave Stieb, there was Dave Lemanczyk. Prior to 1969, the pennant winner was determined by the best won-loss record at the end of the regular season. Also on the lists are Wilcox’s Carney Lansford, Oak Grove’s Dave Stieb and Monterey’s Mike Aldrete, who all made names for themselves in the big leagues. Stieb became the first Jays pitcher to ever have a plate appearance, and battled Minnesota reliever Albert Williams before flying out to centre. Dave Stieb (1979-92, 1998) The durable right-hander is best remembered for the frustrations he endured; he received poor support early on from a Blue Jays team still wrestling its way out of expansionism, and later famously acquired a nasty habit of losing out on glory with an out to go—unable to seal no-hitters in back-to-back starts in 1988, and a perfect game a year later. Stieb had been asked to try pitching by his Oak Grove High coach, John Bessa, and, at the behest of a pro scout, by his San Jose City College coach, John … The names listed below are alumni who have been searched for on this site from Caliche High Schoolin Iliff, Colorado. Stieb, of course, had never pitched at any level prior to his brief stint with the Salukis, and he still envisioned himself as an outfielder first. Caliche High School Alumni Class List . Toronto Blue Jays: Dave Stieb, 48.1 WAR in the 1980s Your leaders in pitching WAR for the 1980s: Dave Stieb, 48.1 Bert Blyleven, 38.2 ... wave and I try to tell him what high school I went to but his window was rolled up and so was mine and I looked like an idiot. [1] He recorded one win and two saves, and started three games. A seven-time All-Star, he also won The Sporting News' Pitcher of the Year Award in 1982. He was a nondescript player playing out of position for an equally nondescript team. With Dunedin in Single-A, his batting average was a … The following year, he took a perfect game into the 9th, and got the first two outs, only to lose it on a bloop single. Earlier in the season,SIU. Matt Brown/courtesy photograph Former Tokay High School baseball standout earned West Coast Conference second-team honors with Cal State Fullerton this season. Bob La Monte, Stieb's agent and former high school football coach, said the contract was forged in 16 hours of intensive negotiations Tuesday and Wednesday in a Santa Cruz, Calif., hotel room. Mattick says that staying to watch Stieb pitch was one of the smartest things he had ever done (this from a man who once scouted and signed Frank Robinson). Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Righetti attended Pioneer High School. But in those two innings the pair witnessed, their combined veteran eyes had seen more than enough to think that a relative unknown was worth such a relatively high pick. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. pitching coach Mark Newman had watched him throw batting practice, and decided to work with Stieb a little bit more. Stieb took a pair of no-hitters into the 9th inning on consecutive starts in 1988, only to have the no-hit bids broken up. Dave Stieb may be the most productive pitcher to ever take the hill for the Blue Jays. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Saturday, August 19 th was at D’Andrea Banquets & Conference Center, 4419 Northwest Highway, Crystal Lake, IL 60014. Commonly Accessed Links and Info for Students, Parents and Community Contact Us. [2], Born in Santa Ana, California, Stieb played varsity baseball at Southern Illinois University[1] as an outfielder. After high school, Stieb played for San Jose Community College for two years, then followed Steve to Southern Illinois University. throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school offi cial, and write an essay. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. “I’m strongly of the opinion it’s over. A bunch of high school teachers, a psychologist, a tech executive and I were dipping our toes in the Roto waters, drafting players out of each league’s Eastern Divisions. In 1981, he became the first Blue Jays pitcher to post a winning record, and appeared in his first All Star Game. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Flags fly forever. He was released by the White Sox the following season after having filed for free agency. Dave Stieb has retired -- again. I think 1985 will be remembered as one of the last years that this went on,” LaMonte told Larry Millson of the Globe and Mail. He made the Parade, Bally, Adidas, Street & Smith and Athlon All American teams as a senior. Trevor Hoffman, Joe Nathan, and Troy Percival are all recent examples of players who found success on the mound after meeting with little success as an everyday player. News and analysis of Toronto Blue Jays prospects, Long-time fan of the Jays, the minors, and baseball in general. On the mound for the NL was Bruce Sutter, a dominant closer from the late 70s/early 80s who had popularized the split finger fastball. In June, the Blue Jays selected Stieb in the fifth round of the draft. ... Dave Stieb Gina Marostica Blue Jays executives Bobby Mattick and Al LaMacchia (who had over 90 years’ experience in OB between them) decided to drop in to catch a Salukis game in Carbondale early one May on the recommendation of scout Don Welke. Principal: Jason Stipp Office Phone: 630.375.3300 Dave Stieb was one of the best pitchers of the 1980s and one of the Toronto Blue Jays' first stars. He recorded the Jays’ first and only no-hitter in 1990.