Dave Stieb was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 5th round of the 1978 MLB June Amateur Draft from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Carbondale, IL). "It was hard for me to fathom why they wanted me to be something I wasn't," Stieb says. You are honest and run a professional business", "Service is outstanding. Later on in his career he developed his breaking ball repertoire, and he became very effective with a "dead fish" curveball[17] that would break into the dirt as the batter swung. "He's always had good stuff. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, located in St. Marys, Ontario, with the Class of 2005. Yankees ace pitcher CC Sabathia tied his career wins record with his final win in 2011. Directed by Jon Bois. Eventual triumph. Who he was: Dave Stieb made his only appearance on the writers' ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. Find out more. And I don't think that's enough to make it to the Hall of Fame.". vs. DET 0.1 IP, 2 H, 0 SO, 0 BB, 1 ER, Rookie Status: . ", "The paint crew was neat, courteous, and professional. We're interested now in developing the total man.". MORE: Lou Whitaker on Cooperstown snub: 'I didn't even get daylight', I surely did not deserve to be just wiped off the map after the first-year ballot, Stieb said. Dave Stieb weighed 185 lbs (83 kg) when playing. And now, with everything apparently in place, there's no telling how much farther he can go. I ask him how he thinks he stacks up. Watch. [19], Stieb's older brother, Steve, was a catcher and pitcher in the Atlanta Braves minor league system from 1979 to 1981.[20]. On May 3, 1978 Bobby Mattick, then the director of player development for the Toronto Blue Jays, and Blue Jay scout Al LaMacchia were stationed near the stands on the first-base side in a little ball park in Charleston, Ill., when the visiting centerfielder jogged in to pitch the sixth inning. He was 5-2 with a 2.13 earned run average in his month there. The next year, when he finished at 12-15, he played in the All Star Game. The edges are smoother. "I feel like I was good," he says. SUMMARY Career WAR 56.4 W 176 L 137 ERA 3.44 G 443 GS 412 SV 3 IP 2895.1 SO 1669 WHIP 1.245 Dave Stieb Overview Didnt forget any part of the job. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Overall, he was an All-Star seven times. He goes, 'They use that like crazy now to gauge how good someone really is. He goes, If they looked at that when you were playing, you would have won four Cy Young Awards in a row, Stieb said, noting it would have been 1982 through 1985 when he led for WAR three consecutive years and finished second the fourth. So it was exciting again, and it was cool to do that at 40 years old. This fall, hell be eligible for the first time as a veterans candidate on the Modern Baseball Committee ballot. In plainer language, he had a temper, one which frequently manifested itself in unseemly displays of petulance on the field. But I was good. Join our linker program. We all can learn a lot from Dave Stieb about patience, fulfillment, and passion. Mobilesite. The contract, including options exercisable by the team, was for a term of ten years and specified a salary that increased to $1.9 million in 1993, $2 million in 1994, and $2.1 million in 1995. "It was fun to start all over again and make it the same exact way I did 19 years earlier," he said. Just four years later, he was the best pitcher in the American League. During his career, Stieb won 176 games while losing 137. And last year, says Blue Jay Catcher Buck Martinez, Stieb realized, perhaps for the first time, "that he could win when he did not have good stuff. As we'll demonstrate shortly, by a variety of metrics Dave Stieb was the best pitcher in baseball for at least a four-year period, from 1982-85. In his rookie year the right-hander tossed 7 complete games and a shutout while splitting his 16 decisions. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. The Vancouver Canadians game is sold out, but he desperately covets an autograph from the evening's special guest. Im sure we will be back in the future", "We were fully satisfied with all aspects of the service. You don't know what I'm going to say.' Both Lemon, a Hall of Famer who won 207 games for Cleveland in his 13 seasons, and Walters, who won 198 games for Philadelphia and Cincinnati in 16 pitching seasons, had been big league third basemen whose throws had such a bewilderingly natural break that protests from their first basemen may have hastened their conversion. Baseball Primer (later Baseball Think Factory). Just because Dave Stieb played north of the border, was snubbed by writers of the time, and, occasionally, played on some bad teams, it doesnt mean that he shouldnt get recognition by the Blue Jays and by the Baseball Hall of Fame for his Hall of Fame-worthy career. I'm done. Stieb has a higher WAR than five modern Hall of Fame starters, or starters who played most of their career after World War II. I felt comfortable having your employees at my home even when I was not there. Learn more. "When I got out of baseball and I ran into people," he says, "they would always talk about what a great career I had, and they were always amazed that I wasn't outgoing as far as wanting to talk to them about it and say stuff about it. And that, to the amazement of even the most optimistic of his boosters in the Blue Jay organization, was also the year he made the big leagues. In the next one he'll be a building contractor, constructing houses in Nevada. On June 29 he started for Toronto against the Baltimore Oriolesand lost. READ MORE: How Troy Tulowitzki Made Josh Donaldson a Better Defender. Kyle is impressive, Danny is fantastic. That wasn't in his personality in the past. His older brother, Steve, was a catcher in the Atlanta Braves system for three seasons, batting .217 as a professional and never reaching above Double-A ball. Or write about sports? Mussina, though, got into the Hall of Fame via the BBWAA voters on his sixth ballot. To apply for a job with Ward Construction, please send a cover letter together with your C.V. to: Ward@wardconst.com. It was, Mattick concludes in retrospect, one of the smartest things he has ever done, no small claim for a man who signed the likes of Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson. Kyle and Chris were not only the hardest workers we have seen, but were also courteous, on-time every day, and took great pride in their workmanship. "He was shaking his head yes before I said a word. "I was almost naive enough to think, 'Oh, if I just say yes, I'll be on the big-league team.' but only a 14-12 record. He may throw as many as 20 changeups in a game. To both he responded, "No way." Stieb came to the Instructional League with two pitches, a "heavy" fastball that naturally dropped and a slider developed for him by Newman at Southern Illinois and polished by Toronto's minor league pitching instructor, Bob Humphreys. He did not look back until spring training in 1998, when the Jays invited him to Dunedin as a guest instructor. Jon Bois humanizes Stieb's experience, showing what a class act he became despite the crushing blows he faced. The best price & superior service & quality", "Your crew did a very professional job. Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. [2] Stieb was known for flirting with no-hitters, having reached the ninth inning with no hits four times in five years before accomplishing the feat in 1990, throwing the first, and to date only, no-hitter in Blue Jays history. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Letterboxd is an independent service created by a small team, and we rely mostly on the support of our members to maintain our site and apps. . He'd already done and seen so much. Back with the Blue Jays, he was not great, but he had moments when he was good, especially for a rusty 40-year-old. Do you have a blog? I just didn't even care about baseball while I was on the mend.". He considered calling the whole thing off. So he walked into manager Tim Johnson's office. Thus a Stieb game rarely lasts longer than 120 pitches. In 1993, he played four games with the Chicago White Sox, before finally retiring due to lingering back problems. David Andrew Stieb ( / stib /; born July 22, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. A rapt audience of players and coaches gathered. Portfolio. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Dave Stieb is a building contractor and plays electric guitar. "He's the best fielding pitcher in baseball," says his manager, Bobby Cox. "After working with Stieb for a day or two, Mark told me Dave already had a better breaking ball than any of our starters. Dave Stieb didn't become a pitcher until five years ago, but now he's one of the best, 2023 ABG-SI LLC. The guys also very pleasant and answered all my questions. But I realized at the end of that season that man, it's a lot harder throwing with the stuff I had. So I never got really, really good, but I can play some stuff and do the rhythm and stuff like that. When Mattick and LaMacchia caught Stieb's act he was a .394 hitter for the Salukis en route to a berth on The Sporting News's All-America team. Previous. For example, Hall of Famer Whitey Ford had a career rWAR of 57.0 in 16 seasons, which is the same amount of seasons as Stieb. His story could not have been told with more care. In his third start this season, on a blustery April night in Yankee Stadium, Stieb was experiencing one of those games that can imperil a pitcher's sanity. Chances are he had not been born when Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays was one of baseball's elite pitchers, and perhaps its most truculent. Dave Stieb had 1,669 strikeouts over his career. He struck me out in the first inning on a slider that kind of backed up.". I won't do the things I used to. In Vancouver, we do not talk about any of that, nor about his remarkable career: the 175 wins in 15 seasons as a Blue Jay, the 3.24 ERA over his 11-year prime, the year he logged 288 1/3 innings and 19 complete games, his no-hitter and the three that got away with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning. Source of Money. That would look really bad," he says. Exceeded rookie limits during 1979 season, Agents: Bob LaMonte Previously: Steve Comte, View Player Bio Mastercraft is a company with lots of integrity. "I'm all right," he says. "Some guys call it being a hot dog," says Milwaukee Outfielder Charlie Moore. Dave Stieb is seen by many as the best pitcher in baseball throughout much of the 1980's. Jays fans certainly know Stieb as the first real star and the cornerstone of a new franchise around whom the 1992 World Championship team was built. All Rights Reserved. And that must be considered one of the wonders of American sport, a true phenomenon, because until that fateful spring of 78, Stieb had never pitched at any levelLittle League, Pony League, Colt League, Thorobred League, high school or junior college. The Blue Jays voluntarily renegotiated the last three years of his contract to pay him a higher amount in recognition of his years of service. Keep up the excellent work! Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. There was a rain delay in the fourth inning. "Is that all you got?". He was a pitcher now, for certain. A mishandled ground ball led to a fifth Yankee run in the sixth. ", "Jesse & CJ went above and beyond expectations. In and out in 4 days. 2022 2/2: In January 1987, Dave Stieb was coming off his worst season, in stark contrast to having won the ERA title in 1985. Data Provided By "I would not get on stage.