The Cardinals hoped a reunion of pitcher Bobby Witt and coach Dave Duncan would yield the kind of results they produced in their first go-around, but it didn’t work out.
Twenty years ago, on June 22, 1998, the Cardinals acquired Witt from the Rangers for future considerations. Three months later, the Rangers got outfielder Scarborough Green from the Cardinals to complete the transaction.
Witt pitched for the Athletics when Tony La Russa was manager and Duncan was pitching coach. Witt led the 1993 Athletics in wins (14), starts (33), innings pitched (220) and strikeouts (131). With a 14-13 record, Witt was the only pitcher to achieve a double-digit win total for an Athletics team that finished 68-94.
In 1998, La Russa and Duncan were with the Cardinals and seeking pitching help. Though Witt, 34, was being battered by American League hitters, the Cardinals took a chance on him.
Wild thing
Witt was a first-round choice of the Rangers in the 1985 baseball amateur draft. He was the third overall pick, behind B.J. Surhoff of the Brewers and Will Clark of the Giants, and just ahead of Barry Larkin of the Reds and Barry Bonds of the Pirates.
Witt made his major-league debut with the Rangers in 1986. He threw hard but lacked command. Mark Simon of ESPN aptly described Witt as both entertaining and exasperating.
In his second major-league start, against the Brewers, Witt pitched five innings, struck out 10 and allowed no hits, but walked eight, threw four wild pitches and allowed two runs. “I wasn’t going to finesse you,” Witt told Simon. “My thought process was to go out there and let it go.” Boxscore
Witt had his best big-league season with the 1990 Rangers, posting a 17-10 record, 3.36 ERA and striking out 221 batters in 222 innings.
In August 1992, the Rangers traded Witt, reliever Jeff Russell and outfielder Ruben Sierra to the Athletics for outfielder Jose Canseco. Granted free agency after the 1994 season, Witt signed with the Marlins and was traded back to the Rangers in August 1995.
Low risk
In 1998, Witt was 5-4 for the Rangers, but his ERA was 7.66, opponents batted .328 against him and he allowed 95 hits in 69.1 innings. The Rangers made him available.
Signed for $3.25 million in 1998, Witt had $1.77 million remaining on his contract, but the Rangers were so eager to deal him they agreed to pay $1.5 million of that, leaving the Cardinals responsible for $270,000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
“(The Rangers) are really hurting for pitching and they move him,” said Orioles manager Ray Miller. “That’s always a scary sign.”
Said Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty: “I’m very confident (Witt’s) past relationship with Dave Duncan and Tony La Russa would help turn him around. He’s had problems with his control and it may be just a mechanical problem that he and Dunc can work out. Basically, it’s at very little risk to us.”
Witt arrived in St. Louis on June 23 and had a throwing session in the bullpen. “He threw good,” said Duncan. “Everything looked fine. I didn’t see anything I didn’t like.”
Said Witt: “Physically, there was nothing wrong … Hopefully, Duncan can take a look at me and figure it out. This is a new lease on baseball as far as I’m concerned.”
Throwing hard
On June 25, against the Indians at Cleveland, Witt made his first Cardinals appearance. Relieving starter Manny Aybar with the Indians ahead, 4-2, Witt retired the side in order in the seventh and got the first batter in the eighth, David Justice, to fly out. The next six Indians batters reached base against Witt and four scored. Jim Thome hit a home run, Manny Ramirez walked, Sandy Alomar singled, Mark Whiten reached on an error by Mark McGwire, Travis Fryman singled and David Bell doubled. Boxscore
Witt got his first Cardinals win in his first start for the club on July 22 at San Francisco. Backed by a two-run home run from Gary Gaetti and a solo home run from Brian Jordan, Witt held the Giants to two runs in five innings and the Cardinals won, 3-2. Boxscore
Witt’s other win for the Cardinals came in relief on Aug. 8 against the Cubs at St. Louis. Witt pitched a scoreless 13th, getting Mark Grace to ground out to first with two outs and two on, and the Cardinals won, 9-8, on Ray Lankford’s RBI-single in the bottom half of the inning. Boxscore
Witt finished with a 2-5 record and 4.94 ERA in 17 appearances for the 1998 Cardinals. He was 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 12 relief stints and 1-4 with a 6.29 ERA in five starts.
Witt said his velocity increased and credited Duncan. “Mechanically, I was out of whack,” Witt said. “Dave Duncan noticed something right away and I went up three to four miles per hour. I was actually hitting 90 to 91.”
Granted free agency, Witt signed with the Rays and was 7-15 with a 5.84 ERA in 32 starts for them in 1999.
After pitching in seven games for the Indians in 2000, Witt finished his career on an upswing, posting a 4-1 record for the 2001 Diamondbacks and pitching a scoreless relief inning for them in Game 6 of the World Series against the Yankees.
In 16 seasons in the major leagues, Witt was 142-157 with a 4.83 ERA.
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