Tom Underwood began his major-league career with Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, but nothing prepared him for the challenge he and his sibling faced.
On May 31, 1979, Tom and his younger brother, Pat Underwood, opposed one another as starting pitchers in Pat’s major-league debut.
Brothers have faced one another as starting pitchers in big-league games before and since, but the matchup of the Underwoods was the only time a pitcher made his major-league debut against his brother.
The family affair occurred at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, with Tom, 25, starting for the Blue Jays against Pat, 22, starting for the Tigers.
Both left-handers rose to the challenge and pitched superbly. Pat prevailed, getting the win in a 1-0 Tigers victory.
Major talents
Tom and Pat were born and raised in Kokomo, Ind.
Tom debuted in the major leagues with the Phillies in 1974 and made his first big-league start on April 13, 1975, with a shutout against the Cardinals at Philadelphia. Boxscore
On June 15, 1977, the Phillies traded Tom and outfielders Dane Iorg and Rick Bosetti to the Cardinals for outfielder Bake McBride and pitcher Steve Waterbury.
Tom was 6-9 with a 4.95 ERA for the 1977 Cardinals. After the season, on Dec. 6, 1977, the Cardinals dealt Tom and pitcher Victor Cruz to the Blue Jays for pitcher Pete Vuckovich and a player to be named, outfielder John Scott.
Pat was selected by the Tigers in the first round of the 1976 June amateur draft. He was the second overall choice after the Astros took pitcher Floyd Bannister with the top pick.
The Tigers promoted Pat to the big leagues in May 1979 after he pitched for manager Jim Leyland at their Evansville farm club.
All in the family
When Tigers manager Les Moss chose to have Pat start against his brother, Tom was not pleased.
“I think it’s stupid,” Tom said to the Detroit Free Press. “It will be the first game of his major-league career and they’re making him start against his brother.
“I’m not sure it’s really fair to Pat. There’s enough pressure on you when you’re pitching your first game in the big leagues without worrying about your brother.”
Helen Marie Underwood, the mother of Tom and Pat, said, “I prayed for rain.”
The skies were all clear, though, in Toronto for the Thursday night game. Helen Marie told the Free Press, “Now I’m just hoping for a shutout _ on both sides.”
Tom and Pat got together the day of the game and Tom said to his brother, “Pat, let’s put on a show. We’ve got center stage tonight and we may never have it again. Let’s make the most of it.”
Mirror image
Pat retired the first 12 Blue Jays batters in a row before yielding a leadoff double to 39-year-old Rico Carty in the fifth inning.
Tom was equally effective and the game was scoreless until the eighth when Jerry Morales, a former Cardinal, led off with a home run over the left-field wall for the Tigers.
In the bottom of the ninth, after Alfredo Griffin doubled with one out, Moss went to the mound and Pat said, “I told him I was feeling really good even before he had a chance to say anything.”
Moss had two relievers ready and opted to replace Pat with Dave Tobik. After Tobik retired Bob Bailor on a fly out, John Hiller relieved and struck out Roy Howell, preserving the win for Pat.
After Pat congratulated Hiller with a handshake, he went across the field, put his arm around Tom and together they walked over to where their family was seated.
“I feel awfully happy for Pat,” Tom told the Free Press. “I’m just sorry it was at my expense.”
In remarks to the Associated Press, Tom said, “I taught him how to throw a slider and changeup while he was in high school. When I looked out, I felt like I was watching myself.”
Pat’s line: 8.1 innings, three hits, no runs, one walk and four strikeouts.
Tom’s line: nine innings, six hits, one run, two walks, six strikeouts. The loss dropped Tom’s record for the season to 0-7. Boxscore
Sibling rivalries
According to Baseball Almanac, other brothers who started a game against one another in the big leagues were Virgil and Jesse Barnes, Phil and Joe Niekro, Gaylord and Jim Perry, Greg and Mike Maddux, Pedro and Ramon Martinez, Andy and Alan Benes, and Jered and Jeff Weaver.
The Benes brothers, Andy for the Cardinals and Alan for the Cubs, started against one another on Sept. 6, 2002. Andy got a complete-game win in the Cardinals’ 11-2 victory. Boxscore
Bob Forsch of the Cardinals and his brother, Ken Forsch of the Astros, pitched against one another but didn’t start against one another.
Tom Underwood pitched in the major leagues for 11 seasons with six teams, Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Yankees, Athletics and Orioles, and had a career record of 86-87 with 18 saves and a 3.89 ERA.
Pat Underwood pitched in the major leagues for four seasons, all with the Tigers, and had a career record of 13-18 with eight saves and a 4.43 ERA.
There have been seven Cardinals whose last name starts with the letter, “U.” Bob Uecker was the first. The 1977 team had the next two: Underwood and Jphn Urrea.
Thanks for sharing the fun fact.
Tom was no hall of famer but he deserves a better career won lost record. The two seasons he spent with the Jays he had to witness more than 200 games lost. To bad Pat couldn’t stick around for the Tigers magical ’84 season. And reading this piece brought to mind the fact of how close we came to seeing the Forsch brothers start against each other in game one of the ’82 series. I still remember Bob Forsch being intervied in the clubhouse after we defeated the Braves to win the NL Championship. Bob of course was on cloud nine, but when they asked him about the AL series you could easily tell that he felt bad about his brother Ken.
Thanks for the smart perspectives on the Underwoods and for citing the often forgotten prospect that the Forsch brothers could have faced one another in the World Series if the Angels hadn’t lost the last three games of the American League Championship Series to the Brewers in 1982.