(Updated March 20, 2022)
Valuing a mentor who could help him develop into a consistently productive starting pitcher, Todd Stottlemyre sought a trade from the Athletics to either the Yankees or the Cardinals.
His father, Mel, was pitching coach of the Yankees. Dave Duncan, who had served as somewhat of a surrogate father to Todd with the Athletics, was pitching coach of the Cardinals.
On Jan. 9, 1996, the Athletics honored his request, trading Stottlemyre to the Cardinals for outfielder Allen Battle and pitchers Carl Dale, Bret Wagner and Jay Witasick.
Stottlemyre, 30, joined free-agent acquisition Andy Benes as right-handers who bolstered a 1996 Cardinals rotation that included holdovers Donovan Osborne, Alan Benes and Mike Morgan.
Bernie Miklasz, columnist of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote, “The Cardinals have actually recruited starting pitchers who can throw fastballs by hitters.”
Stottlemyre certainly could do that. In 1995, he ranked first among American League right-handers in strikeouts. One reason he wanted to join the Cardinals was because Duncan was helping him learn to throw more than a fastball.
Bound for Blue Jays
Todd Stottlemyre, whose father started three games against the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson in the 1964 World Series, was drafted by St. Louis in 1985, but didn’t sign. He was chosen in a later draft by the Blue Jays and signed with them.
Stottlemyre debuted in the big leagues with the 1988 Blue Jays. He helped Toronto win consecutive World Series championships in 1992-93 and achieved double-digit win totals in four consecutive seasons (1990-93), but he had winning records in just two of seven years with the Blue Jays and overall was 69-70.
After the 1994 season, Stottlemyre became a free agent and signed with the Athletics, who had Tony La Russa as manager and Duncan as pitching coach. Stottlemyre posted a 14-7 record and 4.55 ERA for them. He struck out 205 in 209.2 innings. Among American League pitchers in 1995, only left-hander Randy Johnson of the Mariners struck out more batters.
Stottlemyre credited Duncan and La Russa with his development in Oakland. “I felt I took another step toward being able to pitch to my capability,” Stottlemyre said. “I felt I was more in control of myself throughout more ballgames … I’ve been able to get control of my curveball and changeup and off-speed pitches instead of just being a fastball, slideball pitcher.”
In an interview with Cardinals Magazine, Stottlemyre said, “Duncan has helped me to realize there’s more to pitching than rearing back and throwing the fastball as hard as you can. It’s been fun for me.”
Meet me in St. Louis
After the 1995 season, La Russa left the Athletics to become Cardinals manager and Duncan joined him as pitching coach. That’s when St. Louis became an attractive destination point for Stottlemyre.
“We feel his best years are ahead of him,” Duncan said. “Last year, he made tremendous progress as a pitcher. Consistency was the key with him.”
La Russa told Cardinals Magazine, “He’s a terrific competitor and that’s something you can never have enough of.”
The Athletics, looking to rebuild after finishing in last place in the American League West in 1995, were willing to trade Stottlemyre to restock their roster.
“He wanted to be elsewhere and it made sense for him to be elsewhere if we could get some value in return,” Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Mike Jorgensen, Cardinals director of player development, said all three pitchers dealt to the Athletics were big-league prospects. “When you go shopping in the high-rent district, you know it’s going to be expensive,” Jorgensen said to the Post-Dispatch.
Consistent Cardinal
The trade benefitted the Cardinals more than it did the Athletics.
Stottlemyre was 14-11 with a 3.87 ERA in helping the 1996 Cardinals win the National League Central title. He led the 1996 Cardinals in strikeouts (194), complete games (five) and shutouts (two) and was second in wins.
Stottlemyre was 12-9 with a 3.88 ERA for the 1997 Cardinals and 9-9 with a 3.51 ERA for the 1998 Cardinals before he was traded with shortstop Royce Clayton to the Rangers for third baseman Fernando Tatis, pitcher Darren Oliver and outfielder Mark Little on July 31, 1998.
With St. Louis, Stottlemyre had three consecutive seasons with ERAs below 4.00 for the only time in his big-league career.
In his book, “Pride and Pinstripes,” Mel Stottlemyre said his son Todd took a while to realize his potential and believed it was because of the personal burden Todd carried after the death of his younger brother, Jason. Todd was the donor when Jason had a bone marrow transplant.
“After Jason died, it was almost like Todd wanted to lash out at the world, take out his anger on everybody else,” Mel Stottlemyre said. “He competed so hard that he was always at full throttle, and you can’t pitch that way all the time. He was fearless on the mound, which is important, but he was also pretty high-strung, always ready to fight, figuratively, if not literally.”
Of the four players traded by the Cardinals for Stottlemyre, only Witasick contributed much to the Athletics. In two stints with Oakland, Witasick was 5-5 with a 5.26 ERA. He pitched 12 years in the big leagues, appearing in the 2001 World Series with the Yankees and the 2002 World Series with the Giants.
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