The starting pitcher for the New York Yankees yesterday was Brian Gordon. Who? Even serious Yankee fans, those who follow the young players moving up through the Yankee farm system, were probably asking that question. He wasn't at Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or even with the Double A Trenton Thunder. Gordon, a 32 year old career minor leaguer, except for 3 relief appearances with Texas in '08, was pitching for the Phillies Triple A Lehigh Valley team. He was able to opt out of his contract because the parent club didn't call him up by June 15th. He was an outfielder until he switched to pitching in 2007.
Six years ago, Aaron Small was pretty much a career minor leaguer. According to www.baseball-reference.com, Small, who stands 6'5", was selected by Toronto in the 22nd round of the 1989 amateur draft. After cups of coffee with the Blue Jays in '94 and Marlins in '95, he hooked on with the A's in '96 until the middle of '98 when he was waived and acquired by the D'Backs. His '97 season was fairly successful, going 9 - 5 with a 4.28 ERA in 71 relief outings. He didn't make it back to the majors until '02 when he appeared once in relief for Atlanta. He didn't even have time to add cream to his coffee. He got back to the show in '04 with the Marlins but was not impressive with an 8.27 ERA in 7 relief appearances.
In January 2005 at the age of 33, he was signed by the Yankees as a free agent. He began the season with the Triple A Columbus Clippers, then the Yankees top farm team. Injuries to Yankee starters gave him a chance. When called up to the Yanks, he had won 1 and lost 4 in 10 starts for the Clippers with a rather high ERA of 4.96. It makes you wonder why he was called up. With the Yankees, he pitched in 15 games, starting 9 with 1 complete game, a shutout. His ERA was a very good 3.20 and he allowed only 71 hits in 76 innings. His record? 10 wins and 0 losses! As you can see from the following, winning 10 or more games in a single season without suffering a loss is rare. It has only been accomplished 4 times in the history of major league baseball:
Tom Zachary 12 - 0 for the 1929 Yankees (11 starts)
Dennis Lamp 11 - 0 for the 1985 Blue Jays (1 start)
Howie Krist 10 - 0 for the 1941 Cardinals (8 starts)
Aaron Small 10 - 0 for the 2005 Yankees (9 starts)
Unfortunately, Small's long awaited success didn't last. In 2006, he was released after going 0 - 3 with an 8.46 ERA in 27 innings.
Although he wound up with a no decision, Brian Gordon pitched well in his Yankee debut yesterday, well enough to earn a start next week in Cincinnati. While it is highly unlikely that he will match Aaron Small's perfect 10 - 0 record, he may ultimately have a chance to be more successful. His Triple A record was outstanding before earning his call-up. He was 5 - 0 with a 1.14 ERA in 55 innings and 9 starts. Good luck Brian.
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