Rick Waits
| Rick Waits | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Mariners – No. 47 | |||
| Pitcher / Pitching coach | |||
| Born: May 15, 1952 Atlanta, Georgia |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 17, 1973, for the Texas Rangers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 6, 1985, for the Milwaukee Brewers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 79–92 | ||
| Earned run average | 4.25 | ||
| Strikeouts | 659 | ||
| Teams | |||
Michael Richard Waits (born May 15, 1952) is a former professional baseball pitcher. Waits, who threw left-handed, played all or part of twelve seasons in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers (1973), Cleveland Indians (1975–83), and Milwaukee Brewers (1983–85). Waits served as minor league pitching coordinator for the Seattle Mariners organization[1] before being named pitching coach for the Mariners under new manager Lloyd McClendon for the 2014 season.
Playing career
Waits was originally drafted by the Washington Senators in the fifth round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft.[2] He made his debut on September 17, 1973 and pitched one game for the Senators, who were now the Texas Rangers. On June 13, 1975 he was traded to the Cleveland Indians with Jim Bibby, Jackie Brown and cash for Gaylord Perry.[2] Waits, a starter in his prime, beat the New York Yankees in the final regular season game of 1978, forcing a one-game playoff between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox for the American League East division title. After the Indians-Yankees game ended, news of the Indians' victory was announced on Fenway Park's video screen (there, the Red Sox had defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5–0 only moments earlier) with the words "THANK YOU, RICK WAITS, GAME TOMORROW."[3][4]
Coaching career
In 1987, Rick Waits joined the Rimini Pirates of the Italian Baseball League, leading them to two championships (1987 and 1988) and a European Cup Championship (1989). He led the league in ERA, serving the last two seasons (1988 and 1989) as a player-manager.[5] He also managed the IBL's Parma Angels.[1]
Waits later joined the New York Mets organization, with whom he worked for fifteen years in various capacities, including a stint as the team's bullpen coach in 2003.[1]
References
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- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
| Preceded by | New York Mets bullpen coach 2003 |
Succeeded by n/a |
| Preceded by | Seattle Mariners pitching coach 2014– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mariners name Rick Waits Minor League pitching coordinator
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ A Former Major Leaguer Savors Italian Baseball
- Pages with reference errors
- 1952 births
- Living people
- Anderson Senators players
- Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Cleveland Indians players
- Major League Baseball bullpen coaches
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- Major League Baseball pitching coaches
- Milwaukee Brewers players
- New York Mets coaches
- Oklahoma City 89ers players
- Pittsfield Rangers players
- Pittsfield Senators players
- Seattle Mariners coaches
- Spokane Indians players
- Texas Rangers players
- Vancouver Canadians players
