The Tournament of Rick: Rnd 1 - REUSCHEL vs SUTCLIFFE

[cuervo72]

From the Sports I Bracket, it's the first round matchup of the MLB pitchers from the 80's!

The Matchup:

Rick Reuschel

Rickey Eugene Reuschel (pronounced RUSH-el) (born May 16, 1949 in Quincy, Illinois) was a Major League Baseball pitcher from the early 1970s into the late 1980s. His nickname was "Big Daddy." Reuschel won the Hutch Award in 1985, and is also a winner of The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award. In a 19-year career, he had a record of 214-191 in 557 games (529 starts). Rick was listed as 6-foot-4 and 225, which makes him a few pounds heavier than his franchise-mate from two generations earlier, Hippo Vaughn. Rick could run surprisingly well for his size. He was frequently used as a pinch runner on days he was not pitching. He was also a fair - though awkward-looking - hitter, batting well over .200 several times, which is considered excellent for a pitcher. Reuschel had 102 career complete games and 26 of those were shutouts. He allowed 1330 earned run and struck out 2015 in 3548 and 1/3 innings pitched. Reuschel was the starting pitcher for the National League in the 1989 All-Star Game and gave up Bo Jackson's monster leadoff home run in that game. He is also one of the Top 100 winning pitchers of all time.

Play-In: DEF RHODEN 18-15

VS

Rick Sutcliffe

Richard Lee Sutcliffe (born June 21, 1956 in Independence, Missouri) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher and current television sportscaster, nicknamed "The Red Baron" for his red hair and beard. A righthander, Sutcliffe was a three-time All-Star. He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1979 and the National League Cy Young Award in 1984. Sutcliffe broke into the majors in 1979. He won 17 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers and was the first of four consecutive Rookies of the Year for the Dodgers from 1979-1982. The Dodgers traded Sutcliffe to the Cleveland Indians for Jorge Orta, a journeyman outfielder. Sutcliffe won 31 games over the course of the next two seasons for Cleveland and led the American League in earned run average in 1982. In mid-1984, Cleveland traded a struggling Sutcliffe to the Chicago Cubs for Mel Hall and Joe Carter. Sutcliffe rebounded and won 16 games for the Cubs while losing only one, helping them to the division championship. On October 2, 1984, he started the first game of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres, giving up two hits and no runs, gaining not only the victory, but also hit a home run in the third inning. Rick won the Cy-Young Award with a unanimous vote. He also finished fourth in the league MVP voting. When he re-signed with the Cubs as a free agent the following year, his contract briefly made him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball. In 1989, Sutcliffe won 16 games and made his final All-Star appearance--Lasorda was the manager. He also helped the Cubs to another division title, but the Cubs lost to the San Francisco Giants in the playoffs. He wound up his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1994, going 6-4 in an injury-plagued season. He retired with a career record of 171-139, with an ERA of 4.08. All-Star in 1983, 1987, 1989.


Voting will be open for two days.

[Atocep]

Rick Sutcliffe rivals Joe Morgan for stupid baseball comments.

I'm going with the fat guy.

[cuervo72]

I didn't vote previously, so I'm going ahead and casting the tie-breaking vote here for Reuschel.