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April 3, 2015Tribe 101 with Prof. Jacob: Start the season already!
April 3, 2015Tribe fans: Tom Candiotti and Tommy John share some things in common. How many can you think of? For added fun, we’re including an old-school, game show ‘ding’ for each time something in common is mentioned. Here: Try it out!
Let’s begin with a warmup: Most sports fans would agree that the parents of Candiotti and John gave each of them the first name of Thomas. While each of these ball players were starting pitchers, their styles were quite different. Tommy John was a left-handed, sinkerball pitcher who ascended to the big leagues as a twenty year old, in 1963. His game revolved around inducing grounders, and he commonly bailed himself out of jams with the double play ball. He was a four-time All-Star whose career spanned twenty seven seasons. During the final two, in 1988 and 1989, John was the oldest major league ball player.
Tom Candiotti broke into Baseball around twenty years after John’s debut. He was a righty who threw the knuckleball almost exclusively. He wasn’t nearly as heralded a prospect as was Tommy John, yet he forged a solid, seventeen-year career of his own.
Each of these starters played with the Cleveland Indians during his career.
Tommy John had been a star basketball player in high school, in Terre Haute, Indiana. He chose to sign with the Indians when it became apparent he would not have an opportunity to play professional basketball. Meanwhile, the once-proud Indians franchise had been ravaged in the late 1950s. First, former star Hank Greenberg, who’d become the general manager and part owner of the Tribe, had mismanaged and eroded the team’s scouting department. Then, subsequent GM “Frantic Frank” Lane engaged in a dizzying flurry of trades. While he seemed to favor fiery ball players, like second baseman Billy Martin and outfielder Jim Piersall, it is documented he despised none more than fan favorite, Rocky Colavito (complete with Italian slurs). It is conceivable that Lane mostly just wanted to promote himself, by gaining attention over constantly churning the roster.
If Lane’s 1960 trade of Colavito was a mistake—a notion denied by nobody, then or now- then the Gabe Paul trade to reacquire The Rock in 1965 was a disaster. The Kansas City Athletics, the team Colavito was with by then, shipped the star right fielder back to Cleveland. In a three-way deal, the Tribe sent away Tommy Agee, who four seasons hence would help the fledgling New York Mets win a World Series. Cleveland also gave up a twenty-one year old pitcher who’d gone 2-9 in 31 games (17 starts) over two seasons with the team. Tommy John would retire from the game a quarter century later, with a record of 288-231.
By 1965, Rocky Colavito was near the end of his playing career.
Tom Candiotti bounced around the minor leagues between 1979 and 1983 in the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers systems. He experimented with the knuckleball, until then-Royals minor league coach Gene Lamont told him to stop throwing the pitch. Regardless, Candiotti would eventually begin to rely on the pitch exclusively. (A good knuckleball moves almost like a “dry spitball”- only, it might as often break upward as it does downward, even on the same pitch). When he was released by the Brewers in 1985, the Indians signed him—pairing him with veteran knuckleballer Phil Niekro.
While the wily veteran was humble enough to insist the two had learned from each other, it was Candiotti who noted that it was Niekro who taught him that a knuckleball pitcher doesn’t need to throw the pitch when down in the count 2-0 or 3-0. Niekro had a curve for right handed hitters, and a slider for lefties (breaking balls away, for each); Candiotti’s repertoire would soon include a slow curve and a fastball.
Candiotti had some very good seasons with some bad Cleveland Indians teams, in the late 1980s. From 1986 through 1990, he won between 13 and 16 games. He boasted an ERA well below 4.00, in every season but one. He was traded by general manager John Hart in 1991, as the Indians cleared the roster of payroll (current and future) as the team geared up for the debut of Jacobs Field in 1994.
Gotta share a story on Candiotti. Once, when second baseman Jeff Kent was with the New York Mets, Candiotti had a fantasy baseball team. Kent was not on his team, but he was responsible for much of his team’s poor showing. Dodger teammate Ramon Martinez was warming up in the bullpen prior to a start against the Mets. Candiotti loudly mentioned to his pitching coach that he heard if Kent gets hit by a pitch early in a game, “He’s mush, for the rest of the series.” It wasn’t true, of course. But during the game, Martinez dotted Kent in the ribs with a fastball. Kent’s injury was serious enough that he came out of the game. Candiotti felt awful. But then it became pretty humorous. Pedro Martinez, Ramon’s brother, also started throwing at Kent. Before long, all of the Dominican pitchers who faced Kent began to drill him, the first chance they got. Ramon Martinez continued this for years!
The Candy Man pitched until age 41, when he was released by the Oakland A’s. John Hart, the GM who’d jettisoned Candiotti from the Indians in 1991, signed him to a contract during the 1999 season. Unfortunately, Candiotti had a bad knee which often required drainage and injections, and he had to shut it down for the season. Former Indians teammate Bud Black had him try out with the California Angels in 2000, but Candiotti could not answer the bell. He retired during Spring Training.
Tribe fans know that in 1981—before Tom Candiotti ever threw in the big leagues—he’d suffered a common, career-threatening injury to his pitching arm. Commonly referred to as a “pop” in the elbow, damage is suffered to the ulnar collateral ligament. For decades, pitchers who’d experienced this injury were through with baseball due to pain and ineffectiveness.
In 1974, however, Dr. Frank Jobe was pioneering the use of a tendon from another part of the body (like the forearm, or hamstring) in replacing the damaged ligament. Dr. Jobe’s first patient with this experimental procedure had been Tommy John.
Tommy John’s surgery had been successful. The second patient, one-time Indians pitcher Brent Strom, had less success. In fact, after the first surgery, the next seven “Tommy John” operations didn’t really ‘take.’ The ninth player to try it was Tom Candiotti. He actually had to convince Dr. Jobe he was a candidate. The doctor apparently wasn’t interested in performing the procedure on just anyone, and Candiotti at that time was merely a prospect (until Dr. Jobe’s death last year, Candiotti sent him an annual Christmas card, and signed it, “Your Prospect.”) It took Candiotti the typical year and a half to come back after the surgery.
In his second start, on August 25, 1983, Tom Candiotti of the Milwaukee Brewers faced Tommy John of the California Angels.
Candiotti was masterful in the battle of the first two successful ‘Tommy John’ pitchers. He went the distance, hurling a shutout with four strikeouts. His command was uncommonly good, considering the unpredictability of the knuckleball. He walked only two. There was one hit-by-pitch in the game, and it came from the arm of Tommy John.
Tommy John battled through the first four innings, yielding two single-run innings, but the wheels came off in the fifth. Shortstop Robin Yount doubled home a run, and DH Ted Simmons singled him home. Later, with two men on base, banjo-hitting catcher (and future World Series manager) Ned Yost crushed a three-run homer. (Ex-Tribesman Rick Manning stroked a single in the game.)
So: How did you do, in coming up with what Tom Candiotti and Tommy John have in common? Did you get at least three? This is for you.
11 Comments
Tom Candiotti, man, that brings back some memories….
Didn;t Candiotti used to make a point that he threw a knuckle-curve and not a true knuckler?
Scripty, not according to my memory, or from what I looked up. He did throw a curveball at times. If you can find a reference to him throwing a “knuckle curve,” post a link- thanks!
Greg, not to be rude or discredit you, I was just working off memory. I lived in Southern Californian and I recall Candiotti being interviewed (by stations that followed the Dodgers) a few times on radio shows and whatnot, normally when Wakefield was in his prime and I recall him making that distinction – usually for technical reasons in that his pitch was technically different than say Wakefield, Neikro, etc. If I do bump into that at some point I’ll bookmark and share. IF any WFNYers bump into the Candiman this summer it’d be worth asking, I am sure he’d expand on the difference. Good article.
He’s doing Diamondbacks radio, I sent him a tweet maybe he’ll reply…
3 things in common. Both played for A’s , Indians , & Dodgers
The Candi man can.
No diss taken at all. I’d like to know too. Appreciate the question.
According to career impact and WAR, Candiotti ranks just ahead of Cliff Lee. Really a shame his career gets overlooked, had a # of close calls with no hitters and such..
This is a great story, thanks for posting. Brings back some good memories of the Candy Man. And I recently was given a copy of his biography (came out last year) which is appropriately titled “Tom Candiotti – A Life of Knuckleballs” and it was mentioned his curveball was actually his best pitch!
I read from Candiotti’s biography (the one that came out last year called “A Life of Knuckleballs”) that he wanted to be known as “A pitcher with a knuckleball” as opposed to “A knuckleball pitcher” – I believe it was to give him more credit as being a regular pitcher that ocassionally threw a knuckler. I think that’s the distinction that you guys might be referring to. I recall watching his games on TV too back in the day when the home broadcasters said something similar.. .like he preferred the phrase “a pitcher with a knuckleball.”