The Chicago Cubs proved in 2016 that miracles can happen in baseball. Sometimes, though, that magic happens to a single player for just a single season. For one brief, glorious year everything locks in for them. Hitters say the baseball looks like a beach ball, and they can hit it anywhere they want. Pitchers find themselves with pinpoint control and great movement on their pitches. What happens after that season ends? Well, sometimes injuries bring the player back down to their previous level; other times, there’s just no explanation. Here, we take a look back at those players who caught lightning in a bottle for one amazing season.
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych (1954–2009)
One of the all-time great characters in baseball was also a one-season wonder. Fidrych had one of the greatest rookie seasons as a starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers in 1976. “The Bird” had a record of 19-9 and led the league with an ERA of 2.34. He won the AL Rookie of the Year Award and finished second for the Cy Young Award behind Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. Fidrych became a star as much from his antics as his pitching. He would talk to himself and the ball; he would throw back balls that he said “had hits in them,” asking that they be removed from the game. He would also crouch down and clean off cleat marks from the pitcher’s mound. He was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone and in an Aqua Velva commercial. Fidrych started out pretty well in 1977 and had a record of 6-4 when he felt his arm go dead during a July 4th game. He was never the same after that injury, and he was out of baseball at age 25. “The Bird” died in a freak accident on his farm in 2009 at the age of 54.
Joe Black (1924–2001)
Black started out as a pitcher in the Negro leagues where he led the Baltimore Elite Giants to two championships. Then he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and called up to the majors in 1952. (On the road, he roomed with his friend Jackie Robinson.) A relief pitcher, Black was dominant during his rookie season: He saved 15 games and won 15 and had an ERA of 2.15. He won the NL Rookie of the Year Award, and he became the first African-American pitcher to win a World Series game (though the Dodgers ultimately lost the series to their rivals the New York Yankees). When the Dodgers switched Black to starting pitcher in 1953, manager Chuck Dressen convinced him he needed to add other pitches to his game besides the lively fastball he was known for. That seemed to have a negative effect: Black went 6-3 that season with an ERA of 5.33. The next season, his ERA was above 11. Following the 1957 season, he was out of baseball.
“Seattle Bill” James (1892–1971)
Given his nickname to distinguish him from contemporary “Big” Bill James (even though he was from California, not Seattle), James had one incredible year during his MLB career. As a 21-year-old rookie starting pitcher for the Boston Braves in 1913, he had a mediocre record of 6-10. The next season, James turned his game around, boasting a record of 26-7 with an incredible 1.9 ERA and a WAR rating of 8.2. He led the Braves to the 1914 World Series title over the favored Philadelphia Athletics as he went 2-0 and didn’t allow a single run. The next season, he pitched only 68 innings and had a record of 5-4. His career was interrupted by World War I, where he served as a bomb-throwing instructor. He attempted a brief comeback in the major leagues in 1919, and ended up pitching in the minor leagues until 1925.
Zoilo Versalles (1939–1995)
The shortstop from Cuba was signed by the Washington Senators in 1958 and made it to the majors in 1961, the year the Senators moved to Minneapolis/St. Paul and became the Minnesota Twins. Versalles had a bit of a breakout year in 1963— leading the American League in triples — but it was 1965 when his star truly rose. In his MVP season for the Twins, Versalles led the American League in runs scored, doubles, and triples, plus had 19 home runs. He and fellow Cuban Tony Oliva helped lead the Twins to the World Series, where they lost to the Dodgers 4 games to 3. Versalles’s production greatly decreased after that; he would not hit more than seven home runs in a season the rest of his career, and he was out of baseball after 1971. Sadly, Versalles had trouble making a living after baseball; he did not speak English very well and had multiple health problems. He lost his home to foreclosure and had to sell his MVP trophy. In 1995 he died from a heart attack at 55.
Robert Sydney Hazle (1930–1992)
“Hurricane Hazle”caught fire for 41 games with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957. The outfielder had made his debut two years earlier with the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1955 and only played in a handful of games. Then he was called up to the majors to replace the Braves’ injured Bill Bruton. Hazle was an offensive force, earning the nickname “Hurricane” by batting .403 with seven home runs and 12 doubles and helping the Braves win the World Series. He finished fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, even though he played only a quarter of a season. After a poor start to the 1958 season, though, Hazle was traded to the Detroit Tigers and played in 43 games before being sent back down to the minors. He toiled in the minors for two more seasons and retired from baseball at the age of 29. In the above photo, Hazle is standing next to Hank Aaron.
Jose Lima (1972–2010)
A colorful character who referred to his pitching appearances as “Lima Time,” he was a starting pitcher for 13 seasons and played on multiple teams during his career. Though he had a solid 1998 with the Houston Astros, Lima’s magical season came in 1999, when he won over 20 games with an ERA of 3.58 and made his only All-Star team. The next season he was 7–16 with a bloated ERA of 6.65. His last season in baseball was in 2006; he finished his career with a record of 89–102 and a career ERA of 5.26. Lima, who suffered from heart problems, died of cardiac arrhythmia at the young age of 37.
Tom Cheney (1934–2001)
Cheney was a journeyman pitcher from Georgia who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates before being traded to the Washington Senators during the summer of 1961. Known for having a great arm, he also had control problems and walked a lot of batters. On Sept. 12, 1962, Cheney set the major league record for strikeouts in a game: Over 16 innings, he had 21 strikeouts against the Baltimore Orioles — 13 through the regulation nine innings — while throwing an incredible 228 pitches. Senators manager Mickey Vernon wanted to bring in a relief pitcher, but Cheney told him: “I started this damn game, I’m finishing it.” Later, Cheney said: “Back in those days, you finished what you started.” A few pitchers, including Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens, have thrown 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game, but Cheney’s record still stands. During the 1963 season, Cheney was sidelined by an elbow injury; by 1966 he was out of baseball at the age of 31.
Irv Young (1877–1935)
Young won 20 games as a rookie starting pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters in 1905. The 27-year-old made 42 starts and competed an astonishing 41 of them as he led the league in innings pitched with 378. (For comparison, in 2016, David Young led the league in innings pitched with 233.) Young is one of only two pitchers to win 20 games with a team that lost over 100 as he finished 1905 with a record of 20-21. He was so good that year that he earned the nickname “Young Cy” in tribute to legendary pitcher Cy Young (who was still pitching at that time). For the moneyball geeks, Irv Young had a WAR (wins above replacement) average that year of 9.2, which is in the MVP category. WAR is the number of wins the player added to the team over what a replacement player would bring. The next season, though, he had a record of 16-25 with a WAR of 3.8, and it was all downhill after that. It’s likely that he was overworked in 1905 and 1906 and his arm was permanently damaged. Young was a part-time reliever by 1908 and retired in 1911 at the age of 33.
Cesar Gutierrez (1943–2005)
The shortstop from Venezuela had played only 33 games in two seasons with the San Francisco Giants when he was traded to the Detroit Tigers during the 1969 season. In 1970, he became the Tigers’ starting shortstop. Even though he had only a .243 batting average that season, Gutierrez had one of the greatest offensive games in baseball history on June 21, 1969, in a 12-inning game against the Cleveland Indians. He went 7-for-7 at the plate, and his batting average went up that day by 29 points. He is still the only American League player to hit 7-for-7 without any outs in a single game. He lost his starting position next season, though — which would be his last in the majors.
Wayne Twitchell (1948–2010)
Twitchell was a journeyman pitcher who played with five teams during his 10-year career in the majors. His career record would be 48-65 with an ERA of 3.98, but Twitchell caught fire in the 1973 season: Pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, he had a 13-9 record and finished with an ERA of 2.50 — third in the league. Twitchell was selected that year for the All-Star team. The following year, he declined to 6-9 with an ERA of 5.21. He finished out his career in 1979 with a record of 5-5 and an ERA over 5. Twitchell passed away from cancer in 2010 at the age of 62.
Harry Byrd (1925–1985)
The right-handed starting pitcher was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1952, the same year that pitcher Joe Black was the National League Rookie of the Year. Byrd went 15-15 with an ERA of 3.31. The next season, Byrd would lose 20 games with a bloated ERA of 5.51. Byrd ended up a journeyman pitcher who played for multiple teams and was out of the league after 1957 — which, coincidentally, was also the last year in the majors for his fellow 1952 Rookie, Black.
