Imagine yourself allowing only three earned runs in 148 innings pitched and going 18-0 for the season. That's exactly what David Clyde did his senior year at Westchester High School in Houston, Texas back in 1972.
The Texas Rangers selected him with the first overall pick in the 1973 MLB Draft and gave him the highest bonus ever given to a draft pick at the time. Three weeks after his final high school game, Clyde made his MLB debut against the Minnesota Twins. In front of 35,000 fans at Arlington Stadium, he struck out eight batters, walked seven, allowed two earned runs, and gave up only one hit (a two run blast by Mike Adams) in route to his first career win.
That season, Clyde continued to draw fans to the ballpark, but unfortunately never lived up to the hype. By the age of twenty-six, he was completely out of baseball. He finished his career with a subpar 18-33 record and a 4.63 ERA. A lot of people, including Clyde, felt that the Rangers' decision to rush him to the majors was a mistake.
It's a shame that fans, especially Rangers fans, will never know what could have been.
But maybe the Nationals were on to something when they decided to shut down Strasburg early last season.
Happy Wednesday and sayonara!
Well, Strasburg was coming off of Tommy John surgery. Without that I'd bet he'd have surpassed 200 innings and been available to pitch in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Fans (especially Washington fans) will always wonder... "what if". The guy is a beast.
DeleteStrasburg also pitching in college and spent about a year in the minors.
ReplyDeleteI thought Bundy might be a case similar to this, but I think I saw a headline that the O's were sending him to Bowie (AA) to start the season. Good on them.
Yeah... I guess I should have been more clear. I don't think Clyde and Strasburg are in the same situations... only used Strasburg as an example of a team using a pitch count to monitor their young super star. Had the Rangers did that with Clyde, things might have been different.
DeleteDavid Clyde pitched for my high school when my brothers and sister were attending there. My father knew his Dad through work (they both worked for Shell Oil). I saw him pitch many times. I blogged this same card and wrote about Clyde.
ReplyDeleteLast I heard he had a lumber company up in east Texas. He may have retired by know, though.
That must have been awesome to witness... especially that field goal of his. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteCrazy story. It always amazes me how players jumped straight from HS to the majors back in the '70s.
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