| John Tudor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1954-02-02)February 2, 1954 (age 71) Schenectady, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 16, 1979, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 13, 1990, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 117–72 |
| Earned run average | 3.12 |
| Strikeouts | 988 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
John Thomas Tudor (born February 2, 1954) is an American former left-handedstarting pitcher who played inMajor League Baseball for several teams between 1979 and 1990.
Tudor is the oldest of three children born to Jean and Melton Tudor, an engineer.[1] Although born in theCapital District of New York, Tudor was raised inPeabody, Massachusetts, and attendedPeabody High School, where he playedhockey and was once cut from the school's baseball team.[2][1]
Tudor began hiscollege baseball career atNorth Shore Community College inDanvers, Massachusetts, where he was the team's best pitcher and hitter.[3] After two years at North Shore, Tudor wrote a letter toGeorgia Southern University and ABCA Hall of Fame head coach Ron Polk asking for the opportunity towalk on to their baseball program.[4] Tudor successfully made theEagles' roster as the team's fifth starting pitcher.[2] He graduated from the school with abachelor's degree incriminal justice.[5] In 1975, he playedcollegiate summer baseball with theFalmouth Commodores of theCape Cod Baseball League.[6] Tudor was drafted by theBoston Red Sox in the third round of the1976 MLB draft (secondary phase) from Georgia Southern.
Tudor debuted with the Red Sox on August 16, 1979. He spent some time in the minors in 1980 and was used as both a starter and reliever in 1981. On September 9, 1981, Tudor recorded the only save of his major league career by retiring the only batter he faced in the 11th inning to close out a 6–5 Red Sox victory over the Tigers.[7] Tudor finally established himself as a member of the rotation in 1982, going 13–10 with a 3.63 ERA. After finishing 13–12 the following season, Tudor was traded to thePittsburgh Pirates for designated hitterMike Easler. After one year in Pittsburgh, in which he was 12–11 with a 3.27 ERA, he was sent to St. Louis as part of a deal for veteran outfielderGeorge Hendrick. The Pirates received a career minor leaguer in the deal and sent catcherBrian Harper to the Cardinals.
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Tudor's career highlight was a spectacular1985 season for theSt. Louis Cardinals. Oddly enough, Tudor started that year with a 1–7 record and a 3.74earned run average through May. He then went on a 20–1 run with a 1.37 ERA the rest of the season and lowering his overall ERA to 1.93. According to Tudor, the change in performance came from a phone call from his former high school catcher, who, after watching Tudor on TV, had noticed a hitch in Tudor's delivery that he had not seen Tudor have before. Tudor concluded the season by winning his last eleven decisions. Only the best season ofDwight Gooden's career stopped Tudor from winning theNational LeagueCy Young Award and leading the league in ERA, wins andcomplete games. He was sixth instrikeouts for the year.
Moreover, Tudor's ten complete gameshutouts in 1985 made him the only pitcher sinceJim Palmer in1975 to reach double-digits in that category. (Bob Gibson holds the Cardinal record with 13 in 1968). To make the achievement more impressive, his ten shutouts were all in the last four months of 1985. To date, Tudor is the last Major League player to record ten or more shutouts in a season. The most since then is eight, by Los Angeles Dodger pitcherOrel Hershiser and Boston pitcherRoger Clemens in 1988 and Los Angeles Dodger pitcherTim Belcher in 1989.
The Cardinals were in the heat of a division race against Gooden and theNew York Mets in September 1985. Tudor improved even more by starting the month with two consecutive shutouts and then pitched against Gooden himself in a matchup on September 11. Gooden and Tudor locked horns pitch-for-pitch and the score was 0–0 after nine innings.Jesse Orosco took over for Gooden in the tenth inning and gave up ahome run toCésar Cedeño. Tudor came back out in the bottom of the inning and finished the three-hit, ten-inning masterpiece for his third consecutive shutout of the month. After two sub-par performances, he pitched his fourth shutout of the month and then pitched another ten innings of shutout ball against the Mets'Ron Darling but the Mets turned the table and beat the Cardinals' bullpen in the eleventh inning.
Tudor's pitching propelled the Cardinals into the playoffs. He lost Game 1 of theNational League Championship Series against theLos Angeles Dodgers but won Game 4 to even the series and St. Louis won 4 games to 2. Tudor was masterful in Game 1 of the1985 World Series against the long-shotKansas City Royals, and even better with a shutout in Game 4. However, after a devastating and controversial Cardinals' loss in the 9th inning of Game Six in which the team fell just short of clinching the World Series, Tudor and the Cardinals completely fell apart in Game 7. Tudor allowed five runs and four walks before being pulled in the third inning, as the Royals rolled to an 11–0 victory for their first World Championship. Tudor was saddled with the loss. Upset by his performance in Game 7, he cut his pitching hand in a post-game fit by punching an electrical fan.
Tudor never matched his dominance of 1985. While still posting low ERAs, he never won more than 13 games. In1987, he was again in theWorld Series but again lost with a chance to win the World Series. Injuries limited Tudor's playing time after 1985 and eventually ended his career. He was the victim of a freak accident in 1987 when Mets'catcherBarry Lyons went into the Cardinals' dugout trying to catch a foul ball and crashed into Tudor, breaking Tudor's leg. In1988, Tudor was traded to the Dodgers despite having the league's best ERA. He pitched well again and won his onlyWorld Series ring for the1988 World Series, but severely injured his elbow during the postseason. That injury caused Tudor to miss almost all of1989 and then retire despite a good comeback season (12–4, 2.40 ERA) in1990.
| W | L | PCT | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | BF | IP | H | R | ER | HR | K | BB | BB/9 | WP | HBP | Fld% | AVG | SH |
| 117 | 72 | .619 | 3.12 | 281 | 263 | 50 | 16 | 7368 | 1797 | 1677 | 700 | 623 | 156 | 988 | 475 | 2.4 | 18 | 29 | .974 | .154 | 41 |
