| Mike Scott | |||||||||||||||
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| Pitcher | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1955-04-26)April 26, 1955 (age 70) Santa Monica, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| April 18, 1979, for the New York Mets | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| April 13, 1991, for the Houston Astros | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Win–loss record | 124–108 | ||||||||||||||
| Earned run average | 3.54 | ||||||||||||||
| Strikeouts | 1,469 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Michael Warren Scott (born April 26, 1955) is an American former professional baseballpitcher who played 13 seasons inMajor League Baseball for both theNew York Mets and theHouston Astros. He won theNational LeagueCy Young Award in1986, becoming the first Astros pitcher to win the award. Scott is part of a select group of pitchers that have thrown ano-hitter andstruck out 300 batters in the same season.
Mike Scott was selected by theNew York Mets in the second round of the1976 Major League Baseball draft fromPepperdine University. He made his major league debut with theMets in1979. By the end of the1982 season, Scott had compiled a 14–27 record with a 4.65earned run average (ERA) and threesaves. After going 7–13 with a 5.14 ERA in 37 games with theMets in 1982, he was traded to theHouston Astros forDanny Heep at theWinter Meetings on December 10.[1]
During his first season in Houston in1983, Scott produced mostly successful results,making 24 starts and going 10–6 with a 3.72 earned run average. However, he struggled in 1984, going 5–11 with a 4.68 ERA for the Astros.
The turning point in Scott's career came in1985, when he became a student of pitching coachRoger Craig. Craig taught Scott thesplit-finger fastball, a pitch he had made famous while coaching the pitchers of the1984 World Series championDetroit Tigers. Scott became an 18-game winner in 1985 and was rewarded with a three-year deal with the Astros, valued at $2 million. However, there were rumors that Scott's dominating performance was the result ofball scuffing. Scott had been accused of using sandpaper by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. In August 1986, Roger Craig, then the manager of theSan Francisco Giants, complained that Scott's real secret was that he scuffed the baseball. "It's great," Scott said of the charges. "Any time you have hitters coming to the plate thinking you're doing something, it takes their minds off the pitch . . . Nine times out of 10 the umpire will look at the ball and throw it right back to me."[2]
Scott had his most successful season in1986, when he posted an 18–10 record with a 2.22 ERA, striking out a league-leading 306 batters.[3][4] On September 25 of that season, he threw a 2–0no-hitter against theSan Francisco Giants at theAstrodome to clinch theNational League West division title for theAstros. This game was voted one of the top five games played in the Astrodome after the Astros moved toEnron Field following the 1999 season.[5] He led a strong starting rotation that includedBob Knepper,Nolan Ryan, andJim Deshaies. Scott had a stretch from May 9 to August 8 where he had aquality start (a minimum of six innings pitched without allowing more than three runs) in all twenty games started, setting a club record (the previous record wasDon Wilson with fifteen in 1971).[6] Scott's twenty starts would be a club record untilFramber Valdez passed him on August 24, 2022.
Scott's outstanding form continued into thepostseason, when Houston faced theEastern Division championNew York Mets in the1986 National League Championship Series (NLCS). The Astros lost the series in six games, but both Astros victories were courtesy of Scott's overwhelming starting pitching performances in Games 1 and 4. Scott yielded just 5singles and struck out an LCS-record hitters in Game 1.[3] The Mets aggressively voiced their suspicions that Scott was doctoring the baseball to the media during the series, although nothing was ever found to support these claims. So dominant was Scott in those two games — 0.50 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 8 hits and only one walk in 18 innings — that the Mets considered Game 6 something of a "must win"; a loss would have meant facing an apparently unbeatable Mike Scott in Game 7 in the Astrodome. The Mets won Game 6 in 16 innings, averting another Scott start, to win the league pennant.[7]
In recognition of his regular season performance, Scott was awarded the 1986 National LeagueCy Young Award as the league's best pitcher. Scott was also voted the NL 1986 NLCSMost Valuable Player (MVP), the first time in NLCS history that a member of the losing team was so honored (a year later, theSan Francisco Giants'Jeffrey Leonard would become the second consecutive NLCS MVP of the losing team).[8]
In1987, Scott was the National League starter in theAll-Star Game, and threw two scoreless innings. He was also the opening day starter for theAstros. He went 16–13 with a 3.23 earned run average, eight complete games and three shutouts in 247.2 innings while finishing second in theNational League with 233 strikeouts.
In1988, Scott once more was named theAstros' opening day starter. On June 12, he was denied a second no-hitter when theAtlanta Braves'Ken Oberkfell singled to right with two outs in the ninth inning. He had a 14–8 record with a 2.92 earned run average, eight complete games and five shutouts in 218.2 innings while having 190 strikeouts.
In1989, Scott won 20 games (while losing 10) and finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting, behind relieverMark Davis of theSan Diego Padres. He was for the third consecutive time the opening day starter for theAstros. He had a 3.10 earned run average, nine complete games and 172 strikeouts in 229 innings pitched.
Injuries began to plague him shortly thereafter. His1990 season was his last full season. He had a 9–13 record with a 3.81 earned run average in 32 games, having four complete games, two shutouts and 121 strikeouts in 205.2 innings. He played in just two games in the1991 season, losing both games while lasting a total of seven innings, giving up 10 earned runs and having three strikeouts. Scott retired after the1991 season. As of the 2021 season, he is fourth all-time for the Astros in wins (110) and fifth in strikeouts (1318), and sixth in games started (259).[9] On October 3, 1992, he and his former teammateJosé Cruz had their jersey numbers retired by the Astros.[10]
· Baseball Almanac| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | No-hitter pitcher September 25,1986 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League Pitcher of the Month June 1989 | Succeeded by |
