Remembering Mike Cuellar
Posted by Steve Lombardi on July 21, 2008
Watching Andy Pettitte throw a gem in the Bronx yesterday got me thinking "How many 'older' left-handed starting pitchers in the A.L. have recently thrown really good games?" So, I turned to Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Game Finder and set the controls for: "From 1956 to 2008, Playing in the AL, Throws LH, as Starter, (requiring Age>=36 and game_score>=80)." And, this is what I found:
Cnt AgeY.D Player Date Tm Opp GmReslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str **GmSc** IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP ERA +----+------+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--------+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+ 1 38.079 Mike Cuellar 1975-07-26 BAL @MIL W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 1 0 0 3 10 0 92 29 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 2 36.044 Frank Tanana 1989-08-16 DET BAL W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 2 10 0 136 81 91 32 28 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 3 41.319 Randy Johnson 2005-07-26 NYY MIN W 4-0 GS-8 ,W 8 2 0 0 0 11 0 97 71 89 26 25 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 4 36.052 David Wells 1999-07-11 TOR @MON W 1-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 1 7 0 103 74 89 31 29 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 5 37.015 Tommy John 1980-06-06 NYY @SEA W 3-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 0 6 0 89 29 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 6 39.325 David Wells 2003-04-10 NYY MIN W 2-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 0 6 0 96 72 87 32 30 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 7 38.361 David Wells 2002-05-16 NYY TBD W 13-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 0 6 0 112 79 87 31 30 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 8 40.115 Tommy John 1983-09-14 CAL KCR L 0-1 GS-13 13 13 0 0 0 6 0 87 47 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 0.00 9 36.255 Jerry Koosman 1979-09-04 MIN KCR W 5-1 CG 9 ,W 9 2 1 1 0 7 1 86 29 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 10 38.023 Mike Cuellar 1975-05-31 BAL @CAL W 1-0 SHO9 ,W 9 1 0 0 1 2 0 86 30 27 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 11 36.167 Chuck Finley 1999-05-12 ANA @NYY W 1-0 GS-8 ,W 8 3 0 0 2 11 0 127 75 85 30 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.00 12 44.078 Tommy John 1987-08-08 NYY @DET W 7-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 1 3 0 85 29 27 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 13 36.330 Tommy John 1980-04-16 NYY @CHW W 6-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 0 2 0 85 28 27 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0.00 14 39.043 Mike Cuellar 1976-06-20 BAL @TEX W 2-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 2 6 0 85 31 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 15 38.095 Mike Cuellar 1975-08-11 BAL KCR W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 2 4 0 85 30 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.00 16 36.253 Jim Kaat 1975-07-18 CHW DET W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9 4 0 0 1 7 0 85 31 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 17 37.117 Mike Cuellar 1974-09-02(2) BAL BOS W 1-0 SHO9 ,W 9 2 0 0 2 4 0 85 29 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 18 36.072 Mike Cuellar 1973-07-19 BAL @CAL W 3-1 CG 11 ,W 11 9 1 1 2 12 1 85 44 41 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.82 19 36.213 Whitey Ford 1965-05-22 NYY WSA W 6-0 SHO9 ,W 9 3 0 0 4 8 0 85 33 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00
There's a lot of "Mike Cuellar" in there. Known as "Crazy Horse," Cuellar's name doesn't come up these days as much as guys like Tommy John, Jim Kaat, and David Wells in the conversation of ol' crafty lefties in the American League. But, he deserves to be there.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:09 am
John's 13 innings were the second most by any 40+ year old pitcher in a game since 1956.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/VtF2
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:52 am
[...] Remembering Mike CuellarKnown as “Crazy Horse,” Cuellar’s name doesn’t come up these days as much as guys like Tommy John, Jim Kaat, and David Wells in the conversation of ol’ crafty lefties in the American League. But, he deserves to be there. [...]
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:29 am
Did you set the game score for 80 or for 85?
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Interesting find. It truly is a shame how frequently he is forgotten.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:40 am
David - it was: requiring Age>=36 and game_score>=80
July 25th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Meant to add on...
I just cut it at 85 for the sample of the top games...even 'tho I ran the cut on 80+