1959
Born February 20, 1959
Marshall, MN, USA
Bill Gullickson Marquee
b. February 20, 1959 · Montreal Expos 1979–1985, Cincinnati Reds 1986–1987, New York Yankees 1987, Houston Astros 1990, Detroit Tigers 1991–1994
On September 10, 1980, at twenty-one, he struck out 18 Chicago batters at Olympic Stadium, which was the most any rookie had struck out in a game. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1980 and pitched the rest of his career on insulin, checking his blood sugar between innings.
Fourteen seasons gave him 162 wins against 136, a 3.93 earned run average, 2,560 innings and 54 complete games. He went 20-9 for Detroit in 1991 to lead the American League in wins, at thirty-two, after two seasons pitching in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants.
He was never an All-Star and never led the league in anything else. He has worked with children's diabetes programs since. The 2000 ballot gave him one vote of 499.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Pitcher of the Month | 2 | 1986, 1993 |
| Player of the Week | 1 | 1980 |
| The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1980 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | MON | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | MON | 24 | 40 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .175 |
| 1981 | MON | 22 | 46 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0 | .152 |
| 1982 | MON | 34 | 82 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 0 | .122 |
| 1983 | MON | 34 | 82 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 0 | .134 |
| 1984 | MON | 32 | 73 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 0 | .110 |
| 1985 | MON | 29 | 64 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 0 | .188 |
| 1986 | CIN | 37 | 79 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 0 | .076 |
| 1987 | CIN/NYY | 35 | 53 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | .208 |
| 1990 | HOU | 32 | 57 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 0 | .158 |
| 1991 | DET | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1992 | DET | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1993 | DET | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1994 | DET | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 398 | 576 | 30 | 81 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 20 | 152 | 0 | .141 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | MON | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1980 | MON | 10 | 5 | 24 | 19 | 0 | 141.0 | 127 | 47 | 50 | 120 | 3.00 |
| 1981 | MON | 7 | 9 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 157.1 | 142 | 49 | 34 | 115 | 2.80 |
| 1982 | MON | 12 | 14 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 236.2 | 231 | 94 | 61 | 155 | 3.57 |
| 1983 | MON | 17 | 12 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 242.1 | 230 | 101 | 59 | 120 | 3.75 |
| 1984 | MON | 12 | 9 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 226.2 | 230 | 91 | 37 | 100 | 3.61 |
| 1985 | MON | 14 | 12 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 181.1 | 187 | 71 | 47 | 68 | 3.52 |
| 1986 | CIN | 15 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 244.2 | 245 | 92 | 60 | 121 | 3.38 |
| 1987 | CIN/NYY | 14 | 13 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 213.0 | 218 | 115 | 50 | 117 | 4.86 |
| 1990 | HOU | 10 | 14 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 193.1 | 221 | 82 | 61 | 73 | 3.82 |
| 1991 | DET | 20 | 9 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 226.1 | 256 | 98 | 44 | 91 | 3.90 |
| 1992 | DET | 14 | 13 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 221.2 | 228 | 107 | 50 | 64 | 4.34 |
| 1993 | DET | 13 | 9 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 159.1 | 186 | 95 | 44 | 70 | 5.37 |
| 1994 | DET | 4 | 5 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 115.1 | 156 | 76 | 25 | 65 | 5.93 |
| Career | — | 162 | 136 | 398 | 390 | 0 | 2560.0 | 2659 | 1118 | 622 | 1279 | 3.93 |
On this day & linked events
1979
Major-league debut: Bill Gullickson
Bill Gullickson made a major-league debut on September 26, 1979.
1994
Final major-league game: Bill Gullickson
Bill Gullickson played a final major-league game on August 7, 1994.