1952
Born May 23, 1952
Lafayette, IN, USA
Butch Metzger Marquee
b. May 23, 1952 · San Francisco Giants 1974, San Diego Padres 1975–1977, St. Louis Cardinals 1977, New York Mets 1978
Metzger's first full season brought the 1976 National League Rookie of the Year award. Working from San Diego's bullpen, he appeared 77 times, went 11-4 with 16 saves and posted a 2.92 earned run average across 123 innings, striking out 89.
Five seasons gave him an 18-9 record, 23 saves, 175 strikeouts and a 3.74 earned run average in 293 innings. He started only one of his 191 appearances and never completed a game. The 1976 season supplied more than 40 percent of his career innings.
San Francisco brought Metzger up for 10 games in 1974, followed by three seasons with San Diego. The Padres sent him to St. Louis during 1977, when he appeared 75 times across the two clubs. He made 25 final appearances for the Mets in 1978.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1976 |
| The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1976 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | SFG | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | SDP | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | SDP | 77 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1977 | SDP/STL | 75 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 |
| 1978 | NYM | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 191 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .000 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | SFG | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 3.55 |
| 1975 | SDP | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7.71 |
| 1976 | SDP | 11 | 4 | 77 | 0 | 16 | 123.1 | 119 | 40 | 52 | 89 | 2.92 |
| 1977 | SDP/STL | 4 | 2 | 75 | 1 | 7 | 115.1 | 105 | 46 | 50 | 54 | 3.59 |
| 1978 | NYM | 1 | 3 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 37.1 | 48 | 27 | 22 | 21 | 6.51 |
| Career | — | 18 | 9 | 191 | 1 | 23 | 293.1 | 289 | 122 | 140 | 175 | 3.74 |
On this day & linked events
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain