1955
Born May 19, 1955
Johnson City, TN, USA
Ed Whitson Marquee
b. May 19, 1955 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1977–1979, San Francisco Giants 1979–1981, Cleveland Indians 1982, San Diego Padres 1983–1984, 1986–1991, New York Yankees 1985–1986
The Yankees signed him for five years after 1984 and it went wrong immediately: 10-8 with a 4.88 earned run average, booing at the stadium, and a fight with Billy Martin in a Baltimore hotel bar in September 1985 that broke Martin's arm and Whitson's ribs. New York used him at home only, then traded him back to San Diego in 1986.
In San Diego he was 16-11 with a 2.66 earned run average in 1989 and 14-9 with a 2.60 in 1990, at thirty-five, which are the two best seasons he had. Fifteen seasons gave him 126 wins against 123, a 3.79 earned run average and 2,240 innings.
He was from Johnson City, Tennessee, and pitched for five clubs. Elbow trouble ended it at thirty-six. No Hall of Fame ballot has listed him.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1980 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1981 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | PIT | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1978 | PIT | 43 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .182 |
| 1979 | PIT/SFG | 37 | 45 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .111 |
| 1980 | SFG | 34 | 66 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 0 | .091 |
| 1981 | SFG | 22 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 0 | .091 |
| 1982 | CLE | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | SDP | 31 | 44 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .182 |
| 1984 | SDP | 36 | 61 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .049 |
| 1985 | NYY | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | NYY/SDP | 31 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .167 |
| 1987 | SDP | 36 | 65 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 0 | .123 |
| 1988 | SDP | 34 | 66 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 0 | .167 |
| 1989 | SDP | 36 | 72 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 0 | .139 |
| 1990 | SDP | 33 | 67 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 0 | .149 |
| 1991 | SDP | 13 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .125 |
| Career | — | 461 | 576 | 24 | 72 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 18 | 169 | 0 | .125 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | PIT | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 15.2 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 3.45 |
| 1978 | PIT | 5 | 6 | 43 | 0 | 4 | 74.0 | 66 | 27 | 37 | 64 | 3.28 |
| 1979 | PIT/SFG | 7 | 11 | 37 | 24 | 1 | 158.0 | 151 | 72 | 75 | 93 | 4.10 |
| 1980 | SFG | 11 | 13 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 211.2 | 222 | 73 | 56 | 90 | 3.10 |
| 1981 | SFG | 6 | 9 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 123.0 | 130 | 55 | 47 | 65 | 4.02 |
| 1982 | CLE | 4 | 2 | 40 | 9 | 2 | 107.2 | 91 | 39 | 58 | 61 | 3.26 |
| 1983 | SDP | 5 | 7 | 31 | 21 | 1 | 144.1 | 143 | 69 | 50 | 81 | 4.30 |
| 1984 | SDP | 14 | 8 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 189.0 | 181 | 68 | 42 | 103 | 3.24 |
| 1985 | NYY | 10 | 8 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 158.2 | 201 | 86 | 43 | 89 | 4.88 |
| 1986 | NYY/SDP | 6 | 9 | 31 | 16 | 0 | 112.2 | 139 | 78 | 60 | 73 | 6.23 |
| 1987 | SDP | 10 | 13 | 36 | 34 | 0 | 205.2 | 197 | 108 | 64 | 135 | 4.73 |
| 1988 | SDP | 13 | 11 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 205.1 | 202 | 86 | 45 | 118 | 3.77 |
| 1989 | SDP | 16 | 11 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 227.0 | 198 | 67 | 48 | 117 | 2.66 |
| 1990 | SDP | 14 | 9 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 228.2 | 215 | 66 | 47 | 127 | 2.60 |
| 1991 | SDP | 4 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 78.2 | 93 | 44 | 17 | 40 | 5.03 |
| Career | — | 126 | 123 | 452 | 333 | 8 | 2240.0 | 2240 | 944 | 698 | 1266 | 3.79 |
On this day & linked events
1977
Major-league debut: Ed Whitson
Ed Whitson made a major-league debut on September 4, 1977.
1981
Charlie Lea's No-Hitter
Charlie Lea threw a no-hitter for the Montreal Expos against the San Francisco Giants on May 10, 1981, winning 4–0.
1991
Final major-league game: Ed Whitson
Ed Whitson played a final major-league game on September 29, 1991.
Image: San Diego Padres, public domain