Frank Tanana Marquee

b. July 3, 1953 · California Angels 1973–1980, Boston Red Sox 1981, Texas Rangers 1982–1985, Detroit Tigers 1985–1992, New York Mets 1993, New York Yankees 1993

He struck out 269 men in 1975 to lead the American League and threw 7 shutouts in 1977 to lead it again, and through those years he and Nolan Ryan were the two hardest throwers in the game, on the same club. His arm gave out in 1979, at twenty-five.

What happened next is the reason for the page. He rebuilt himself as a slow left-hander who changed speeds and located, and pitched until 1993 — twenty-one seasons in all, 240 wins against 236, 2,773 strikeouts, which is 26th all-time, and 4,188 innings across 616 starts.

He beat Toronto on the last day of the 1987 season to win the division for Detroit, in the only game that mattered that year. The writers gave him zero votes in 1999, which for 2,773 strikeouts is a striking number and reflects how the last decade of the career looked to people counting only the wins.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	3	1976, 1977, 1978
Player of the Month	3	1976, 1977, 1978
The Sporting News All-Star	2	1976, 1977
Player of the Week	1	1975
The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year	1	1974

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1973	CAL	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1974	CAL	39	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1975	CAL	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1976	CAL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1977	CAL	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1978	CAL	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1979	CAL	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1980	CAL	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1981	BOS	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1982	TEX	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1983	TEX	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1984	TEX	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1985	DET/TEX	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1986	DET	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1987	DET	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1988	DET	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1989	DET	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1990	DET	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1991	DET	33	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
1992	DET	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1993	NYM/NYY	32	58	3	9	1	1	5	2	11	.155
Career	—	639	59	3	9	1	1	5	2	12	.153

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1973	CAL	2	2	4	4	0	26.1	20	9	8	22	3.08
1974	CAL	14	19	39	35	0	268.2	262	93	77	180	3.12
1975	CAL	16	9	34	33	0	257.1	211	75	73	269	2.62
1976	CAL	19	10	34	34	0	288.1	212	78	73	261	2.43
1977	CAL	15	9	31	31	0	241.1	201	68	61	205	2.54
1978	CAL	18	12	33	33	0	239.0	239	97	60	137	3.65
1979	CAL	7	5	18	17	0	90.1	93	39	25	46	3.89
1980	CAL	11	12	32	31	0	204.0	223	94	45	113	4.15
1981	BOS	4	10	24	23	0	141.1	142	63	43	78	4.01
1982	TEX	7	18	30	30	0	194.1	199	91	55	87	4.21
1983	TEX	7	9	29	22	0	159.1	144	56	49	108	3.16
1984	TEX	15	15	35	35	0	246.1	234	89	81	141	3.25
1985	DET/TEX	12	14	33	33	0	215.0	220	102	57	159	4.27
1986	DET	12	9	32	31	0	188.1	196	87	65	119	4.16
1987	DET	15	10	34	34	0	218.2	216	95	56	146	3.91
1988	DET	14	11	32	32	0	203.0	213	95	64	127	4.21
1989	DET	10	14	33	33	0	223.2	227	89	74	147	3.58
1990	DET	9	8	34	29	1	176.1	190	104	66	114	5.31
1991	DET	13	12	33	33	0	217.1	217	91	78	107	3.77
1992	DET	13	11	32	31	0	186.2	188	91	90	91	4.39
1993	NYM/NYY	7	17	32	32	0	202.2	216	98	55	116	4.35
Career	—	240	236	638	616	1	4188.1	4063	1704	1255	2773	3.66

On this day & linked events

1953

Born July 3, 1953

Detroit, MI, USA

1973

Major-league debut: Frank Tanana

Frank Tanana made a major-league debut on September 9, 1973.

1977

Dennis Eckersley's No-Hitter

Dennis Eckersley threw a no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians against the California Angels on May 30, 1977, winning 1–0.

1993

Darryl Kile's No-Hitter

Darryl Kile threw a no-hitter for the Houston Astros against the New York Mets on September 8, 1993, winning 7–1.

1993

Final major-league game: Frank Tanana

Frank Tanana played a final major-league game on October 1, 1993.

Image: Mike Fitzpatrick, CC BY 2.0