1950
Born May 25, 1950
Long Branch, NJ, USA
John Montefusco Marquee
b. May 25, 1950 · San Francisco Giants 1974–1980, Atlanta Braves 1981, San Diego Padres 1982–1983, New York Yankees 1983–1986
He went 15-9 with a 2.88 earned run average and 215 strikeouts as a rookie in 1975 and took the Rookie of the Year award with half the vote. He talked constantly — he guaranteed shutouts, named the hitters he would strike out, and delivered often enough that the guarantees kept coming. San Francisco had not had anyone worth listening to in years.
In 1976 he went 16-14 with six shutouts, the most in the National League, and finished the season with John Montefusco's No-Hitter against Atlanta. Thirteen seasons gave him 90 wins against 83, a 3.54 earned run average, 1,652 innings and 11 shutouts.
A hip injury and then a knee took the rest. He was 3-8 in 1979 and 4-8 in 1980, was traded twice, and finished as a Yankee spot starter, going 5-0 for the club that acquired him in August 1983. He was out of the game at thirty-six. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1976 |
| Player of the Week | 1 | 1976 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1975 |
| The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1975 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | SFG | 7 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .286 |
| 1975 | SFG | 35 | 80 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 44 | 0 | .087 |
| 1976 | SFG | 38 | 78 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 42 | 0 | .103 |
| 1977 | SFG | 26 | 49 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 0 | .122 |
| 1978 | SFG | 37 | 70 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 32 | 1 | .057 |
| 1979 | SFG | 24 | 42 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .167 |
| 1980 | SFG | 22 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .033 |
| 1981 | ATL | 26 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .067 |
| 1982 | SDP | 32 | 58 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 30 | 0 | .086 |
| 1983 | NYY/SDP | 37 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .053 |
| 1984 | NYY | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | NYY | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | NYY | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 302 | 455 | 23 | 44 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 27 | 219 | 1 | .097 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | SFG | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 39.1 | 41 | 21 | 19 | 34 | 4.81 |
| 1975 | SFG | 15 | 9 | 35 | 34 | 0 | 243.2 | 210 | 78 | 86 | 215 | 2.88 |
| 1976 | SFG | 16 | 14 | 37 | 36 | 0 | 253.1 | 224 | 80 | 74 | 172 | 2.84 |
| 1977 | SFG | 7 | 12 | 26 | 25 | 0 | 157.1 | 170 | 61 | 46 | 110 | 3.49 |
| 1978 | SFG | 11 | 9 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 238.2 | 233 | 101 | 68 | 177 | 3.81 |
| 1979 | SFG | 3 | 8 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 137.0 | 145 | 60 | 51 | 76 | 3.94 |
| 1980 | SFG | 4 | 8 | 22 | 17 | 0 | 113.1 | 120 | 55 | 39 | 85 | 4.37 |
| 1981 | ATL | 2 | 3 | 26 | 9 | 1 | 77.1 | 75 | 30 | 27 | 34 | 3.49 |
| 1982 | SDP | 10 | 11 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 184.1 | 177 | 82 | 41 | 83 | 4.00 |
| 1983 | NYY/SDP | 14 | 4 | 37 | 16 | 4 | 133.1 | 133 | 49 | 42 | 67 | 3.31 |
| 1984 | NYY | 5 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 55.1 | 55 | 22 | 13 | 23 | 3.58 |
| 1985 | NYY | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 10.29 |
| 1986 | NYY | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12.1 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2.19 |
| Career | — | 90 | 83 | 298 | 244 | 5 | 1652.1 | 1604 | 650 | 513 | 1081 | 3.54 |
On this day & linked events
1974
Major-league debut: John Montefusco
John Montefusco made a major-league debut on September 3, 1974.
1976
John Montefusco's No-Hitter
John Montefusco threw a no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants against the Atlanta Braves on September 29, 1976, winning 9–0.
1986
Final major-league game: John Montefusco
John Montefusco played a final major-league game on May 1, 1986.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain