In 14 years in the majors I pitched in 602 games but started just 69 of them. That in itself is kind of strange because when I started my big league career with the Giants my first two games in the big leagues were complete game shutouts. In the next three starts I gave up a total of four earned runs but lost all three games.
I pitched for the Minnesota Twins for six seasons. In those six seasons I pitched in 327 games and never started a single game. In those 327 games I pitched more innings and won more games than any pitcher in Twins history that had zero starts on his resume. Who am I?
Now that our mystery pitcher has been identified, you can learn more about him in a January 2010 interview I did with him.
Al Worthington comes to mind…
I am thinking that your are “Red” Al Worthington.
“Allan Fulton Worthington (born February 5, 1929), nicknamed “Red”, is a former professional baseball pitcher He played all or part of 14 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Giants (New York, 1953–54, 1956–57 and San Francisco, 1958–59), Boston Red Sox (1960), Chicago White Sox (1960), Cincinnati Reds (1963–64) and Minnesota Twins (1965–69). Worthington batted and threw right-handed. He has been considered the first great closer in Twins history.
Worthington began his career with the Giants as a starter, pitching two shutouts in his first two major league games. After spending most of the 1954 and 1955 seasons in the minor leagues, he became a full-time starter again in 1956. During 1957-58, he was used as a swingman, and by 1959 he was almost exclusively used out of the bullpen.
After successive transactions between the Giants, Red Sox, White Sox and Reds, Worthington landed in Minnesota, where he blossomed into one of the American League’s most dominant closers. His most productive season came in 1965, when he posted career-highs in saves (21) and ERA (2.13), and also won 10 games. From 1966 to 1967 he saved 32 games, and in 1968 he led the league relievers with 18 saves.
In a 14-year career, Worthington compiled a 75–82 record with 834 strikeouts, a 3.39 ERA, and 110 saves in 1,246.2 innings pitched.
Worthington would continue on with his career in baseball after his retirement as a player, by accepting the head coaching position at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty’s former baseball venue was named after him.
In May 2011, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.” Wikipedia
Nice job Dennis!