!973 #1 overall pick
Pitcher David Clyde
signed 2 1975 topps cards for me!!
Pitcher David Clyde
signed 2 1975 topps cards for me!!
success of former first rounder
- Thread starter NYMets6986
- Start date
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congrats.
Congrats!!
Scobes
Scobes
Nice!
Congrats..Who is he? lol
congrats
that is a blast from the past.i was not around yet to remember the hype(perhaps Houbb can fill us in) but i met him in 86 and he was a super nice guy. hard to believe he went from graduating high school to pitching in the majors in the same month!! Whitey Herzog was the manager then and has always regretted going along with the greedy owner at the time(Bob Short) and rushing Clyde so quickly to the majors...It absolutely led to his arm breaking down...His MLB debut was such a big event all 35,698 seats were sold(first sellout in arlington stadium i believe) and the night after he pitched the attendance was.....3,992
On another note, to show just how freakin good Clyde was in high school his senior year in Houston....
18-0 and gave up 3 earned runs in 148 Innings for a 0.18 era with 328 k's...yes those are not typos....
congrats again!!
On another note, to show just how freakin good Clyde was in high school his senior year in Houston....
18-0 and gave up 3 earned runs in 148 Innings for a 0.18 era with 328 k's...yes those are not typos....
congrats again!!
yeah, he was and could have been great. I read up on him before i decided to send to him. He was an amazing highschool pitcher.
Great success!
Congrats
Nice pick up
Job well done
Chief
Nice pick up
Job well done
Chief
congrats
Very nice!
H
houbb
Guest
Awesome success!
Yes, in his first major league start he gave up one...yes one...hit. It was a solo home run to the Twins, and Clyde breezed to his first major league win against Jim Kaat. He was still just a kid, only a few weeks removed from graduating from high school. He, quite simply, had a thunderbolt for an arm. Today, baseball people talk about the arm and talent of Stephen Strasburg. Well, in 1973, every team in baseball wanted the rights to David Clyde. He had the type of arm that only comes along once in a generation. Baseball scouts said he had the talent and ability to become the next dominant player in the game. A potential 30 game winner. The next Gibson or Koufax rolled into one. No, this is not hype. I did see Clyde pitch in a high school game his senior year. Remember the Herb Brooks line about Tretiak in "Miracle?" Well, if you got a hit off of Clyde, you kept the ball, because he didn't give up many.
Obviously, when he made it to the majors, hitters were better, and he was going to give up some base knocks. Even though he was wild in his MLB debut, and wasn't ready for the majors yet, he showed he had a dominating fastball and a major league curve. Now, I've mentioned this so many times people must be sick of it by now, but there is no way you can go from high school straight to the majors and have developed the arm endurance to withstand the rigours of a 162 MLB season...unless you're Bob Feller, who was pitching in the majors after his junior year in high school. Yes, you read that correctly. A pitcher needs to develop that arm endurance and the place to do that is in the minor leagues. The Rangers, thirsting for a gate attraction, abused young Clyde. When the Rangers became contendors in 1974, Billy Martin also fought a losing battle to send Clyde to the minors to develop his arm endurance. He knew what the Rangers were doing with him was hazerdous to his arm and development. Yes, as Chris mentioned, Clyde soon developed arm troubles due to the way he was used and abused and had a short major league career.
In case you're curious, here is the box score of Clyde's first major league game. He really was quite simply amazing. If only they gave him the chance to develop, you can imagine what kind of career he might have had.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX197306270.shtml
Now all of that said, I hope those boneheads that run those major league teams (Are you listening Nationals? What about those of you in Chicago responsible for bringing Mark Prior up too soon and wearing out his arm?), take a lesson from history and start developing those arms properly. What happened to Clyde was a tragedy and shouldn't be repeated. However, like a broken record, every now and then we see history repeat itself...repeat itself...repeat itself....
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