Jim Gott worked on motion, saw 14 major league seasons
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After five seasons in the minors with the Cardinals, Jim Gott had gained a reputation for wildness, The Tampa Bay Times wrote in March 1982.
So, when the Blue Jays selected him in the minor league draft, they knew what they were getting. They also knew what Gott had to do to fix it, The Times wrote.
"He had some problems with his motion, but they are straightened out now," Toronto pitching coach Al Widmar told The Times. "Every now and then he will go back to his old motion, but now he realizes what he's doing and he's able to adjust on the next pitch."
Gott ended up adjusting enough to spend that entire 1982 season in Toronto. By the time he was done, his adjustments had earned him time in 14 major league seasons, spent as first a starter, then as a reliever and closer.
Gott's career began in 1977, taken by the Cardinals in the fourth round of the draft out of San Marino High School in California.
Gott started with the Cardinals at rookie Calgary. He first made AA Arkansas for two games in 1979, then spent all of 1981 there before being drafted by the Blue Jays.
Gott arrived in Toronto for 1982 and went 5-10 over 30 outings, 23 starts. He ended with a 4.43 ERA.
He then returned to Toronto for 1983 and 1984. He then moved to the Giants for 1985 and to the Pirates in mid-1987.
Gott saw 25 outings with Pittsburgh in 1987 and saved 13 games. He returned there for 1988 and saved 34 more.
Gott spoke to The Associated Press in spring 1988 about changes to his pitching motion over the years, and the confidence the Pirates put in him.
"All I needed was for somebody to give me a little bit of confidence," Gott told The AP, "to tell me that it's not a matter of having a 10-cent brain at all but a matter of being a little more consistent."
And he liked the closer role, he told UPI that spring.
"As far as pressure's concerned, I love the job I have going out there at the end of the game with everything on the line," Gott told UPI. "It's either do or die and I honestly believe I'm going to be doing a lot more than I'm going to be dying."
After losing most of 1989 to elbow problems, Gott signed with the Dodgers for 1990. He returned to form as a middle reliever, going 3-5 over 50 relief outings, with a 2.90 ERA. He also saw seven outings at high-A Bakersfield.
Gott pitched with the Dodgers through 1994. He resumed his closer role in 1993, saving 25 games.
Gott returned to the Pirates for 1995 before another shoulder injury essentially forced him to retire.
He did return soon after, though, for a ceremony marking Cal Ripken's streak. Gott happened to pitch against Ripken in the first game of that streak, in 1982 - Gott's first major league win. The Orioles invited him - and the game ball he still had - to the ceremony. The ball then went on to Cooperstown.
"What a wonderful way for me to end my career," Gott told reporters then. "I'm just in awe."
Gott has since turned minor league pitching coach. In 2025, he served as pitching coach with the Athletics at single-A Stockton.
- Tampa Bay Times, March 26, 1982: Blue Jays' Jim Gott is shedding Wild Man image
- Latrobe Bulletin, Associated Press, Feb. 25, 1988: Gott's Career Changed When He Joined Buccos
- UPI, March 16, 1988: Relief pitcher Jim Gott
- San Francisco Examiner, Sept. 10, 1995: Baseball
Made the Majors:1,448-31.6%-X
Never Made Majors:3,128-68.4%
