Wally Whitehurst got unusual first ML win, saw 7 seasons
Met reliever Wally Whitehurst got his first major league win in this July 1990 game, just now how he envisioned it, according to The Tarrytown Daily News.
After coming on in the second inning, he stayed in through the sixth. He left the game behind 7-3. But The Mets came back in the next half inning and took the lead and Whitehurst got the win.
"It was special," Whitehurst told The Daily News of the win, "but I was more excited because we came back."
Whitehurst eventually came back to the majors over seven seasons, getting 20 major league wins in all. He played with the Mets, Padres and Yankees.
Whitehurst's career began in 1985, taken by the Athletics in the third round of the draft out of the University of New Orleans.
Whitehurst started with the Athletics at short-season Medford and single-A Modesto. He went 8-5, with 3.40 ERA.
He made AA Huntsville for 1986 and 1987, then moved in a trade to the Mets and AAA Tidewater for 1988.
In July 1989, Whitehurst made New York. He got into nine games and started one. He went 0-1, with a 4.50 ERA.
He returned to the Mets for another 38 relief outings in 1990, with a 3.29 ERA. He also saw two starts at Tidewater.
Whitehurst saw 36 outings, 20 starts with the Mets in 1991, winning a mid-season spot as the team's fifth starter after a trade.
"I just happened to be the one who got the fifth spot," Whitehurst told The Associated Press that July. "It's not that big a deal. I was in the right place at the right time."
Whitehurst then fell into a rut, going 0-6 down over seven starts. Overall, he went 7-12 in 1991, with a 4.19 ERA.
Going into 1992, as he tried to return to form, some thought the starting pressure had gotten to Whitehurst, The New Rochelle Standard Star wrote.
"Wally has always been a low ball pitcher," Mets pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre told The Standard Star that March. "It seemed like when he was starting he was trying to throw hard, hard, harder. That brought his ball up."
Whitehurst went 3-9 in 1992 for the Mets over 44 outings, 11 starts. He had a 3.62 ERA.
Whitehurst moved to the Padres for 1993. He went 4-7, with a 3.83 ERA in 21 outings 19 starts. He then had another 13 starts with the Padres in 1994 and two final starts with the Yankees in 1996 to end his career.
He later turned minor league pitching coach with the Padres and Pirates. He's last credited with coaching at AA Altoona in 2011.
- Tarrytown Daily News, July 8, 1990: Whitehurst finds way to win
- New London Day, Associated Press, July 16, 1991: Mets
- New Rochelle Standard Star, March 3, 1992: Which Wally is it?
Made the Majors:1,480-31.8%-X
Never Made Majors:3,173-68.2%