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Remembering Mike Cuellar

Posted by Steve Lombardi on July 21, 2008

Watching Andy Pettitte throw a gem in the Bronx yesterday got me thinking "How many 'older' left-handed starting pitchers in the A.L. have recently thrown really good games?"  So, I turned to Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Game Finder and set the controls for:  "From 1956 to 2008, Playing in the AL, Throws LH, as Starter, (requiring Age>=36 and game_score>=80)."  And, this is what I found:

  Cnt AgeY.D Player            Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt App,Dec    IP   H  R ER BB SO HR Pit Str **GmSc** IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP   ERA
+----+------+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--------+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+
    1 38.079 Mike Cuellar      1975-07-26    BAL @MIL W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    1  0  0  3 10  0             92         29 26  0  0   0   0  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    2 36.044 Frank Tanana      1989-08-16    DET  BAL W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2 10  0 136  81     91         32 28  0  0   0   1  1  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
    3 41.319 Randy Johnson     2005-07-26    NYY  MIN W  4-0  GS-8  ,W   8    2  0  0  0 11  0  97  71     89         26 25  1  0   0   1  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    4 36.052 David Wells       1999-07-11    TOR @MON W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  1  7  0 103  74     89         31 29  1  0   0   0  1  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    5 37.015 Tommy John        1980-06-06    NYY @SEA W  3-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  0  6  0             89         29 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    6 39.325 David Wells       2003-04-10    NYY  MIN W  2-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  0  6  0  96  72     87         32 30  1  0   0   2  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    7 38.361 David Wells       2002-05-16    NYY  TBD W 13-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  0  6  0 112  79     87         31 30  2  0   0   1  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    8 40.115 Tommy John        1983-09-14    CAL  KCR L  0-1  GS-13     13   13  0  0  0  6  0             87         47 47  0  0   0   0  0  0   3  1  2  0  0  0   0.00
    9 36.255 Jerry Koosman     1979-09-04    MIN  KCR W  5-1  CG 9  ,W   9    2  1  1  0  7  1             86         29 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   1.00
   10 38.023 Mike Cuellar      1975-05-31    BAL @CAL W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    1  0  0  1  2  0             86         30 27  0  0   0   0  2  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
   11 36.167 Chuck Finley      1999-05-12    ANA @NYY W  1-0  GS-8  ,W   8    3  0  0  2 11  0 127  75     85         30 28  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  1  1  0  0  2   0.00
   12 44.078 Tommy John        1987-08-08    NYY @DET W  7-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  1  3  0             85         29 27  0  0   0   1  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
   13 36.330 Tommy John        1980-04-16    NYY @CHW W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  0  2  0             85         28 27  0  0   0   1  0  0   1  0  1  0  0  1   0.00
   14 39.043 Mike Cuellar      1976-06-20    BAL @TEX W  2-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  2  6  0             85         31 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
   15 38.095 Mike Cuellar      1975-08-11    BAL  KCR W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2  4  0             85         30 28  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  1  0  0   0.00
   16 36.253 Jim Kaat          1975-07-18    CHW  DET W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  1  7  0             85         31 30  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   17 37.117 Mike Cuellar      1974-09-02(2) BAL  BOS W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2  4  0             85         29 27  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   18 36.072 Mike Cuellar      1973-07-19    BAL @CAL W  3-1  CG 11 ,W  11    9  1  1  2 12  1             85         44 41  0  0   1   0  1  0   0  1  0  0  0  0   0.82
   19 36.213 Whitey Ford       1965-05-22    NYY  WSA W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  4  8  0             85         33 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  0  0  0  1   0.00 

There's a lot of "Mike Cuellar" in there.  Known as "Crazy Horse," Cuellar's name doesn't come up these days as much as guys like Tommy John,  Jim Kaat, and David Wells in the conversation of ol' crafty lefties in the American League.  But, he deserves to be there.

Related posts:

    Mike Cuellar 1937-2010
    Remembering 10-RBI games since 1956
    Mike Flanagan (1951-2011)
    Mike Cameron – an odd bird
    Mike Kania joins Sports Reference Team

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 7:31 am and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

6 Responses to “Remembering Mike Cuellar”

  1. John's 13 innings were the second most by any 40+ year old pitcher in a game since 1956.
    http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/VtF2

  2. [...] Remembering Mike CuellarKnown as “Crazy Horse,” Cuellar’s name doesn’t come up these days as much as guys like Tommy John, Jim Kaat, and David Wells in the conversation of ol’ crafty lefties in the American League. But, he deserves to be there. [...]

  3. David in Toledo Says:

    Did you set the game score for 80 or for 85?

  4. Interesting find. It truly is a shame how frequently he is forgotten.

  5. David - it was: requiring Age>=36 and game_score>=80

  6. Meant to add on...

    I just cut it at 85 for the sample of the top games...even 'tho I ran the cut on 80+