Lance Painter

Lance Telford Painter

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
• School University of Wisconsin-Madison
• High School Nicolet High School
• Debut May 19, 1993
• Final Game September 9, 2003
• Born July 21, 1967 in Bedford, England

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Biographical Information

Born in England, pitcher Lance Painter became a United States citizen prior to the 1994 season.

He pitched ten seasons in the major leagues. His first four seasons came with the Colorado Rockies, starting with their inaugural season as an expansion team in 1993, after being taken from the San Diego Padres in the expansion draft. He went 3-0, 4.37 in 33 games when the Rockies made the postseason for the first time as a wild card team in 1995. It was by far his best ERA of the four years, as his next lowest was 5.86 in 1996. In Game 1 of the Division Series against the Atlanta Braves on October 3rd, he was used as a pinch-hitter for P Curtis Leskanic and made the final out of the game, striking out against Mark Wohlers in a 5-4 loss. Manager Don Baylor had used all of his reserve players by that point of the game and decided to use Lance to pinch hit. He was 7 for 40 for his career at that point, while Leskanic was 4 for 26, so there wasn't much between them. In another strange happening, he started Game 2 the next day, even though he had started just one game all year; he gave up 3 runs in 5 innings and did not figure in the decision as Colorado lost that game as well.

He was claimed off [[waivers] by the St. Louis Cardinals after the 1996 season and pitched for them from 1996 to 1999. He was almost exclusively a middle reliever, going 4-0, 3.99 with 1 save in 65 games in 1998 in what was his best major league season. He was included in a big trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on November 11, 1999, being sent to Toronto along with Alberto Castillo and Matt DeWitt in return for pitchers Pat Hentgen and Paul Spoljaric. He had a decent season in 2002, going 2-0, 4.72 in 42 games, but had a rough start in 2001 as his ERA was 7.85 after 10 outings. He was released at the end of June and picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers, going 1-0, 4.22 in 13 games the rest of the way. He finished his career back with St. Louis in 2003 after not pitching at all in 2002, going 0-1, 5.50 in 22 games.

His professional career lasted from 1990 to 2003. In the majors, his overall record was 25-18, 5.24 with 3 saves in 314 games. His high ERA is partly the result of pitching is the most hitter-friendly park in the big leagues and at the height of a big offense era. After his playing career he became a minor league pitching coach.

• 2006-2007 Pitching coach Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
• 2008 Pitching coach High Desert Mavericks
• 2009 Pitching coach Clinton LumberKings
• 2010 Pitching coach West Tenn Diamond Jaxx
• 2011-2012 Pitching coach Jackson (TN) Generals
• 2013 Pitching coach High Desert Mavericks
• 2014-2015 Pitching coach Jackson Generals
• 2016-2019 Pitching coach Tacoma Rainiers