Pete Vuckovich debuted in MLB at age 23 with the White Sox in September of 1975 after pitching in the minors for Appleton, Knoxville and Denver. A solid rookie season, 1976, Pete Vukovich put up numbers of 7-4 w/l record, 4.65 ERA, appeared in 31 games, including 7 starts and one complete game, and allowed just 3 homers in 110 1/3 innings. He went to Toronto in the 1976 expansion draft and pitched the first shutout for the new franchise, defeating Hall of Famer Jim Palmer of Baltimore on June 23 1977. For the season, Vuc posted a 7-7 record in 53 games, had 8 relief saves, and completed 3 of 8 starts. Traded to the Cardinals after the season, Pete Vuckovich went 12-12, 15-10 and 12-9 with a nice combined 3.20 ERA in 3 seasons in St Louis. After the 1980 season he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers and his stats improved greatly. Pete Vuckovich tied for the most wins, a 14-4 record, in the strike-shortened season. And, he started and won Game 4 of the ALCS vs the New Yorkers, yielding no runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. In 1982 Pete Vuckovich won the Cy Young Award with a sterling 18-6 record that helped the brewers win the AL pennant. That season he completed 9 of 30, one shutout, with a 3.34 ERA. However he worked all season with a nagging arm injury, aided by cortisone shots, and was 0-2 in the World Series. From then on his pitching was limited. He had major surgery in April of 1984 to correct a torn rotator cuff. He pitched only a limited amount of games in 1985 and 1986 for Milwaukee then retired. Asked why he kept pitching with a serious shoulder injury, Pete Vuckovich simply stated, ‘I really hate hitters. They’re goofy. They’re trying to get to me, to ruin my career, so I hate them.’ baseballhistorian.com |