Pitcher, Boston
Red Sox
Age: 25 (Apr. 16)
3rd season
with Red Sox
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’5” Weight: 200
Prior to 1967:
A native
Californian and son of a college professor, Lonborg was a pitcher on his high
school baseball team as well as a center on the basketball team. Receiving an
academic scholarship to Stanford, where he was a biology major with thoughts of
going into medicine, he made the freshman baseball team. He played summer
league baseball in between college seasons and performed particularly well for
Stanford during his junior year. Following a strong summer showing in the Basin
League in 1963 he accepted a $25,000 offer from the Red Sox. Lonborg spent 1964
with Winston-Salem of the Class A Carolina League and Seattle of the Class AAA
Pacific Coast League. He was a combined 11-9 with a 4.34 ERA and 156
strikeouts. He was rushed up to the pitching-desperate Red Sox in 1965. He
quickly became noted for his sophisticated tastes as well as his explosive
fastball. With a poor team that finished ninth in the AL, Lonborg compiled a
9-17 record with a 4.47 ERA and 113 strikeouts over 185.1 innings pitched. He
improved to 10-10 in 1966 with a 3.86 ERA and 131 strikeouts. Playing winter
ball in the offseason in Venezuela, Lonborg developed a slider and changeup to
go with his curve and fastball that rode in on opposing batters and led to many
hit batters. He was looking to continue his improvement in 1967 with a Boston
team that little was expected from under new manager Dick Williams.
1967 Season Summary
Appeared in 39
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 39
Games Started –
39 [1, tied with Dean Chance]
Complete Games
– 15 [2, tied with Steve Hargan]
Wins – 22 [1, tied
with Earl Wilson]
Losses – 9
PCT - .710 [2]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 2
[17, tied with eleven others]
Innings Pitched
– 273.1 [2]
Hits – 228 [4]
Runs – 102 [8]
Earned Runs – 96
[3, tied with Earl Wilson]
Home Runs – 23
[4, tied with Gary Bell]
Bases on Balls
– 83 [12]
Strikeouts – 246
[1]
ERA – 3.16 [18]
Hit Batters – 19
[1]
Balks – 1 [10,
tied with many others]
Wild Pitches – 12
[4, tied with Rickey Clark & Tom Phoebus]
League-leading strikeouts
were +10 ahead of runner-up Sam McDowell
League-leading
hit batters were +8 ahead of runner-up Gary Peters
Midseason
Snapshot: 11-3, ERA - 2.80, SO - 127 in 138 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 13 (in 9 IP) vs. KC A’s 4/28
10+ strikeout
games – 8
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 7 IP) at California 7/5
Batting
PA – 108, AB –
99, R – 7, H – 14, 2B – 1, 3B – 1, HR – 0, RBI – 8, BB – 4, SO – 52, SB – 1, CS
– 1, AVG - .141, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 6, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 44
Put Outs – 19
Assists – 24
Errors – 1
DP – 2
Pct. - .977
Postseason
Pitching: (World
Series vs. St. Louis)
G – 3, GS – 3, CG – 2,
Record – 2-1, PCT – .667, SV – 0, ShO – 1, IP – 24, H – 14, R – 8, ER – 7, HR –
3, BB – 2, SO – 11, ERA – 2.63, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 1
Awards & Honors:
AL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
AL Pitcher of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
6th in
AL MVP voting (82 points, 29% share)
AL Cy Young
voting:
Jim Lonborg,
Bos.: 18 of 20 votes, 90% share
Joe Horlen, ChiWS.:
2 votes, 10% share
Red Sox went 92-70
to win the AL pennant by 1 game over the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins,
their first pennant since 1946. The upstart Red Sox, under new manager Dick
Williams, became involved in a dramatic four-team pennant race with the Twins, Tigers
& White Sox. All four clubs were in first on Sept. 6 and Boston stayed at
or near the top the rest of the way. By the season’s final weekend the Twins
were in first by one game and heading into Fenway Park for a two-game series.
The Red Sox, who were one behind, swept both games, with Lonborg winning the
finale, and the Tigers losing to California, to take the flag and achieve “the
Impossible Dream”. Lost World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3,
although Lonborg pitched a one-hit shutout in Game 2 and kept the Red Sox alive
with a complete game win in Game 5 before falling short against St. Louis ace
Bob Gibson in Game 7.
Aftermath of ‘67:
In the
offseason, Lonborg tore ligaments in his left knee while skiing, an activity
that he had considered valuable in maintaining his strength and pitching
stamina. Following surgery he did not appear in a 1968 game for the Red Sox
until May. His pitching motion became altered and he injured his right shoulder
as a result. He ended up appearing in just 23 games (17 of them starts) and he
compiled a mediocre 6-10 record with a 4.29 ERA. After getting off to a 6-0
start in 1969 Lonborg finished up at 7-11 with a 4.51 ERA and 100 strikeouts
while pitching 143.2 innings. The sore shoulder put him on the disabled list in
1970, after which he was sent down to Louisville of the Class AAA International
League. He was shut down for the year in August after having gone 4-1 with a
3.18 ERA for the Red Sox and 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA at Louisville. Starting the
1971 season with Louisville, he was 4-2 with a 0.90 ERA when promoted back to
the Red Sox. He was 10-7 with a 4.13 ERA for Boston and appeared to have turned
the corner in his recovery. In the offseason he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers
along with LHP Ken Brett, first baseman George Scott, catcher Don Pavletich,
and outfielders Billy Conigliaro and Joe Lahoud for four players, most notably
outfielder Tommy Harper. Pitching
through shoulder pain with a last place team, Lonborg produced a 14-12 record
in 1972 with a 2.83 ERA and 143 strikeouts. Once again he was dealt in the
offseason, this time to the rebuilding Philadelphia Phillies as part of a
six-player trade. In 1973 he was 13-16 with a 4.88 ERA while pitching 199.1
innings. With the Phillies rising in the standings in 1974, he pitched a career
high 283 innings that included 16 complete games and was 17-13 with a 3.21 ERA
and 121 strikeouts. Dealing with a groin injury in 1975 Lonborg’s record
dropped to 8-6 with a 4.12 ERA. In 1976 the Phillies reached the postseason for
the first time since 1950 by topping the NL East. Lonborg contributed an 18-10
record with a 3.08 ERA. He lost his only NLCS start as the Phils were swept by
Cincinnati. Shoulder pain limited him to 25 starts in 1977 as he went 11-4 with
a 4.11 ERA as Philadelphia again won the division title. He lost again to the
Dodgers in the NLCS as the Phillies once more failed to advance to the World
Series. Lonborg dropped to 8-10 with a 5.23 ERA in 1978 and did not pitch in
the NLCS which the Phillies again dropped to the Dodgers. He returned for the
1979 season and was released in June after making just four unimpressive
appearances, thus ending his career. Overall, Lonborg compiled a 157-137 major
league record with a 3.86 ERA and 1475 strikeouts over 2464.1 innings pitched.
He was 68-65 with the Red Sox with a 3.94 ERA and 784 strikeouts. Appearing in
five postseason games, he was 2-3 with a 3.51 ERA. He was selected to just the
one All-Star Game and 1967 was his only award-winning year. Following his
retirement from baseball, Lonborg became a dentist in Massachusetts.
--
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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