Cy Young Profile: Bret Saberhagen, 1985

Pitcher, Kansas City Royals

Age:  21 (Apr. 11)

2^nd season with Royals

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 160

Prior to 1985:

Born in Chicago, Saberhagen was raised in California. He played baseball at Grover Cleveland High School in Reseda where he pitched and played shortstop. He compiled a 24-2 high school pitching record that was capped by a no-hitter in the West Valley League championship game. Despite questions regarding his velocity he was chosen by the Royals in the nineteenth round of the 1982 amateur draft, Saberhagen first was assigned to the Florida Instructional League where he posted a 7-2 record with a 2.35 ERA. With teams at the Class A and AA levels in 1983 he was a combined 16-7 with a 2.55 ERA and 130 strikeouts. He advanced to the Royals at age 20 in 1984 and appeared in 38 games, 18 of them starts, finishing with a 10-11 tally and 3.48 ERA. A control pitcher with a fastball, curve, slider, and changeup he entered 1985 as part of a promising pitching rotation.

1985 Season Summary

Appeared in 32 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 32

Games Started – 32

Complete Games – 10 [8]

Wins – 20 [2]

Losses – 6

PCT - .769 [2]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 1 [18, tied with 25 others]

Innings Pitched – 235.1 [15]

Hits – 211

Runs – 79

Earned Runs – 75

Home Runs – 19

Bases on Balls – 38

Strikeouts – 158 [9]

ERA – 2.87 [3]

Hit Batters – 1

Balks – 3 [2, tied with eleven others]

Wild Pitches – 1

Midseason Snapshot: 10-4, ERA - 2.78, SO – 73 in 126.1 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 12 (in 9 IP) at Oakland 9/14

10+ strikeout games – 2

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 9 IP) at Milwaukee 5/17

Fielding

Chances – 62

Put Outs – 22

Assists – 38

Errors – 2

DP – 4

Pct. - .968

Postseason Pitching:

G – 4, GS – 4 (ALCS vs. Toronto – 2 G; World Series vs. St. Louis – 2 G)

CG – 2, Record – 2-0, PCT – 1.000, SV – 0, ShO – 1, IP – 25.1, H – 23, R – 6, ER – 6, HR – 2, BB – 3, SO – 16, ERA – 2.13, HB – 1, BLK – 0, WP – 0  World Series MVP

Awards & Honors:

AL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

10^th in AL MVP voting (45 points, 11% share)

AL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Bret Saberhagen, KC: 127 pts. – 23 of 28 first place votes, 91% share

Ron Guidry, NYY: 88 pts. – 4 first place votes, 63% share

Bert Blyleven, Clev./Min.: 9 pts. – 1 first place vote, 6% share

Dan Quisenberry, KC: 9 pts. – 6% share

Charlie Leibrandt, KC: 7 pts. – 5% share

Royals went 91-71 to finish first in the AL Western Division by 1 game over the California Angels. The pitching staff led the league in shutouts (11, tied with Detroit) and fewest home runs allowed (103). 7.5 games behind the Angels at the All-Star break, the Royals surged in the last six weeks of the season and clinched their seventh division title in 10 years in the final game. Won ALCS over the Toronto Blue Jays, 4 games to 3. Won World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3. The Royals overcame 3-games-to-1 deficits in both the ALCS and World Series to gain their first World Series title.

Aftermath of ‘85:

Saberhagen and the Royals experienced difficulties in 1986, with the team dropping under .500 in a third-place finish and the pitcher posting a 7-12 record in an injury-riddled season. Saberhagen got off to a 15-3 start in 1987 on his way to an 18-10 tally with a 3.36 ERA and 163 strikeouts. He was an All-Star for the first time. He had a rough year in 1988 in which he compiled a disappointing 14-16 record with a 3.80 ERA and 171 strikeouts while leading the league by giving up 271 hits over 260.2 innings. Saberhagen rebounded in 1989 with a 23-6 record, 2.16 ERA, and 193 strikeouts and received his second AL Cy Young Award. 1990 was a down year, although he was an All-Star selection, and he missed time due to elbow surgery. He ended up at 5-9 with a 3.27 ERA while starting just 20 games. A shoulder injury put Saberhagen on the Disabled List for a time in 1991, but he was effective when he did pitch, going 13-8 with a 3.07 ERA that included a no-hitter against the White Sox in August. Having made $2.95 million in ’91 as part of a long-term contract that the Royals wanted to unload, Saberhagen was traded to the New York Mets in the offseason as part of a five-player deal. In his first year with the Mets in 1992, he started slowly and caught fire until suffering a finger injury. Saberhagen ended up appearing in only 17 games and posted a 3-5 record with a 3.50 ERA. He was awarded a three-year contract extension for $15.4 million, Always prone to be a prankster, he got himself in trouble in 1993 for setting off a firecracker in the vicinity of reporters and for spraying bleach at reporters in the clubhouse, which resulted in a fine and suspension. He was further hindered by a knee injury that required surgery and ended up at 7-7 with a 3.29 ERA while starting 19 games. Saberhagen rebounded in the strike-shortened 1994 season with a 14-4 record and 2.74 ERA with 143 strikeouts while walking only 13 batters over the course of 177.1 innings pitched. He was an All-Star and placed third in NL Cy Young voting. With the Mets performing badly in 1995, Saberhagen was dealt to the playoff-bound Colorado Rockies at the end of July and went a combined 7-6 with a 4.18 ERA and 100 strikeouts over 153 innings. Following major shoulder surgery, he missed the entire 1996 season. Saberhagen returned in 1997 as a member of the Red Sox organization, pitching for three minor league clubs before joining Boston late in the season. He was effective for the Red Sox in 1998, going 15-8 in 31 starts with a 3.96 ERA and 100 strikeouts. In an injury-plagued 1999 season Saberhagen was 10-6 with a 2.95 ERA and 81 strikeouts. Hindered by injuries, he rehabbed at the minor league level in 2000 and finished out his major league career by appearing in three games with the Red Sox in 2001, after which he called it quits. For his major league career Saberhagen compiled a record of 167-117 with a 3.34 ERA, 76 complete games, 16 shutouts, and 1715 strikeouts over 2562.2 innings. With the Royals he was 110-78 with a 3.21 ERA, 64 complete games, 14 shutouts, and 1093 strikeouts over 1660.1 innings. In 10 postseason starts he posted a 2-4 record with a 4.67 ERA and 38 strikeouts over 54 innings. Saberhagen was, in addition to being a two-time Cy Young Award-winner, a three-time All-Star. He received one Gold Glove for his fielding prowess.

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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.