Cy Young Profile: Mike Marshall, 1974

Pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age:  31

1^st season with Dodgers

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 5’10” Weight: 180 

Prior to 1974:

A native of Adrian, Michigan, Marshall suffered a back injury at age 11 when a car he was riding in was hit by a train. He pitched in high school and while playing sandlot baseball but following his high school graduation in 1960 he was signed for a $20,000 bonus by the Philadelphia Phillies as a shortstop. The bonus went to finance his education at Michigan State University. As an 18-year-old with Dothan of the Class D Alabama-Florida League in 1961, he batted a respectable .264 with 15 doubles, 7 home runs, and 51 RBIs in 118 games. But he had difficulty with fielding due to his chronic back problem and committed 53 errors. Moving up to the Bakersfield Bears of the Class C California League in 1962, he again hit well at .282 but totaled 68 errors and a mediocre .896 fielding percentage. The next two seasons were more of the same as he could hit and steal the occasional base while committing lots of errors in the field. Believing that pitching would put less stress on his back, he sought to make a position change that the Phillies questioned. With Chattanooga of the Class AA Southern League in 1965, he saw his first professional action as a pitcher and went 2-4 in eight appearances with a 3.12 ERA. Moving to Eugene of the Class A Northwest League later in the season, he pitched in 36 games and produced a 6-5 record with a 3.51 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 59 innings. Sold to the Detroit Tigers in 1966, Marshall was assigned to the Montgomery Rebels of the Southern League and made a deal with manager Wayne Blackburn to play at shortstop for the first month and then pitch out of the bullpen the second month to determine Marshall’s most promising path forward. Despite the fact that he was hitting well toward the end of his month at short, Blackburn gave Marshall his turn at relief pitching and over the course of 51 appearances he turned in an 11-7 tally with a 2.33 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 108 innings. Advancing to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Class AAA International League in 1967, Marshall was called up to the Tigers in May and pitched well out of the bullpen as Detroit contended with three other teams in a hot AL pennant race. He appeared in 37 games and posted a 1-3 record with 10 saves, a 1.98 ERA, and 41 strikeouts in 59 innings with only three blown saves. Two of the blown saves came in key late-season games against the White Sox, which soured manager Mayo Smith on him. Marshall was sent back to Toledo in 1968 where he began to develop a screwball to go along with his fastball and slider. He started in 28 of his 31 appearances and compiled a 15-9 record with a 2.94 ERA and 190 strikeouts. By this point he had also earned his master’s degree in exercise physiology from Michigan State (his master’s thesis title was “An Investigation of the Association between Sexual Maturation and Physical Growth and Motor Proficiency in Males”) and was continuing with his doctoral studies which caused him to develop his own training methods and pitching philosophy apart from what his coaches and managers advised. Moving on to the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, Marshall was used primarily as a starting pitcher and went 3-10 with a 5.13 ERA and was criticized for his unconventional pick-off move, in which he threw following a clockwise turn (considered to be a “wrong” turn). It may have been the “wrong” move to his manager, but it proved to be effective. Sold to the Houston Astros in the offseason, he ran afoul of manager Harry Walker for continuing to throw the screwball and was back in the minors for a time before being traded to the Montreal Expos midway through the 1970 season. Marshall pitched in 24 major league games for Montreal and was 3-7 with three saves and a 3.48 ERA. Handed the closer role in the bullpen in 1971, he started well, endured a slump, and finished up as one of the better short relievers in the NL with a 5-8 tally, 23 saves, 4.28 ERA, and 85 strikeouts in 66 appearances. 1972 was better, as he led the league with 65 appearances, that produced a 14-8 record, 18 saves, 1.78 ERA, and 95 strikeouts. In 1973 Marshall led the NL once again in games pitched (a then-record 92) as well as saves (31) while producing a 14-11 tally with a 2.66 ERA and 124 strikeouts. He placed second in NL Cy Young voting. Having gained a reputation as an eccentric player who disdained hero worship and refused to sign autographs as well as being perceived as intellectually arrogant, his conditioning methods had made him into a tireless reliever who was also highly effective. In the offseason, the Expos traded him to the Dodgers for veteran outfielder Willie Davis. Marshall assured Dodger manager Walt Alston that he could pitch as often as Alston wanted to use him unless he indicated he wasn’t able to go.

1974 Season Summary

Appeared in 106 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 106 [1] (Set MLB record)

Games Started – 0

Complete Games – 0

Wins – 15 [12, tied with four others]

Losses – 12 [19, tied with six others]

PCT - .556

Saves – 21 [1]

Shutouts – 0

Innings Pitched – 208.1

Hits – 191

Runs – 66

Earned Runs – 56

Home Runs – 9

Bases on Balls – 56

Strikeouts – 143 [16]

ERA – 2.42 [4]

Hit Batters – 1

Balks – 3 [5, tied with thirteen others]

Wild Pitches – 5

League-leading games pitched were +30 ahead of runner-up Larry Hardy

League-leading saves were +6 ahead of runner-up Randy Moffitt

Midseason Snapshot: 11-4, ERA - 2.31, G – 66, SV – 13, SO – 86 in 121 IP

---

Most strikeouts, game – 5 (in 3 IP) vs. NY Mets 7/14, (in 6 IP) at Chi. Cubs 8/19

 

10+ strikeout games – 0

Batting

PA – 36, AB – 34, R – 2, H – 8, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 2, BB – 0, SO – 3, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .235, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 2, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 44

Put Outs – 9

Assists – 33

Errors – 2

DP – 4

Pct. - .955

Postseason Pitching: G – 7 (NLCS vs. Pittsburgh – 2 G; World Series vs. Oakland – 5 G

GS – 0, CG – 0, Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 1, ShO – 0, IP – 12, H – 6, R – 1, ER – 1, HR – 1, BB – 1, SO – 11, ERA – 0.75, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

3^rd in NL MVP voting (146 points, 1 first place vote, 43% share)

NL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Mike Marshall, LAD: 96 points – 17 of 24 first place votes, 80% share

Andy Messersmith, LAD: 66 points – 5 first place votes, 55% share

Phil Niekro, Atl.: 15 points – 1 first place vote, 13% share

Don Sutton, LAD: 12 points – 1 first place vote, 10% share

Al Hrabosky, StL: 9 points – 8% share

---

Dodgers went 102-60 to finish first in the NL Western Division by 4 games over the Cincinnati Reds. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (2.97) and strikeouts (943). Marshall started off by pitching on five straight days to begin the season and compiled a record 13-game streak on his way to setting a record for pitching appearances, although he blew 12 save opportunities. The Dodgers were up by 10.5 games on July 10 and held off the Reds the rest of the way to secure the NL West title. Won NLCS over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 games to 1, helped by 1B Steve Garvey’s four-hit, two-home run performance in Game 4. Lost World Series to the Oakland Athletics, 4 games to 1, with Marshall giving up a game-winning home run in relief in the decisive Game 5.

Aftermath of ‘74:

Having received a $100,000 contract a rib injury disabled Marshall for 10 weeks in 1975, and while once again an All-Star, he slipped to 58 appearances and a 9-14 record with 13 saves and a 3.29 ERA. Unpopular with many sportswriters and others connected with baseball for his seeming arrogance as when he declared “I know more about pitching than anyone in the game or anyone who’s played the game”, he had few sympathizers as his fortunes took a downturn. In the offseason he became involved in a legal battle at Michigan State over his unwillingness to follow university guidelines on reserving space in the intramural center for his training program. The Dodgers dealt him to Atlanta during the 1976 season after he had lost his closer role in the bullpen to knuckleballing RHP Charlie Hough. Knee surgery brought an early end to his season, and he finished with a combined record of 6-4 in 54 appearances with 14 saves and a 3.99 ERA. Following a run-in with manager Dave Bristol in 1977, Marshall was sold to the Texas Rangers who had him start four games, but knee trouble ended his season in June. Heading into 1978 as a free agent at age 35 and on the verge of receiving his Ph.D., Marshall indicated that he was ready to retire, although he maintained his workout routine. Gene Mauch, his former Montreal manager, was now with Minnesota and invited him to work out for the Twins. He joined them in mid-May and went on to pitch out of the bullpen in 54 games, producing a 10-12 record with 21 saves and a 2.45 ERA. “Iron Mike” followed up with an excellent season in 1979, setting an American League record with 90 appearances and leading the league with 32 saves. He also had a 2.65 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 142.2 innings pitched and placed fifth in league Cy Young voting. Marshall ran afoul of Twins management in 1980 due to his work as the team’s player rep and Mauch consigned him to mop-up duty. With his performance tailing off, he was let go and was unable to catch on with another team until he was signed by the New York Mets in 1981 following the players’ strike. Appearing in 20 games he went 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA. Released after the season, Marshall was finished as a major league reliever. He appeared in one game with Edmonton of the Pacific Coast League in 1983 and went on to pitch in sandlot leagues until he was 56. For his major league career, he pitched in 724 games with a 97-112 record, 188 saves, a 3.14 ERA, and 880 strikeouts in 1386.2 innings pitched. Appearing in 7 postseason games, all in 1974, he was 0-1 with a save and 11 strikeouts in 12 innings. He led the NL or AL in saves a total of three times and was a two-time All-Star. With the Dodgers he was 28-29 with 42 saves, a 3.01 ERA, and 246 strikeouts in 380.1 innings. An outcast from organized baseball, Marshall died in 2021 at age 78.

---

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.