Scott Erickson

For other people named Scott Erickson, see Scott Erickson (disambiguation).
Scott Erickson
Pitcher
Born: (1968-02-02) February 2, 1968
Long Beach, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 25, 1990, for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
June 8, 2006, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
Win–loss record 142–136
Earned run average 4.59
Strikeouts 1,252
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Scott Gavin Erickson (born February 2, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.

Career

Erickson was born in Long Beach, California, and began his professional career after being selected in the major league draft 4 times. Scott was drafted by the NY Mets in 1986 out of Homestead High School, where he was CCS Junior of the Year; the Houston Astros in 1987 and Toronto Blue Jays in 1988 out of San Jose City College where he was a Junior College 1st Team All American. In 1989 he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the amateur draft out of the University of Arizona, where he signed his 1st pro contract. After 27 minor league starts,[1] Erickson rose to the major leagues in his second season of professional baseball from the Class AA Orlando Sun Rays,.[2] He was on a 5-game win streak with a record of 8-3 in the 1st half as an All Star in the Southern League. He finished 1990 with a combined record of 16-7; going 5-0 in September and tying Dave Stewart American League Pitcher of the Month. After posting a record of 12-2 with a 1.39 ERA in the first half of the 1991 season, including being awarded the American League Pitcher of the Month award for May and June, Scott Erickson was the 1st pitcher since 1954 to win 20 games in his first year in the Majors.[3] Erickson won 20 games in the 1991 season and finished second to Roger Clemens in the American League Cy Young Award.[4] During the Minnesota Twins 1991, World Series winning season, Erickson led the majors in wins with a record of 20-8, he was also voted in the Top 10 for American League Most Valuable Player Award. The following season, Erickson started 32 games, going 13-12 with 5 complete games.

On April 27, 1994, Erickson no-hit the Milwaukee Brewers 6-0 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the first no-hitter ever pitched in that stadium. He became the third Twins pitcher, after Jack Kralick in 1962 and Dean Chance in 1967, to pitch a no-hitter; the former's had been the last no-hitter in a Twins home game, that game having taken place at the Metrodome's predecessor, Metropolitan Stadium. Erickson's no-hitter was thought to be impossible on The Metrodome's artificial turf and home run reputation.[5]

In 1995 he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles.[6] Before being traded to Baltimore, Erickson was 4-6 with a 5.95 ERA for the Twins, once an Oriole, Erickson turned in 9 wins in 16 starts for Baltimore. Between both teams, he finished 13-10 with 7 Complete Games. In 1996, Erickson won 13 games for the second straight year with 6 Complete Games and 100 Strikouts for the 6th straight year. In 1997, Erickson turned in his best season since 1992, winning 16 games with a 3.69 ERA in 33 starts. He later signed a five-year, $32-million contract with Baltimore through 2003.[7] In 1998, Erickson once again won 16 games for the Orioles while leading the league, in a workhorse style, with complete games (11), innings pitched (251.1) and shut outs (3).

In 1999, Erickson went 15-12 with a 4.89 ERA while leading the league in shutouts (3). He also led the majors in ground balls induced with 454. In 2000, Scott was featured in People Magazines 50 Most Beautiful People Edition. On March 3, 2000, Erickson had bone chips removed from his elbow and was out of action eight weeks.[8][9]

Erickson made 16 starts for the Orioles in 2000. He was hampered by a nagging elbow issue and visited twice the disabled list, the second one being a season ending elbow injury.[10] After over 2000 innings pitched, the elbow injury caused him to miss the entire 2001 season.

Erickson returned in 2002, becoming the 1st Pitcher to start Opening Day after missing an entire season. He made 28 starts, pitching 160.2 innings.

In 2003, Erickson suffered a torn labrum and missed the entire 2003 season.[11][12]

In 2004, Erickson signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets.[13] After 2 starts, he was traded to the Rangers.[14]

He was in the starting rotation for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005.[15]

Erickson signed a deal with the New York Yankees on February 16, 2006. He was released by the Yankees on June 19 and retired from baseball at the beginning of the 2007 season.

Scott Erickson was the ultimate groundball pitcher, leading the league five times in most double plays in a season, and is in the Top 5 alltime in Major League history for groundball to flyout ratio. Erickson was highly involved in sports during high school while he attended Homestead High School in Cupertino, California he played baseball, soccer, football, and basketball. After completing his secondary education, he graduated from San Jose City College in 1988 with an AA Degree in Business; he then majored in Accounting with a minor in Psychology at the University of Arizona. Scott was inducted into the Arizona Wildcat Hall of Fame after just one year of pitching at the U of A. Erickson set a school record for wins with an 18-3 record, as he led the country in Wins (18), Innings Pitched (175), and Complete Games (14). Those impressive numbers earned him a unanimous First Team All-American honor. His teammates at Arizona included Trevor Hoffman, Kevin Long, and J. T. Snow.[16] On February 3, 2004, Erickson married Television Personality and Investigative Reporter Lisa Guerrero.[17] Erickson started a production company called "HomeTeam Productions". Erickson was an executive producer for the movie A Plumm Summer which came out to theaters on April 25, 2008.[18]

Post-playing career

Erickson was the 2012 and 2013 professional pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians Class A Advanced affiliate Carolina Mudcats of the Carolina League and Mahoney Valley Scrappers of the New York Penn League. Scott is currently a Real Estate Developer at Diamante Golf Club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He was also the President of MLM, majorleaguemechanics.com, a pitching mechanics tutorial with professional instruction. Beginning in 2015, he is a game analyst for the Pac-12 Networks.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Minor league record
  2. ↑ Twins find help from Orlando The News-Journal 26 Jun 1990
  3. ↑ Winfield earns honor
  4. ↑ Baseball; Triple for Clemens in Cy Young Awards
  5. ↑ Baseball; An Improbable No-Hitter By Erickson (7.48 E.R.A.)
  6. ↑ http://articles.philly.com/1995-07-08/sports/25677618_1_atlanta-s-greg-maddux-twins-pitcher-scott-erickson
  7. ↑ http://articles.philly.com/1998-05-14/sports/25739255_1_erickson-signs-scott-erickson-scott-klingenbeck-and-outfielder
  8. ↑ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2000-03-18/sports/0003180157_1_first-pitch-scott-erickson-charles-johnson
  9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/02/sports/baseball-roundup-baltimore-erickson-to-miss-at-least-6-weeks.html
  10. ↑ http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2000-07-29/sports/0007290187_1_erickson-hargrove-inflammation
  11. ↑ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2003-03-01/sports/0303010170_1_tommy-john-surgery-labrum-right-hander-scott-erickson
  12. ↑ http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2003-03-01/sports/0303010427_1_erickson-orioles-surgery
  13. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1727592
  14. ↑ http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20040731&content_id=815208&vkey=pr_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex
  15. ↑ http://baseball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/607/20050730/scott_erickson_designated_for_assignment_by_dodgers/
  16. ↑ Shpigel, Ben (October 7, 2010). "As Yankees’ Most Valuable Repairman, Long Revives Struggling Hitters". The New York Times. p. B17. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011.
  17. ↑ Erickson weds Lisa Guerrero, joins Mets
  18. ↑ Former Twins pitcher finds a new career in the movies

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Kent Mercker		 No-hitter
April 27, 1994 		Succeeded by
Kenny Rogers
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