Langston, Mark E.
Baseball
b. Aug. 20, 1960
A 6-foot-2, 190-pound left-hander, Langston led the AL in strikeouts three of his first four seasons in the league. He joined the Seattle Mariners in 1984 and had a 17-10 record, a 3.40 ERA, and a league-leading 204 strikeouts in 225 innings. A sore arm put him on the disabled list for six weeks in 1985, when he was only 7-14.
In 1986, Langston became one of the few pitchers ever to have more strikeouts than innings pitched, fanning 245 hitters in 239 1/3 innings, but he had only a 12-14 record, largely because of control problems. In 1987, he went 19-13 with a league-leading 262 strikeouts.
After a 15-11 record in 1988, Langston was traded to the NL's Montreal Expos early in the 1989 season and he went to the AL's California Angels as a free agent in 1990. Cutting down on both walks and strikeouts, he had his best season in 1991 with a 19-8 record and a 3.00 ERA.
Langston slipped to 13-14 in 1992, but came back with a 16-11 record and 3.20 ERA in 1993. During the 1994 season, he had surgery for bone chips in his elbow. After going 15-7 in 1995, he underwent knee surgery and made only eight appearances over the next two seasons.
He signed with the San Diego Padres as a free agent in 1998 but was released after a 4-6 record. Langston then signed a minor-league contract with the Cleveland Indians and was called up to the team to serve as a relief pitcher. However, the elbow problems resurfaced and he was put on the disable list. He announced his retirement during spring training of 2000.