Saberhagen, Bret W.
Baseball
b. April 11, 1964, Chicago Heights, IL
Saberhagen won the AL Cy Young Award twice, in 1985 and 1989. A right-hander with a good fastball, good slider, and excellent control, he joined the Kansas City Royals in 1984, when he had a 10-11 record.
He became the ace of Kansas City's staff in 1985, going 20-6 with a 2.87 ERA and only 38 walks in 235 innings. At 21, he was the youngest Cy Young Award winner in history. After a poor American League championship series, he sparkled in the World Series, winning 2 games and giving up only 1 earned run in 18 innings as the Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Arm trouble bothered him for the next three years and he had a 30-28 record over that period, but he came back strong in 1989 to lead the league with 23 victories, a .393 winning percentage, 12 complete games, 262 1/3 innings pitched, and a 2.16 ERA.
The arm problem recurred in 1990, when he had a 5-9 record. After going 13-8 in 1991, he was traded to the New York Mets, where he was only 3-5 in just 17 games in 1992 and 7-7 in 1993.
Saberhagen set an odd record in 1994, when he had more victories (14) than walks (13). It was only the second time a pitcher had done that since 1918.
He began the 1995 season with the Mets, but was traded to the Colorado Rockies for the stretch drive. However, he was ineffective in Colorado and missed the entire 1996 seasons with more arm troubles.
The Boston Red Sox then signed Saberhagen. He managed just one start for them in 1997, but won 25 games for them over the next two seasons.
After missing another full season because of his bad arm, Saberhagen tried again with the Red Sox in 2001, but could manage only 15 innings. Boston released him when the season was over and Saberhagen decided to retire.