Stone, Steven M.
Baseball
b. July 14, 1947, Euclid, OH
Stone was a mediocre pitcher for three major-league teams over a nine-year period and then he suddenly had a great year with the Baltimore Orioles in 1980, winning the AL's Cy Young Award with a 25-7 record, leading the league in victories and winning percentage.
The following year, he had arm trouble, turned in a 4-7 record in only 15 appearances, and was out of baseball.
Stone, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound right-hander, entered the major leagues with the NL's San Francisco Giants in 1971. He was 11-17 in two seasons with them, then had a 6-11 record with the Chicago White Sox in 1973.
He went across town to the Cubs, where he had a 23-20 record in three seasons. Stone returned to the White Sox in 1977 and had records of 15-12 and 12-12 there before going to Baltimore in 1979. In his first season with the Orioles, he was 11-7 with a 3.77 ERA. He followed that with his Cy Young Award season and a year later he was gone.
The major reason for his sudden rise and equally sudden fall was his conscious decision to emphasize the curveball in 1980. He later explained, "I knew it would ruin my arm. But one year of 25-7 is worth five of 15-15." The overuse of the curveball led to severe tendinitis that ended his career.