Scott Radinsky

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Scott Radinsky bigraphy, stories - American baseball player and coach

Scott Radinsky : biography

March 3, 1968 –

Scott David Radinsky (born March 3, 1968) is a left-handed former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball, who had an 11-year career from – and –. Radinsky is also the lead singer of the punk rock band Pulley and former lead singer of the bands Scared Straight and Ten Foot Pole.

Radinsky finished his career with a 42–25 record, a 3.44 ERA, and 358 strikeouts in 481-2/3 innings pitched. Radinsky also only gave up 33 home runs throughout his career, an average of 1 every 14.5 innings.

He is arguably one of the most accomplished Jewish pitchers in major league history; he ranks second in career games pitched (555, behind Scott Schoeneweis), fourth in ERA (3.44, behind Barney Pelty, Sandy Koufax, and Erskine Mayer), and eleventh in wins.

Baseball career

Radinsky was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the third round in 1986 out of Simi Valley High School in Simi Valley, California.

Minor Leagues

Radinsky pitched in the minor leagues from 1986–1989, and parts of later years. In 1989, he had 31 saves, a 1.75 ERA, and averaged 5.7 hits allowed and 12.1 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.

Chicago White Sox (1990–93; 1995)

He made his major league debut for the White Sox on April 9, 1990, retiring the one batter he faced (Greg Brock of the Milwaukee Brewers) on a pop up to short. He picked up the win with 1 1/3 innings of relief the following day.

From that point through 1993, he was a fixture in a White Sox bullpen that also included hardthrowing Bobby Thigpen and Roberto Hernández.

In 1990, he posted a record of 6–1 with four saves in his rookie season.

In 1991, Radinsky enjoyed his finest year with the White Sox, going 5–5 with a 2.02 ERA. He was tenth in the league with 67 appearances. He held batters to a .116 batting average with runners in scoring position. In 1992, he was seventh in the AL, pitching in 68 games, and had a 2.73 ERA and a career-high 15 saves. In 1993, he was second in the league, pitching in 73 games, and won a career-high eight games while saving four.

During the 1993–1994 off-season, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease. The treatment for the disease forced Radinsky to miss the entire 1994 baseball season. "Oh, it sucks to have a doctor tell you that you have cancer, but in the same breath, he told me that with aggressive treatment they can treat this particular disease," he remembers. "Thank God I didn’t have Internet back then, so I couldn’t get all wrapped up in it. I didn’t have access to see how bad it could be. They told me I had to go through six months of this and five weeks of that, and that’s all I really looked at: the end."

In his 1995 return to the White Sox, his ERA ballooned to 5.45, prompting the White Sox to release him after the season.

Los Angeles Dodgers (1996–98)

His release from the Sox paved the way for his return home to Southern California to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he signed as a free agent in January 1996. He turned down other major league contracts for a minor-league deal with the team he followed throughout his childhood, just a 30-minute drive from his driveway to the stadium. He enjoyed three excellent years (1996–1998) in Los Angeles, with his ERA never exceeding 2.89. Out of the bullpen, he worked as a set-up pitcher for Todd Worrell and Jeff Shaw, the Dodgers’ closers. Radinsky’s home-town status, excellent on-the-field performance, blue collar attitude, and at times fiery personality made him an instant fan favorite in Los Angeles.

In 1997, he pitched in a career-high 75 games, 7th in the NL, with a 2.89 ERA.

However, after the 1998 season, the Dodgers and Radinsky decided to cut ties.

St. Louis Cardinals (1999–2000)

He went on to play for the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he signed as a free agent in November 1998. He was in 43 games in 1999, with a 4.88 ERA.

Cleveland Indians (2001)

He then pitched for the Cleveland Indians, with whom he signed as a free agent in January 2001. He injured his pitching elbow in his first game with the Indians, requiring Tommy John surgery. After rehabilitating the elbow, he then returned to make two major league appearances in 2001 before retiring.