Steve Busby

81
Steve Busby bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Steve Busby : biography

September 29, 1949 –

Steven Lee Busby (born September 29, 1949) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals. He batted and threw right-handed.

Broadcasting career

Following the end of his playing career, Busby became a sportscaster, primarily for the Texas Rangers, and has also worked as an instructor at a baseball school. Unlike most former players, Busby acts as both a play-by-play man and a color commentator, and traded positions with Eric Nadel on radio broadcasts. After replacing Dave Barnett as television play-by-play announcer in the middle of the 2012 season, Busby works exclusively on play-by-play, with Tom Grieve on color.

Professional career

A bright prospect, Busby won 56 games in his first three full seasons, only to have his career derailed by a rotator cuff tear. Drafted by the Royals in in the second round, the University of Southern California graduate made his debut the following season and stuck in the major leagues for good in , when he won 16 games and on April 27 pitched the first no-hitter in Kansas City Royals history.

In a game against the California Angels on September 20, 1972, Busby hit a grand slam only to have it taken back by the home plate umpire who said time out had been called. Nonetheless, Busby went on to hit a double and two singles in the game, while also earning the victory on the mound.

In , Busby enjoyed his best season, winning 22 games and making the American League All-Star team. He also pitched a second no-hitter on June 19, making him the first pitcher in major-league history to throw no-hitters in each of his first two complete seasons. In he won 18 games and made the All-Star team again.

Busby had struggled with his control early in his career, but his problems returned to a greater degree in when he was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff; an injury that at the time ended a pitcher’s career. Busby subsequently became the first baseball player to undergo rotator cuff surgery. In an effort to help his arm recover from the surgery, his doctor recommended that Busby be placed on a pitch count. He is often believed to be the first baseball player to be placed on a pitch count, something that Busby has stated is a myth. Before his injury, he is alleged to have thrown close to 200 pitches in a game, which Busby also says is untrue.

Unfortunately for Busby, the surgery did not save his career. After missing the entire season and most of , he pitched in 22 games (including 12 starts) the next year, compiling a respectable 6-6 record with a 3.63 ERA, but his walks outnumbered his strikeouts (64-to-45). In he even pitched a one-hitter, but otherwise pitched ineffectively, compiling a 6.17 ERA and allowing 80 baserunners in 42.1 innings. He pitched his final game on August 26 and the Royals released him three days later. Busby signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals before the season, but never pitched in the major leagues again.

In an eight-year career, Busby posted a 70-54 record with 659 strikeouts and a 3.72 in 1060.2 innings.

Despite the brevity of his career, Busby was among the first two players elected to the Royals Hall of Fame. Outfielder Amos Otis was the other. His 70 career victories ranks him ninth on the Royals’ all-time list.