“Messersmith Remembered for the Big Curve He Threw Baseball,” Pepe, Phil. )Besides the injuries, many in baseball surmised that Messersmith’s dropoff in 1976 was caused by his trying too hard to justify his deal with the Braves. What was his new contract going to be worth?Contrary to expectation, a host of suitors did not come knocking on Messersmith’s door. It was an announcement that Ted was going to do things differently.
“Marvin Miller and Free Agency: The Pivotal Year, 1969.” In William M. Simons, ed., Blackman, Frank. Awed but not intimidated, the young pitcher demonstrated what became his trademark commitment: giving his utmost under any circumstances.John Alexander “Andy” Messersmith was born on August 6, 1945, in Toms River, New Jersey. Messersmith accepted Turner’s second offer and went to work for the Braves the next day. Among this group, Messersmith had the best hits per nine innings and ERA, the second best won-loss percentage, the third best in shutouts per 40 games, and the third best WHIP. He attributed his subpar year to a set of harsh injuries. Most baseball historians say, however, that the actual slayer was Marvin Miller, the executive director of the Players Association. With the 1976 season already two days old, Ted Turner, new owner of the Atlanta Braves, offered Messersmith $1 million over three years and a no-trade, no-cut agreement. … The hardest part was pitching with the unsigned contract hanging over my head. As he put it, “All of a sudden I’m head baseball coach, head groundskeeper, head nose-wiper.”Messersmith summed up his coaching experience this way: “There’s a major difference between professional and the level I’m coaching. He was the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, second in Cy Young voting (behind Dodgers teammate Mike Marshall), and a Gold Glove recipient. But despite his abbreviated career, Messersmith was clearly a top-notch pitcher, held back in part by the multiplicity of injuries to his throwing hand, elbow, and shoulder.As difficult as it was for Messersmith to challenge the baseball establishment, he did not regret doing it. Messersmith finished the year with an 8-11 record but a respectable 2.81 ERA.In January 1973 Messersmith heard on the radio that he had been traded to the Dodgers. Also, he was worn out by the worry that no team would sign him.
It’s more for the guy who is sitting on the bench and who believes he hasn’t been given a chance.”The arbitration took place at the end of November 1975. Messersmith was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on July 4, 1968, with the California Angels. The trade wasn’t particularly surprising since Nolan Ryan had arrived to be the Angels’ new staff ace, but the trade raised eyebrows because the Dodgers were already deep with good starting pitching. Messersmith’s position as a top-notch pitcher seemed assured. Championships are won in the clubhouse. “Braves Give Hand to Messersmith Pitching in Pain,” _____ “Dodgers Closing Ranks After Willie Davis Exit,” Penner, Mike. “I had gone through a couple of negotiations that were very one-sided and it (free agency) became a principle thing to me. The Dodgers rejected Messersmith’s no-trade demand. (A leg injury kept him out of the All-Star game. Pitcher Dave McNally was involved in a contract dispute with the Montreal Expos. Now strictly a starter, Messersmith posted a 14-10 record in 249 2/3 innings of work with a 2.70 ERA, a WHIP of 1.093 (fourth in the majors), and 177 strikeouts.As the Dodgers won the National League pennant in 1974, Messersmith won a league-leading 20 games with only 6 losses in 292 1/3 innings of work. Messersmith accepted the pay increase but he declined to sign a new contract because he wanted the team also to agree not to trade him, or if they did, he had the right to determine which team it would be.
However, in 1972 his effectiveness declined precipitously due to a finger injury on his pitching hand that required surgery to repair. His mother and physician father moved the family to Orange County, California, when Andy was 5 years old.
“It needed to be done,” he said a decade after his career ended. “Free Agent Andy Wants to Stay a Dodger.” Weibusch, John.
In the June 1966 draft, Messersmith was chosen in the first round by the California Angels. In 1971, injuries repaired and pitching for a club with the ninth-best record in the 12-team league, Messersmith recorded the first of his two 20-win seasons (against 13 losses). “If we could have played it in the backyard I think I would have played every day.”Messersmith said he hoped to be remembered as a good pitcher, although one who didn’t last too long, and as “a guy who believed in standing up for what he thought was right.”Bohmer, David. “We called Cincinnati and they said I could play in Japan for all they cared.”As the start of the 1976 season approached, the Dodgers made an offer similar to what Messersmith had turned down prior to arbitration; he refused this offer as well. Messersmith turned down the offer, saying “I’ve come this far. “I’m emotionally drained,” Messersmith conceded. However, hopes were dashed in an exhibition game when Messersmith fell and suffered a separated shoulder while reaching behind him for an errant throw from the first baseman. Under the reserve clause, if a player did not accept a team’s contract offer, he would have to play under the terms of the old contract until the team traded or released him. At 24 years old, Messersmith was making his mark.
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