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The Toronto Blue Jays honoured Dave Stieb on the 20th anniversary of his no-hitter in Cleveland August 29, 2010.


Dave Stieb bobblehead commemorating the lone no-hitter in franchise history was given away to a lucky few.  

A seven time All-Star, Stieb earned back to back starts for the American League in 1983 and 1984.  He earned the victory by allowing just one unearned run and striking out four to help the AL beat the NL 5-4 in the '83 All-Star Classic at Comiskey Park.  He took the loss the following year as the NL downed the AL 3-1 at Candlestick Park.

The man himself presents a lucky fan with an autographed powder blue jersey.  After coming close on three other occasions, Stieb's no-hitter came September 2, 1990 in Cleveland.

Stieb made his major league debut in Baltimore on June 29, 1979 but did not earn his first victory until his third start, a complete-game 7-1 victory on July 9 against Milwaukee at Exhibition Stadium.  He managed to finish 8-8 with a 4.31 ERA in his rookie season, no mean feat considering the Jays won a franchise-worst 53 games that season.

Stieb recorded double digit victory totals in 10 different seasons, including a career best 18 win season in 1990.

Stieb remained with the Jays until 1992 and hung around long enough to earn a World Series ring.  However, shoulder and back injuries cut short his 1991 campaign and he was never the same pitcher after that.  He finished the 1992 campaign with a 4-6 record with an ERA of 5.04.

It was on this date that Stieb celebrated a milestone, collecting his 100th victory in a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians at the Ex.

Stieb delivered one final thrill to Jays fans when he made a comeback in the 1998 season.  It came just five seasons after throwing his last pitch as a member of the Chicago White Sox in 1993.  He earned his 176th and final victory (all but one with Toronto) August 29 in a 14-7 win against Minnesota at the Dome.  He also earned two of his three career saves in 1998, the other coming in 1986.

The Jays paid tribute to Stieb by etching his #37 on the mound and wearing powder blue uniforms.  Unfortunately, Marc Rzepczynski and the Jays could not deliver a victory as they lost to the Detroit Tigers that day.

10 Photos - Dave Stieb Day | 4 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mick Doherty - Saturday, February 04 2012 @ 04:41 PM EST (#251590) #
Nice piece. One question, and I don't know how to look this up ... given how bad the Jays were for so long in Steib's early years,  what was his record in the team-best 103 complete games? Did he get over .800 in those starts?
James W - Sunday, February 05 2012 @ 10:09 AM EST (#251597) #

1979: 7 CG, 5-2;    1980: 14 CG, 10-4;    1981: 11 CG, 8-3;    1982: 19 CG, 13-6;    1983: 14 CG, 10-4;    1984, 11 CG, 7-4;    1985: 8 CG, 4-4;    1986: 1 CG, 1-0;    1987: 3 CG, 2-1;    1988: 8 CG, 6-2;    1989: 3 CG, 3-0;    1990: 2 CG, 2-0;    1991: 1 CG, 1-0;    1992: 1 CG, 1-0;   

Total: 103 CG, 73-30, .709

I got this from looking at game logs, but a subscriber to the baseball-reference play index probably would have had it in a few seconds.  (My apologies for the formatting, but my browser was automatically double-spacing and this would have been a large post if I left it like that.)

Mick Doherty - Sunday, February 05 2012 @ 10:04 PM EST (#251603) #

Thanks, James ...

That '85 record is shocking - the Jays were really good that year and as I recall had an excellent bullpen. Losing four out of eight complete games? Wow ...

Dewey - Sunday, February 05 2012 @ 10:14 PM EST (#251604) #
Poor Stieb.  He was left in a lot of games, especially prior to 1985, because the Jays bullpens were usually so lousy.  Even when he was obviously tiring, Stieb (and his managers, I expect) hated to give the ball to Joey McLaughlin and his ilk.  And often didn’t.  Those 1979-1982 or so teams were soo bad.
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