David Clyde

American baseball player (born 1955)
the British tropical physician

David Eugene Clyde (born April 22, 1955) is a former left handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played for five seasons with the Texas Rangers (1973–1975) and Cleveland Indians (1978–1979). He is noted for his once promising baseball career, which ended at age 26 because of arm and shoulder injuries. Billed as the next Sandy Koufax, Clyde had a stellar high school career at Westchester High School. He was drafted with the first overall pick in the 1973 Major League Baseball draft. The Rangers planned to have Clyde pitch his first two professional games in the major leagues before moving him down to the minor leagues, but Rangers owner Bob Short decided to keep him in the roster for monetary purposes, where he had a 5.01 earned run average in 18 starts. Journalists criticized the Rangers for promoting Clyde too soon, and after an uneventful 1974 campaign, he developed shoulder trouble and was sent down to the minor leagues in 1975, where he pitched three seasons. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1978, and played two seasons before being demoted. Clyde attempted to make a comeback with the Houston Astros but was unsuccessful. Clyde's career made him the "poster boy" for bringing up young players prematurely and dealing with arm injuries. He was named by journalist Randy Galloway as among the worst cases of "mishandling" a young player in baseball history. He is considered by many as a savior of the Texas Rangers franchise because of the significant attendance boost that Clyde's hype brought to the team, preventing it from a possible bankruptcy or American League takeover. Clyde is one of just three high school pitchers drafted first overall (the other two being Brien Taylor and Brady Aiken) and the only one to make it to MLB.

The son of a telephone executive, Clyde was born in Kansas City, Kansas, the eldest of four brothers. After living for a time in New Jersey, his family moved to Houston, Texas in 1969. During his senior year at Westchester, Clyde had a stellar record of 18–0, giving up only three earned runs in 148 innings pitched, while pitching five no hitters and setting 14 national high school records. After signing his contract, Clyde stated that his career goal was to "become the greatest pitcher ever". Clyde later called it his most memorable game in his Major League career. Clyde then pitched well in his second start against the Chicago White Sox, pitching six innings before a finger blister forced him out of the game. However, with his performance in the two starts, the Rangers dropped all plans to send him to the minors. The youngest player to play in a major league game in 1973, Clyde pitched a total of eighteen games (all starts) that season, finishing with a record of 4–8, with a 5.01 earned run average (ERA). Questioned about the difference between high school or professional baseball, Clyde stated that MLB hitters "see the ball better, thus they make contact more often". Clyde also finished fourth in the American League with 11 wild pitches. He pitched in nine games with the Indians in 1979 (3–4, 5.91 ERA) before tearing his rotator cuff and was demoted to the minors, playing in what would be his last Major League game on August 7, 1979. In his five year career, Clyde had an 18–33 win–loss record with a 4.63 earned run average and 228 strikeouts in 84 games pitched. Clyde's unsuccessful career made him the "poster boy" for bringing up young players. In a 2003 interview with The New York Times, Herzog criticized Bob Short, stating that "(Short) sure wasn't going to send him down without getting some people in the ballpark to see him. The kid should have gone to the minors after two starts." One week before the thirtieth anniversary of his first career game, Clyde threw the ceremonial first pitch to his ex–teammate Ken Suarez during an Rangers Astros game.

Following the problems Clyde had during the 1974 and 1975 seasons, he became dependent on alcohol, which he later called "the lowest point of my life". He had two failed marriages, the first one with his high school sweetheart, before settling down with his third wife, Robin, having two boys, Ryan and Reed, and a daughter, Lauren. He worked in his father in law's lumber business in Tomball, Texas for 20 years, which he called one of the best periods of his life, giving him a "peace of mind". He retired in 2003 as vice president of the company and worked as a coach for a local youth baseball team. He is now a caregiver for his elderly father.