Майкл Лолич: Американдық бейсболшының өмірі мен мансабы

American baseball player

Michael Stephen Lolich (born September 12, 1940) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left handed pitcher from 1963 until 1979, almost entirely for the Detroit Tigers. At the time of his retirement in 1979, Lolich held the Major League Baseball record for career strikeouts by a left handed pitcher.

Lolich was born in Portland, Oregon of Croatian descent. He was born right handed but, began to throw left handed after a childhood accident. At age two, he rode his tricycle into a parked motorcycle, which fell on him. The accident broke his left collarbone, requiring him to wear a cast for four months. Post injury efforts to strengthen the left arm helped Lolich develop into throwing left handed. Known as an eccentric, a sports writer in 1964 wrote of Lolich: "He now eats, writes and bats right handed, pitches left handed and thinks sideways." He began his professional career playing the 1959, 1960, and 1961 seasons with the Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League and the Durham Bulls of the Carolina League. In his first three seasons, he compiled a 17–29 record in 82 games.

Lolich was assigned to the Triple A Denver Bears at the start of the 1962 season and went 0–4 with a 16.50 ERA in nine games. After the poor start, Detroit ordered him back to Knoxville. Lolich refused to report to Knoxville and was placed under indefinite suspension. He returned home to Oregon and struck out all 12 batters he faced in a four inning outing in semi pro ball with the Archer Blower team in Portland. In early June, Lolich was acquired by the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League in a deal with the Tigers. Lolich turned his career around, compiling a 10–9 record and 3.95 ERA with 138 strikeouts in 23 games with the Beavers. The key to Lolich's turnaround was finding control of his pitches. He had developed a reputation as "a flamethrowing wildman" in the minors but developed his control while playing for Portland.

Buoyed by a strong performance with Portland, Lolich was reclaimed by the Tigers in 1963. He irked Detroit's management by reporting late to spring training, saying he had remained in Portland to take an examination to become a mailman during the off season. On September 9, he pitched his sixth shutout of the season and struck out 12 Yankees. For the season, Lolich ranked fourth in the American League with six shutouts and fifth with 192 strikeouts. In November 1964, Lolich married Joyce Fleenor, a former airline stewardess from Los Angeles. At spring training in 1965, Lolich told reporter Joe Falls that marriage had a calming influence on him: "She's done so much for me, to settle me down, that I can hardly put it into words. She's made me a very happy guy." In 1965, he compiled a 15–9 record with a 3.44 ERA. Always known as a weak hitter, Lolich hit .058 and struck out 37 times in 86 at bats during the 1965 season. In 1967, the Tigers hired former major league pitcher Johnny Sain as their pitching coach. Sain helped develop Lolich's pitching skills and taught him psychological aspects of pitching. The Tigers were in contention until the final day of the 1967 season, finishing one game behind the Red Sox. Lolich finished the season with a 14–13 record, but led the league with six shutouts. In late July 1967, Lolich was called to active duty with the Michigan Air National Guard in response to the ongoing riot. Lolich spent twelve days on active duty and was promoted to Airman First Class. Upon returning to the team, he received death threats, allegedly from the Black Panthers, for his role in quelling the riot. In response, the Federal Bureau of Investigation placed a team of snipers on the roof of Tiger Stadium during his subsequent two starts.

In 1968, the Tigers quickly rose to first place, winning nine straight after losing the season opener to Boston. Lolich was overshadowed by teammate Denny McLain's 31 win season, and was sent to the bullpen in August due to a late season slump. After Bob Gibson defeated McLain in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series in St. Louis, Lolich helped Detroit recover by allowing only one run to win Game 2 8–1. He also helped his own cause by hitting the only home run of his 16 year career. They added another run for a 5–3 win, staving off elimination. With just two days of rest, and having pitched two complete games in the past week, Lolich faced Gibson in Game 7, both having won their previous two starts. Detroit became only the third team in World Series history to rally from a 3–1 series deficit to win in seven games.

In 1969, Lolich won 19 games and earned his first All Star selection. He finished second to Vida Blue in the 1971 Cy Young Award voting. Lolich became known for his endurance and his ability to pitch complete games. Lolich won 16 games in 1973 and 1974. However, the Tigers dropped to last place in the American League East. In 1975, Lolich eclipsed Warren Spahn’s Major League Baseball record of 2,583 career strikeouts by a left handed pitcher. Lolich posted an 8–13 record with a respectable 3.22 ERA for the Mets in 1976; however, he had disagreements with the Mets pitching coach as well as the Mets trainer and retired after the season. Lolich threw 41 shutouts and 195 complete games during his career, completing nearly 40 percent of his starts.

In 1979, Lolich invested in a doughnut shop in Rochester, Michigan, with the understanding that his partner would run the business. Following disagreements, Lolich bought out his partner and began running the business. After losing his lease, he moved the doughnut business to Lake Orion in 1983. In the late 1990s, Lolich sold the doughnut shop and retired. Lolich also had a small role in The Incredible Melting Man, a 1977 horror movie released during his first retirement. He plays a security guard who is killed by the Melting Man near the end of the movie. In 2003, Lolich was one of 26 players chosen for the final ballot by the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Veterans Committee but garnered only 13 votes, far below the 75% required for election.

His 2,679 strikeouts is the second most in AL history by a left hander. His 2,832 career strikeouts in both leagues ranked in the top 10 in major league history when he retired in 1979. His 1,538 batters faced in 1971 was the most in the majors since George Uhle faced 1,548 in 1923. Only two other pitchers have faced at least 1,500 hitters since 1923, Wilbur Wood with 1,531 in 1973 and Bob Feller with 1,512 in 1946. His 376 innings pitched in 1971 is the second highest in the majors since 1917. Wilbur Wood holds the modern record with 376 2/3 just a year later, 1972. Only four have pitched 350 or more innings in a season since 1929: Wilbur Wood (1972 and 1973), Lolich (1971), Bob Feller (1946) and Tiger forerunner Dizzy Trout (1944). His 29 complete games in 1971 was the highest in the AL since Bob Feller's 36 in 1946. In the 1965–74 decade, he struck out more (2,245) than any other major league pitcher. Bob Gibson was second with 2,117 during the same period. In the same decade, he was second in major league innings pitched (2,744 2/3) to Gaylord Perry's 2,978. In the same decade, he had more wins (172) than any other AL pitcher. Gaylord Perry led the majors with 182. In the same decade, he threw more complete games (155) than any other AL hurler. Gaylord Perry led the majors with 205. He is the only left hander with three complete World Series games in the same Series. Lolich started 324 games with Bill Freehan playing as catcher, setting a major league record for most starts together as a battery that stood until Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals broke it in 2022.