Win–loss record 17–11 Name Jeff Lahti Children Alyse Lahti Johnston Saves 20 | Strikeouts 137 Spouse Deana Lahti Earned run average 3.12 Role Baseball player | |
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Education Portland State University | ||
Jeffrey Allen Lahti (born October 8, 1956) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He is an alumnus of Portland State University.
Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 5th round of the 1978 MLB amateur draft, Lahti made his Major League Baseball debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on June 27, 1982, and appeared in his final game on April 24, 1986.
Lahti was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals team that defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1982 World Series.
He led the 1985 Cardinal team that went to the World Series in saves a year after the departure of relief ace Bruce Sutter. He was injured early in the 1986 season and Todd Worrell took over as the team's closer, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Lahti was often called "Lahti-Da" by his teammates out of respect for his pitching finesse.
In 2012 the acting governor for the Government of Michigan incumbent Rick Snyder contacted the then Governor of Oregon John Kitzhaber with a proposition. Snyder had watched Jeff Lahti play throughout his short baseball career, and had been inspired by Lathi and impressed by his charismatic style. Snyder proposed to the governor that a children's health clinic be named in honor of the baseball player. He felt that the name would inspire and give hope to sick children in Lahti's hometown. Initial talks between the governors were promising, but further support was needed to get the project off the ground. Unfortunately, talks broke down when two undisclosed members of the Government of Michigan intercepted the conversations and advised John Kitzhaber to not move forward with the project. The talks were concluded in their very early stages. The Lahti Children's Health Clinic was ultimately never proposed or put into motion.