Jerry Reuss

Career

Reuss was drafted in the second round of the 1967 Major League Baseball draft by the Cardinals after graduating from Ritenour High School in Overland, Missouri. He won his first major league game in 1969, and became part of the starting rotation in 1970.

In the spring of 1972, Reuss wanted a raise from $17,000 to $25,000 Cardinals owner Gussie Busch was unwilling to give more than $20,000, and when Reuss refused to bend, Busch traded him to the Astros for pitcher Scipio Spinks. The trade looked like a fairly even swap at the time. While Spinks had shuttled between Houston and their top minor league affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers, over the last three years, he had been almost unhittable during his minor league stints. However, Spinks never recovered from a freak knee injury suffered that July, and was out of baseball by 1976.

Reuss played two seasons before being traded to the Pirates after the 1973 season for Milt May after a season in which he led the National League in walks with 117.

Reuss was a two time All-Star – first in 1975 with the Pirates, having 18 wins and 11 losses that season and an earned run average of 2.54, and then again in 1980 with the Dodgers, striking out all three batters he faced in that year's game, and earning the win.

In 1980 Reuss had one of the best seasons of his career with eighteen wins and only six losses, and leading the majors in shutouts with six; he also threw a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on June 27, striking out only 2 batters, narrowly missing a perfect game due to a throwing error in the first inning by shortstop Bill Russell; Reuss's no-hitter is just one of ten in baseball history in which a pitcher did not walk or hit a batter, but whose perfect game bid was foiled by a fielding error. Reuss finished second behind Steve Carlton in the running for the Cy Young Award, and won Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award.

In 1981 Reuss went 10-4 with a career-low 2.30 ERA in a strike-shortened season, and won two postseason games including one against the New York Yankees in the 1981 World Series, helping the Dodgers win the title. On June 11, 1982, Jerry Reuss recorded 27 consecutive outs in a game, with only the opponent's leadoff batter reaching base (double by Reds' Eddie Milner, who reached third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a fielder's choice).

Reuss had two more winning seasons with the Dodgers before injuries took their toll from 1984 to 1986, and was released at the beginning of the 1987 season. He then played for the Reds, going 0-5 before getting released again, and then for the Angels before becoming a free agent. Reuss then signed with the Chicago White Sox, having a 13-9 season and earning his 200th career win in 1988, and played a few more seasons before retiring in 1990.

Retirement

Reuss became a baseball broadcaster, working nationally for ESPN from 1991 to 1993, and was also a color commentator for the California/Anaheim Angels from 1996-98. He served as a pitching coach with the minor league Iowa Cubs before returning to broadcasting with the Dodgers in 2006, serving as a color commentator alongside Rick Monday.

In 2014, Reuss's autobiography, Bring In the Right Hander!, was published by University of Nebraska Press.