"On North Carolina State NCAA Men's Basketball championship team in 1973/74. Later a pretty good relief pitcher in Major League Baseball."
We're talking about Tim Stoddard, here.
January 23rd, 1971. UCLA lost to Notre Dame, 89-82. Johhny Wooden's boys didn't lose much. It would be a while before they lost again. The next eleven regular season games were won by the Bruins, and then they went through the March Madness tournament, winning four more games to push it to fifteen. For the season, the January loss was UCLA's only. 29-1.
So centre Bill Walton arrived in 1971/72. UCLA goes 30-0. 45-game winning streak. 1972/73, 30-0. 75-games in a row. 1973/74, 13-0 to start the season. 88 in a row! Notre Dame ended the streak with a 71-70 win on January 19th. The Bruins just didn't lose much. It had been 88 games and nearly 3 years between losses. However, despite two more losses that season, did you think North Carolina State could stop UCLA from making it eight in a row?
So it was the NCAA semis where Tim Stoddard looked for help from his buddies David Thompson and Tom Burleson to stop Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes, Dave Meyers and Marques Johnson. All four of those players for the Bruins made the NBA. But for one great contest, it would be the NC State Wolfpack who got the last howl!
It was tied after 20 minutes, 35-35. It was tied after another 20, 75-75. So this close contest needed overtime. 5 minutes went by. The Bruins and Wolfpack added two more points to their total. 77-77. Finally, the underdog North Carolina broke through in the second extra stanza! Though they surrendered ten points to their opposition, the Wolfpack had thirteen of their own! Bill Walton went the distance in the game. In his 50 minutes, The Big Redhead had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 4 assists. However, Thompson, in five less minutes, kept pace. He had 28/10/2, plus 2 block shots. Burleson played 42 minutes. Although he was only 9-20 from the field and 2-6 from the line, Tom finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Tim Stoddard wasn't quite so good. He shot just 4-13 from the field and 1-2 from the line. However, he got nine boards, five assists, three steals and nine points. Not bad!
The 90-87 win put North Carolina State into the NCAA Finals! And the Wolfpack weren't going to let the momentum fade. It was Maruette's turn next. They had a Walton of their own. Lloyd. The Golden Eagles were no pushovers talent-wise. There was Maurice Lucas. There was Earl Tatum. And there was Bo Ellis. All of them played in the National Basketball Association.
But Tim Stoddard's team had 'em down by nine and the half, and really never looked back. The Wolfpack added 37 more points in the last twenty and took it, 76-64. The two big guns in that game were the same as the UCLA game. Dave Thompson had 21/7/2 and added 3 steals. Tom Burleson had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 7 block shots. Our boy's contribution wasn't really noticed with all that. However, he added 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals to hit 8 points (He ended up fouling out, too). Tim shot 3-4 from the field and 2 for 2 from the line.
But it was major league baseball that came calling for Tim. The Texas Rangers drafted him later that year. Stoddard, ultimately wasn't signed, however. So it was the Chicago White Sox that took him next year. Then, in September of 1975, Stoddard was in the bigs. After a one-game stint, Tim was in the minors for the next two seasons. The White Sox released him. Stoddard found success. After going just 3-4 primarily in relief in AA ball in 1975 and 9-10 (3.36 ERA) combined in AA and AAA in 1976, the time he spent in the Baltimore organization proved helpful.
Tim was ready for the bigs soon. At Charlotte (AA) in 1977, Stoddard was 10-7. He made his way to AAA the next season, and it just kept getting better. With Rochester in 1978, Stoddard was 7-3 in 45 games, mostly out of the bullpen. The Orioles liked what they say, and called him up. Though Tim struggled in eight appearances, his second tour of duty in 1979 was excellent.
Tim went 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA that season, and was with Baltimore as they lost the World Series to Pittsburgh. Despite that setback, the Orioles made him the closer as the 1980s dawned. And Stoddard rewarded the O's faith in him by going 5-3 with 26 saves and a 2.51 ERA in 1980. He stayed with the Orioles until 1983. His effectiveness went downhill, alas. His ERA rose to over 4 in 1982 and 6 in 1983. Baltimore included him on the postseason roster that year, but Tim didn't appear at all in the American Championship Series or Fall Classic. No matter, when Baltimore beat Philadelphia 4-1 in the World Series, Tim had a ring at the pro level!
Moving back to Chicago, in 1984, Tim was now in the National League, going 10-6 in the regular season. This time, he pitched twice in the postseason. Alas, the San Diego Padres eliminated the Cubbies in the National League Championship Series. Stoddard posted an ERA of 4.50 in the NLCS.
The Padres, ironically, picked him up as a free agent in the offseason. There would be no repeats for San Diego, alas.
Tim continued to pitch until the end of the decade. Though he remained effective, he seem to be able to find a home. He went to the New York Yankees. Then Cleveland. Before joining the Indians, Tim was back in the minors. But not for long. He pitched excellent. Stoddard has a sore arm in the spring. So, Stoddard was in double "A" with Canton-Akron. He just didn't belong in the minors. In five games, his ERA there was 0.90. Called up to Cleveland in the second month of the season, he was throwing the ball as good as ever: 14 games, 2.95 ERA!
However, Tim Stoddard was now 36 years old, and the Indians decided to call up Keith Atherton from AAA. This didn't make sense, as Keith was 30 himself and had posted just a 1-3 record and a high (4.94) ERA at the AAA ball. Nonetheless, it was Stoddard who was released. Atherton finished his last big-league season in '89 going 0-3 with a 4.15 ERA. Ironically, Cleveland would end up releasing him in August.
That winter, Stoddard joined the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. The results weren't bad. He was back being a starter and won 10 games, lost only 2 and posted an ERA slightly above 4. In fact, it proved to be good enough to entice some offers from some of the big-league teams in 1990. However, Tim ended up not going.
Following an appearance in the 1993 movie, Rookie Of The Year, Tim Stoddard returned to baseball in 1995 at Northwestern University, serving as the pitching coach. Future Toronto Blue Jay J.A. Happ was one of his hurlers he helped guide to the bigs.
We're talking about Tim Stoddard, here.
January 23rd, 1971. UCLA lost to Notre Dame, 89-82. Johhny Wooden's boys didn't lose much. It would be a while before they lost again. The next eleven regular season games were won by the Bruins, and then they went through the March Madness tournament, winning four more games to push it to fifteen. For the season, the January loss was UCLA's only. 29-1.
So centre Bill Walton arrived in 1971/72. UCLA goes 30-0. 45-game winning streak. 1972/73, 30-0. 75-games in a row. 1973/74, 13-0 to start the season. 88 in a row! Notre Dame ended the streak with a 71-70 win on January 19th. The Bruins just didn't lose much. It had been 88 games and nearly 3 years between losses. However, despite two more losses that season, did you think North Carolina State could stop UCLA from making it eight in a row?
So it was the NCAA semis where Tim Stoddard looked for help from his buddies David Thompson and Tom Burleson to stop Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes, Dave Meyers and Marques Johnson. All four of those players for the Bruins made the NBA. But for one great contest, it would be the NC State Wolfpack who got the last howl!
It was tied after 20 minutes, 35-35. It was tied after another 20, 75-75. So this close contest needed overtime. 5 minutes went by. The Bruins and Wolfpack added two more points to their total. 77-77. Finally, the underdog North Carolina broke through in the second extra stanza! Though they surrendered ten points to their opposition, the Wolfpack had thirteen of their own! Bill Walton went the distance in the game. In his 50 minutes, The Big Redhead had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 4 assists. However, Thompson, in five less minutes, kept pace. He had 28/10/2, plus 2 block shots. Burleson played 42 minutes. Although he was only 9-20 from the field and 2-6 from the line, Tom finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Tim Stoddard wasn't quite so good. He shot just 4-13 from the field and 1-2 from the line. However, he got nine boards, five assists, three steals and nine points. Not bad!
The 90-87 win put North Carolina State into the NCAA Finals! And the Wolfpack weren't going to let the momentum fade. It was Maruette's turn next. They had a Walton of their own. Lloyd. The Golden Eagles were no pushovers talent-wise. There was Maurice Lucas. There was Earl Tatum. And there was Bo Ellis. All of them played in the National Basketball Association.
But Tim Stoddard's team had 'em down by nine and the half, and really never looked back. The Wolfpack added 37 more points in the last twenty and took it, 76-64. The two big guns in that game were the same as the UCLA game. Dave Thompson had 21/7/2 and added 3 steals. Tom Burleson had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 7 block shots. Our boy's contribution wasn't really noticed with all that. However, he added 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals to hit 8 points (He ended up fouling out, too). Tim shot 3-4 from the field and 2 for 2 from the line.
But it was major league baseball that came calling for Tim. The Texas Rangers drafted him later that year. Stoddard, ultimately wasn't signed, however. So it was the Chicago White Sox that took him next year. Then, in September of 1975, Stoddard was in the bigs. After a one-game stint, Tim was in the minors for the next two seasons. The White Sox released him. Stoddard found success. After going just 3-4 primarily in relief in AA ball in 1975 and 9-10 (3.36 ERA) combined in AA and AAA in 1976, the time he spent in the Baltimore organization proved helpful.
Tim was ready for the bigs soon. At Charlotte (AA) in 1977, Stoddard was 10-7. He made his way to AAA the next season, and it just kept getting better. With Rochester in 1978, Stoddard was 7-3 in 45 games, mostly out of the bullpen. The Orioles liked what they say, and called him up. Though Tim struggled in eight appearances, his second tour of duty in 1979 was excellent.
Tim went 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA that season, and was with Baltimore as they lost the World Series to Pittsburgh. Despite that setback, the Orioles made him the closer as the 1980s dawned. And Stoddard rewarded the O's faith in him by going 5-3 with 26 saves and a 2.51 ERA in 1980. He stayed with the Orioles until 1983. His effectiveness went downhill, alas. His ERA rose to over 4 in 1982 and 6 in 1983. Baltimore included him on the postseason roster that year, but Tim didn't appear at all in the American Championship Series or Fall Classic. No matter, when Baltimore beat Philadelphia 4-1 in the World Series, Tim had a ring at the pro level!
Moving back to Chicago, in 1984, Tim was now in the National League, going 10-6 in the regular season. This time, he pitched twice in the postseason. Alas, the San Diego Padres eliminated the Cubbies in the National League Championship Series. Stoddard posted an ERA of 4.50 in the NLCS.
The Padres, ironically, picked him up as a free agent in the offseason. There would be no repeats for San Diego, alas.
Tim continued to pitch until the end of the decade. Though he remained effective, he seem to be able to find a home. He went to the New York Yankees. Then Cleveland. Before joining the Indians, Tim was back in the minors. But not for long. He pitched excellent. Stoddard has a sore arm in the spring. So, Stoddard was in double "A" with Canton-Akron. He just didn't belong in the minors. In five games, his ERA there was 0.90. Called up to Cleveland in the second month of the season, he was throwing the ball as good as ever: 14 games, 2.95 ERA!
However, Tim Stoddard was now 36 years old, and the Indians decided to call up Keith Atherton from AAA. This didn't make sense, as Keith was 30 himself and had posted just a 1-3 record and a high (4.94) ERA at the AAA ball. Nonetheless, it was Stoddard who was released. Atherton finished his last big-league season in '89 going 0-3 with a 4.15 ERA. Ironically, Cleveland would end up releasing him in August.
That winter, Stoddard joined the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. The results weren't bad. He was back being a starter and won 10 games, lost only 2 and posted an ERA slightly above 4. In fact, it proved to be good enough to entice some offers from some of the big-league teams in 1990. However, Tim ended up not going.
Following an appearance in the 1993 movie, Rookie Of The Year, Tim Stoddard returned to baseball in 1995 at Northwestern University, serving as the pitching coach. Future Toronto Blue Jay J.A. Happ was one of his hurlers he helped guide to the bigs.
