Steve Stone (baseball player)

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Steven Michael Stone (born July 14, 1947 in Euclid, Ohio) is a former American Major League Baseball player and current sportscaster.

Stone was a starting pitcher for several teams from 1971-1981. His best year was undoubtedly 1980, when he went 25-7 for the Baltimore Orioles and won the Cy Young Award. Persistent arm trouble bothered him for much of his career, and he never equaled his 1980 success in any other season. He retired after a disappointing year with the Orioles in 1981. His retirement at 34 was precipitated by tendinitis in his right arm.

From 1983-1997, Stone was a color commentator for the WGN television broadcasts of the Chicago Cubs, teaming with Hall of Fame announcer Harry Caray. After Harry Caray's death in February 1998, Stone was paired with Caray's grandson Chip Caray. Stone left the booth due to health reasons in 2000, and returned to the Cubs booth in 2003 and 2004. Highly regarded as a broadcaster, Stone refused a contract extension as the Cubs color-man after the 2004 season amid a controversy involving Cubs players who felt he was being overly critical of their performance. Even so, he was a fan favorite. This was apparent at the Cubs' last home game of 2004, when, after the game had ended and all the players had left the field, nearly everyone left in the stadium looked up to the broadcast booth and chanted "Stoney! Stoney!" for several minutes. The main reason he was so well-liked was his ability to accurately predict what might happen in various in-game situations, explaining to the audience why the strategy or pitch would be successful prior to the play. A famous example of this was him expressing "I wouldn't pitch to this guy" in a 2004 game mere seconds before the batter Adam Dunn hit a home run off Cubs pitcher Mike Remlinger to give the Reds the lead.

Stone later expressed frustration with Cubs manager Dusty Baker for not controlling his players. At one point during the 2004 season, Kent Mercker (a Cubs left-hander at the time) called the broadcast booth during a game to complain about comments made. Among the comments that reportedly irked Mercker were Chip Caray's praise of Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt. It was also reported that Mercker and left fielder Moises Alou yelled and shouted at Stone on a team charter plane to an away game in 2004.

In early 2005 Stone was hired by Chicago radio station WSCR to provide commentary and host a weekly talk show, and by ESPN to work some of the network's baseball telecasts.

[edit] Trivia

• Played his high school ball at Charles F. Brush High School for Ohio high school baseball legend Coach Jim Humpall.

• At Kent State University, Stone's catcher was Thurman Munson.

• Stone was one of the most successful Jewish Major League pitchers. He was the last Jewish pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, and ranks third in both career wins (107) and career strikeouts (1065).[1] He ranks behind only Sandy Koufax and Ken Holtzman in both categories.

• In the 1980s, Stone was well-known for his endorsement of Consort hair products and, in Chicago-area markets, Illinois Vehicle Insurance.

• Before signing with the Baltimore Orioles, Stone played for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago White Sox.

• Stone was the pitcher who yielded Duane Kuiper's only career home run.

[edit] Books

• Where's Harry? (1999) (with Barry Rozner) Taylor Publishing ISBN 0-87833-233-2

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Interview in The Heckler

Preceded by Mike Flanagan

American League Cy Young Award 1980

Succeeded by Rollie Fingers