Andy Benes

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Andrew Charles Benes (born August 20, 1967 in Evansville, Indiana) is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four teams: the San Diego Padres, for which he is the current all-time strikeout leader for the team, the Seattle Mariners, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks, in a fourteen-year career from 1989 to 2002. His brother Alan also pitched in the major leagues, and was his teammate in 1996-97 and 2000-01.

Benes was the first person selected in the 1988 Major League Baseball Draft after playing college baseball at the University of Evansville. Benes was an All-Star in 1993 after a 15-15 season with the Padres, and led the majors in losses with 14 and in strikeouts with 189 the next season. Benes finished third in the Cy Young Award balloting in 1996 after a 18-10, 3.83 earned run average season. Benes also became one of the first players in Diamondbacks history when he signed as a free agent prior to the 1998 season.

In a 2004 column for The Sporting News, pitcher Todd Jones wrote that Benes had a habit of gritting his teeth when preparing to throw a slider, a tell that some hitters exploited.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ "No spying in baseball? Then you aren't paying attention", Todd Jones, The Sporting News, published August 23, 2004, accessed April 23, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis

Preceded by Ken Griffey, Jr.

First overall pick in the MLB Entry Draft 1988

Succeeded by Ben McDonald