Greg Minton

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Greg Minton
Pitcher
Born: July 29, 1951 (1951-07-29) (age 56)
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 7, 1975
for the San Francisco Giants
Final game
September 29, 1990
for the California Angels
Career statistics
Win-Loss Record     59-65
Saves     150
ERA     3.10
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • All-Star (NL): 1982
  • Led National League in Games Finished in 1981 (44) and 1982 (66)
  • Ranks 70th on MLB Career Games Pitched List (710)
  • Ranks 60th on MLB Career Saves List (150)
  • Ranks 52nd on MLB Career Games Finished List (415)

Gregory Brian Minton (b. July 29, 1951 in Lubbock, Texas) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the California Angels and San Francisco Giants

Minton enjoyed a 16-year major league career, from 1975 to 1990, and was a member of the 1982 National League All-Star Team. His nickname, "Moon Man," stemmed from various escapades such as the hijacking of the team bus and the flooding of a minor league ballpark so he could leave Amarillo one day early at the end of the season. Minton went three full seasons (254⅓ innings) without allowing a home run until John Stearns took him deep in May of 1982. This still is the longest such streak in the post-1920 live-ball era. A crippling injury in 1979 caused Minton to alter his delivery. Instead of using his then-normal high leg kick, Moon Man shorted his stride to take pressure off his knee. The new delivery gave Minton a 92-mph sinker that batters were unable to drive.

After his career as a player, Minton was a pitching coach in the California Angels' organization, and managed the Class A Lubbock Crickets for two years.

he now sometimes appears at Rob Andrew's baseball camp during the summers to teach kids the proper techniques of pitching

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By 1987 Minton had become so hated by the Giants fans for his poor performance that when his wife was honored for her charity work before a game she was booed mercilessly, this angered Minton so much that he demanded to be released or traded. He was released and picked up by the Angels several days later.

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