Mike Sirotka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Robert Sirotka (born May 13, 1971, in Houston, Texas) was a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He is an alumnus of Louisiana State University.

Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 15th round of the 1993 MLB amateur draft, Sirotka played all five years of his Major League Baseball career for that team. After the 2000 season, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays with Kevin Beirne and Brian Simmons for Matt DeWitt and David Wells in a deal that would infamously become labeled by White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams as "Shouldergate." Sirotka would never pitch an inning for Toronto because of a torn labrum in his left shoulder perpetuated during Game 2 of the 2000 American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners. Although Williams was aware of the injury, he failed to inform Toronto GM Gord Ash. Ash later appealed the trade to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, but Selig refused to overturn the trade, essentially telling the Blue Jays they should have known what they were getting into.^[1]