| Rick Wise | |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | |
| Born: September 13, 1945 Jackson, Michigan |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 18, 1964 for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 10, 1982 for the San Diego Padres | |
| Career statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 188–181 |
| Earned run average | 3.69 |
| Strikeouts | 1,647 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Richard Charles Wise (born September 13, 1945) is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for 18 seasons (1964, 1966–1982). He was the winning pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, considered by some to be the greatest Series game ever played.[1]
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Wise grew up in Portland, Oregon and led his Rose City Little League team to the Little League World Series in 1958, making him one of a handful of major league players to have played in both the Little League and Major League World Series.[2] He attended Madison High School in Portland.[3]
Wise was only 18 years of age when he debuted for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, his second professional season. His first major league win was in the second game of a doubleheader on June 21, beating the New York Mets 8-2.[4] The first game that day was Jim Bunning's Perfect game during that memorable season. Wise was the last of that 1964 Philadelphia Phillies team to be active in the major leagues, pitching 2 innings of relief (7th & 8th innings) against the Los Angeles Dodgers on 10 April 1982.[5]
He developed into a solid starter, winning 17 games with a 2.88 earned run average for a sub-.500 Phillies team in 1971. The highlight of Wise's Philadelphia career occurred that year on June 23; he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium and hit two home runs in the same game—one of the greatest days any pitcher has enjoyed. Wise, Wes Ferrell (1931), Jim Tobin (1944), and Earl Wilson (1962) are the only three no-hit pitchers to hit a home run in the same game. Then, five weeks later, on August 18, against the San Francisco Giants, Wise had another day when he hit two home runs. And finally, on September 18, against the Chicago Cubs, he performed an amazing feat, by retiring 32 batters in a row; four shy of the record. He also knocked in the winning run in the 12th inning.
The following season, Wise became an unwitting participant in one of the most one-sided trades in baseball history. The owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, Gussie Busch, ordered his team to trade its star left-handed pitcher, Steve Carlton, after a contract squabble. Since all of baseball knew of the trade mandate, teams drove very hard bargains, and the Phils' offer of Wise was the best St. Louis could do. Wise won a total of 32 games during his two seasons (1972–73) in St. Louis, but Carlton won 27 for the last-place 1972 Phillies alone and would go on to anchor their starting pitching staff for the next decade, ultimately winning 329 games and a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
At the time, however, the Carlton-Wise deal made some sense from the Cardinals' perspective. At the time, Wise had won 75 games, only two fewer than Carlton. Tim McCarver, who had caught for Carlton in St. Louis and Wise in Philadelphia, said at the time that the trade was "a real good one for a real good one." According to McCarver, Wise had better command on the mound while Carlton had more raw ability.[6]
After the 1973 campaign, Wise was shipped to Boston in the American League for outfielder Reggie Smith. His 1974 season was ruined by an arm injury suffered during a freezing April start at Fenway , but he rebounded in 1975 to win 19 for the Red Sox, winners of the AL East. He then won his only start in the 1975 ALCS against Oakland, and was the relief pitcher of record in Game 6 when Carlton Fisk ended the 12-inning game with his oft-replayed walk-off home run.
Wise was traded to the Cleveland Indians in spring training of 1978, and won 15 games for a poor team in 1979, before finishing his career with the San Diego Padres.
In an 18-year career, Wise posted a 188-181 record with 1647 strikeouts and a 3.69 ERA in 3127 innings pitched.
On June 13, 1973, Wise, having already pitched one no-hitter against the Reds, nearly joined Addie Joss as the only pitchers to no-hit the same team twice (the Cleveland Naps pitcher's two no-hitters were against the Chicago White Sox, in 1908 and 1910; the former was a perfect game). This bid, however, was broken up in the ninth on a one-out single by Joe Morgan—the only hit Wise would allow.
Wise also had a no-hitter broken up against the Milwaukee Brewers in 1975 while with the Red Sox. In the first game of a July 2 doubleheader that year, former Red Sox George Scott homered off Wise with two out in the ninth to break up the no-hitter. Wise would have joined Cy Young and Jim Bunning as pitchers who had hurled no-hitters in both leagues; Nolan Ryan, Hideo Nomo and Randy Johnson had done it after Wise's bid was broken up.
Rick has the distinction of being traded for two future hall of famers, on two separate occasions. On February 25, 1972, he was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals for Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. On March 30, 1978, he was traded by the Boston Red Sox with Ted Cox, Bo Diaz and Mike Paxton to the Cleveland Indians for Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall.
| Preceded by Ken Holtzman |
No-hitter pitcher June 23, 1971 |
Succeeded by Bob Gibson |
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