Rich Gale
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Richard Blackwell Gale (born January 19, 1954 in Littleton, New Hampshire) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with four different teams between 1978 and 1984. Listed at 6'7", 225 lb., Gale batted and threw right-handed. He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 1975 draft out of the University of New Hampshire.
Gale entered the Majors in 1978 with the Royals, playing for them four years before joining the San Francisco Giants (1982), Cincinnati Reds (1983) and Boston Red Sox (1984).
Gale's most productive season came in his rookie year, when he went 14-8 with 88 strikeouts and a 3.09 ERA, including a 5–0, one-hit shutout against the Texas Rangers at Royals Stadium on June 13, 1978. His no-hitter bid was broken up by Al Oliver with a triple in the fourth inning. Gale finished fourth in the American League Rookie of the Year vote behind Lou Whitaker, Paul Molitor and Carney Lansford, and over Alan Trammell and received an American League MVP vote, garnering both the TSN Rookie of the Year and Topps All-Star Rookie Roster honors.
In 1979, Gale faded to 9-10, but he resurfaced with a 13-9 mark in 1980, helping his team the reach the 1980 World Series. He started games three and six of the Series, going 0-1 with a 4.25 ERA against the eventually World Champions Philadelphia Phillies. During the next three seasons his playing time was limited by arm injuries and did not pitch again a Major League game after 1984.
In a seven-season career, Gale posted a 55-56 record with 518 strikeouts and a 4.54 ERA in 195 appearances. including 144 starts, 21 complete games, five shutouts, 13 games finished, two saves, and 970.0 innings of work. A good-hitting pitcher who occasionally pinch-hit, he collected a .150 batting average (9-for-68) with two home runs, two doubles, six runs, and five RBI.
Following his Major League career, Gale played in the Japan Central League for the 1985 Hanshin Tigers, who won their first-ever Japan Series with Gale pitching the winning game. He later played with the Fort Myers Sun Sox of the Senior Professional Baseball Association (1989-1990) and for Triple-A Pawtucket (1991). After his playing retirement he worked as a pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox (1992-1993), Double-A Carolina Mudcats (2006) and Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (2007). In 2006 he earned honorable mention for the New Hampshire Athlete of the Century.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Retrosheet
