Ron Darling - Trade and American League

Trade and American League

Darling was back in the New York Mets' starting rotation in 1991. Although his pitching was improved over 1990, he was still inconsistent, winning three games with scoreless pitching but getting hit hard in many other games. Unlike previous seasons, Darling posted poor numbers at Shea Stadium while pitching well on the road. He pitched scoreless two-hit ball over eight innings in Montreal in his last pre-All-Star break game but pitched only once more before being traded.

Darling's Mets career came to an end on July 15, 1991 when he was traded with a minor leaguer to the Montreal Expos (the team he had two-hit less than two weeks earlier) for former closer, Tim Burke. Burke pitched well for the Mets but their 28–48 record after the trade was the worst in the majors. Burke was out of the majors after 1992 and the Mets were terrible for the next several years (though more due to ill-advised expensive acquisitions than the Darling trade). Darling's three starts for Montreal were poor with an ERA of 7.41. The Expos re-traded Darling to the Oakland Athletics on July 31, 1991 for two minor leaguers. After the Darling trades, the Expos were left with three minor leaguers, none of whom played more than two games in the majors.

With Oakland, Darling immediately logged two seven-inning scoreless starts and won his first three decisions. Then, his poor control returned and Darling lost seven straight decisions including his last six starts. In three of those losses, he allowed two or fewer runs. Oakland, coming off its third consecutive league pennant, was barely above .500 before acquiring Darling. His acquisition did little to affect that.

After the 1991 season, Darling became a free agent and re-signed with Oakland. In 1992, he had his last quality year, finishing with over 200 innings pitched, a 3.66 ERA and 15 wins. Inconsistent for most of the season, Darling also showed flashes of brilliance, including three complete game two-hit shutouts — the only two-hitters of his career. He was the victim of poor run support including a no-decision seven-inning one-hitter that was nearly a loss, an eight-inning two-hitter that turned into a no-decision after an unearned run, and two other games where he allowed one earned run and took the loss. Darling finished with the best record on the team percentage-wise. Oakland coasted into the postseason with little trouble and Darling was called to start Game 3 with the series tied. He pitched well but gave up two costly home runs and took the loss. The A's went on to lose Games 4 and 6 as well and Darling never again pitched in the postseason. Similar to the Mets, the A's descended into a postseason drought that lasted seven seasons.

Darling re-signed with Oakland again after 1992, this time a multi-year deal for over $2 million per season, but he was unable to repeat his 1992 performance. 1993 was awful for Darling. Through July, his ERA hovered around six and he was relegated to long relief for over a week. He pitched better after July lowering his ERA to 5.16 but lost five of his last six decisions.

Outside of July, Darling's 1994 would have been as bad as 1993. In July, he won five starts with one no-decision with an ERA under three. It was Darling's last hurrah. He stumbled through two starts in August before the 1994 Major League Baseball strike ended the season. With his torrid July, Darling reached double digits in wins once again but finished under .500 with a 4.50 ERA. Darling led the American League with 25 games started despite pitching that was average at best.

When the strike lasted into 1995, Darling started terribly, logging an ERA over nine in his four starts without making it through the fifth inning in any of them. His only complete game of the season ended with a 1–0 loss on May 30. Darling won only four games with an ERA of 6.23. After a bad loss, Oakland released him on August 19, 1995 (his birthday) bringing his playing career to an end.