Tom Funk - 1986 Season

1986 Season

Upon reaching the Majors, Funk quickly filled the role of a left-handed reliever for the Astros bullpen. The team was in the middle of a pennant race and had been lacking a lefty since Frank DiPino had been traded to the Chicago Cubs. In his first seven games Funk would record a stellar era of 2.45. On August 23, 1986 he was summoned from the bullpen at Busch Memorial Stadium to relieve Mike Scott in what was a 3-1 St. Louis Cardinals lead. Funk would proceed to get hammered during the course of the inning. He surrendered four earned runs and helped pad the Cardinals lead to 7 to 1. Funk's era ballooned to 6.48 and he was quickly demoted back to the minors at the behest of manager Hal Lanier. Jeff Calhoun would assume his spot as the left-handed reliever in the Astros bullpen for the remainder of the season. For the year, and his career, Funk finished with no decisions or saves over 8⅓ innings in eight games with six walks, two strikeouts (Mariano Duncan and Len Matuszek of the Los Angeles Dodgers), and the aforementioned 6.48 earned run average.