New York Yankees
Whitson became a free agent following the 1984 season, and signed a five-year contract with the New York Yankees worth $4.4 million with a sixth-year option. Whitson got off to a terrible start in New York, going 1-6 with a 6.23 ERA in his first eleven starts, and soon became a focal point for heckling Yankee fans. He began receiving verbal abuse and hate mail, and refused to let his wife, Kathleen, attend home games at Yankee Stadium.
On June 11, 1985, after giving up five hits and one run against the Toronto Blue Jays in Yankee Stadium, Whitson retired the next 19 batters he faced. Fans began to cheer Whitson during the game, and although the game was lost by the bullpen in extra innings, Whitson left the game to a standing ovation in the tenth. From there, Whitson turned his season around, going 9-1 with a 2.27 ERA over his next sixteen starts.
The Yankees were just 2.5 games back of the first place Blue Jays in the American League East when Toronto came to town for a crucial four game series on September 12. With the Blue Jays taking two of the first three games, Yankees manager Billy Martin handed Whitson the ball for the fourth game. Whitson gave up four earned runs in just two innings as the Jays won the game 8-5 to take a 4.5 game lead in the division.
Martin lifted Whitson from his next scheduled start on September 20. On September 22, while at a hotel bar in Baltimore, Maryland, Whitson and Martin got into a heated argument that spread to other parts of the hotel and resulted in a broken ulna in Martin's right arm and a bruised right side, while Whitson suffered a cracked rib and a split lip.
Whitson did not pitch again for the remainder of the season, finishing with a 10-8 record and 4.88 ERA. After the season, Martin was fired, which many Yankee fans suspected was because of his altercation with Whitson.
Whitson was used both as a starter and out of the bullpen by new manager Lou Piniella in 1986. He was 4-0 despite a high 7.36 ERA out of the bullpen, and 1-2 with a 8.71 ERA as a starter. Knowing that Whitson wanted out of New York, the Yankees traded Whitson back to the Padres for reliever Tim Stoddard on July 9, 1986.
Read more about this topic: Ed Whitson
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