In 1983, as a consequence of right-hander Pete Falcone leaving the team as a free agent and signing with the Atlanta Braves, the Mets received Atlanta’s first round draft pick and a supplementary first round pick as compensation. After drafting third baseman Eddie Williams with the 4th overall pick, they used their additional first round draft pick from the Braves to sign outfielder Stan Jefferson and their supplemental first round selection, the 27th overall pick, to draft left-handed pitcher Calvin
Schiraldi.
Schiraldi was born on June 16, 1962, in Houston, Texas and grew up in the Austin area. His father, Joe, had attended Texas A&M on a basketball and track scholarship and knew the hard work and dedication needed to excel at a high level even as an amateur, helping Calvin excel on the baseball diamond. By the time he was playing at Westlake High School in Austin, the 6’4” left-hander was a follow for professional scouts, and in his later high school years, the stands were often swarming with scouts. In June 1980, Schiraldi was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 17th round of the 1980 MLB Draft. He ended up choosing to attend college instead of signing professionally and turned the White Sox down in order to attend the University of Texas.
The left-hander pitched for the Longhorns for all three years he attended the University of Texas and had his ups-and-downs. In 1981, his freshman season, he appeared in several games but was left off of the College World Series roster, a tournament that Texas was eventually eliminated from by Arizona State. In 1982, Schiraldi had more of a role on the team and ended up posting a 3.23 ERA on the season. During the 1982 College World Series, the left-hander started a game against Wichita State. In the second inning, he hit Shockers outfielder Kevin Penner in the face with a fastball, fracturing four bones, knocking him unconscious, and reportedly putting him in a coma for two days. The rattled Schiraldi ended up allowing six runs and Wichita ended up knocking the Longhorns out of the tournament. In 1983, his junior year, the left-hander bounced back, having his best season. Along with teammate Roger Clemens, Schiraldi helped lead Texas to a College World Series victory and was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
A few days after, the Mets selected Schiraldi in the 1983 MLB Draft, the 27th player selected overall. He was assigned to the Lynchburg Mets, their High-A Carolina League affiliate at the time, and made 6 starts for them, posting a 4.45 ERA in 30.1 innings, allowing 28 hits, walking 17, and striking out 41. He was then promoted to the Jackson Mets, their Double-A affiliate in the Texas League, where he made 7 starts and posted a 5.82 ERA in 38.2 innings, allowing 41 hits, walking 29, and striking out 26. All in all, in his first taste of professional baseball, Schiraldi posted a combined 5.22 ERA in 69.0 innings, allowing 69 hits, walking 46, and striking out 67.
The 22-year-old began the 1984 season with Jackson, but with an entire winter’s worth of rest and recovery, the results he had there were very different. He appeared in 23 games, making 22 starts, and posted a 2.88 ERA in 156.1 innings, allowing 118 hits, walking 69, and striking out 131. Later in the summer, he was promoted to Triple-A Tidewater and made 4 starts with the Tides, posting a 1.15 ERA in 31.1 innings, allowing 18 hits, walking 10, and striking out 24. In September, the Mets promoted Schiraldi to Queens, and the left-hander appeared in 5 games, making 3 starts, in his big-league cup of coffee at the end of the season. He posted a 5.71 ERA in 17.1 innings, allowing 20 hits, walking 10, and striking out 16.
The southpaw was sent to Triple-A to begin the 1985 season, but he didn’t remain in Norfolk for very long, getting called back up to Queens only a few weeks later to rejoin the Mets pitching staff. He didn’t remain up for very long, as he broke his toe after getting hit by a comebacker and was placed on the disabled list. When he was activated that June, he got shellacked and was eventually sent back down to Triple-A, eventually being called back up to Queens and appearing in a single game at the end of the year. All in all, the left-hander posted a 8.89 ERA in 26.1 innings with the Mets over 10 games- 4 starts- allowing a whopping 43 hits, walking 11, and striking out 21 and a 3.50 ERA in 100.1 innings over 17 starts with the Tides, allowing 91 hits, walking 56, and striking out 76.
As the off-season began, the Mets sought to add a veteran left-handed pitcher to their rotation, a move that would allow veteran Ed Lynch to fortify the bullpen without losing veteran leadership in a rotation that consisted of 20-year-old Doc Gooden, 24 year-old Ron Darling, 22-year-old Sid Fernandez, and 23-year-old Rick Aguilera. With Frank Cashen convinced that Schiraldi would not live up to his potential with the Mets, he called Red Sox GM Lou Gorman- who in 1983 was the Mets Director of Player Personnel and the man who had Schiraldi drafted- and the two worked out a deal. That November, Schiraldi, reliever Wes Gardner, and outfielders John Christensen and La Schelle Tarver were traded to Boston in exchange for left-hander Bobby Ojeda and minor league players Chris Bayer, Tom McCarthy, and John Mitchell.
Boston had high hopes for the 24-year-old left-hander, but a poor spring poured cold water on expectations. Schiraldi failed to make the Red Sox lineup and was sent to Pawtucket, Boston’s Triple-A team, where he was converted to relief. Though he was unhappy about it, he eventually settled into the role and began excelling. Shortly after the All-Star Game, Red Sox reliever Sammy Stewart was placed on the disabled list, opening up a spot for another reliever. Schiraldi, who had a 2.86 ERA in 44.0 innings over 31 appearances, was selected. The left-hander took the opportunity and ran with it, ending the season with a 1.41 ERA in 51.0 innings over 25 games, allowing 36 hits, walking 15 batters, striking out 55, and saving 9 games. Manager John McNamara had ridden Schiraldi hard and cracks began showing; while he was still effective, he looked very human and very hittable.
In the 1986 World Series, he replaced Bruce Hurst in the bottom of the ninth and locked down Boston’s 1-0 victory in Game One. Things did not go as swimmingly for him when he was called in to pitch in Game Six. Entering the game with a one run lead, he allowed Gary Carter to tie things up with a sac fly. After the Red Sox scored a pair of runs in the top of the tenth, Schiraldi was given a second opportunity to end the series and break the Curse of the Bambino. As we all know, that was not what happened. With all of the marbles on the line in Game Seven, John McNamara elected to bring in Schiraldi to relieve Bruce Hurst, as he had in Game One. Schiraldi immediately gave up Rey Knight’s go-ahead home, allowed a second run, and then had an inherited runner score after he was pulled from the game.
The left-hander returned to the Red Sox in 1987, but he was a very different pitcher from the man who took the American League by storm in the stretch in 1986. An injury early in the season led to a diminished role and average results, at best. After posting a 4.41 ERA in 83.2 innings over 62 appearances on the season, the Red Sox traded him to the Chicago Cubs along with Al Nipper in exchange for Lee Smith.
In his first year with the Cubs, the team stretched him out and had him resume starting. He posted a 4.38 ERA in 166.1 innings over the course of 29 games and 27 starts, allowing 166 hits, walking 63, and striking out 140. Because the results did not exactly impress, the team shifted him back to the bullpen for the 1989 season, where he appeared in 54 games and posted a 3.51 ERA in exactly 100 innings. At the end of August, Chicago traded Schiraldi to the San Diego Padres along with outfielder Darrin Jackson and a player to be named later in exchange for utilityman outfielder Marvell Wynne. He made appeared in five games for San Diego and made four starts, closing out the year posting a 2.53 ERA in 21.1 innings.
A free agent, Schiraldi signed a one-year, $600,000 contract with the Padres, returning to San Diego for the 1990 season. He was used as a swingman, starting and relieving, and posted a 4.41 ERA in 104.0 innings on the season, allowing 105 hits, walking 60, and striking out 74. That off-season, he signed a one-year deal with the Padres once again, this time for $740,000. The team would end up only paying a fraction of that, as they ultimately waived the left-hander before the season began due to poor performance during spring training.
The 29-year-old signed with the Houston Astros and was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, the Tucson Toros. He posted a 4.47 ERA in 54.1 innings and was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a player to be named later. The Rangers called him up to the big leagues, where he appeared in three games for them and allowed 6 earned runs in 4.2 innings, but was quickly demoted back to their Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers. He appeared in 18 games for them, posting a 5.64 ERA in 30.1 innings before being released in early July.
The left-hander did not intend to end his baseball career and spent much of 1992 getting himself in good playing shape and giving his oft-injured body some time to heal, but when he struggled while throwing in front of scouts, he knew that the time had come. He eventually went back to the University of Texas to finish up his education and obtained a degree in kinesiology. He then became a physical education teacher at St. Michael’s Catholic Academy in Austin, Texas, coaching their baseball team for over 20 years. Recently, he has also begun coaching travel baseball teams and wrote a book, “The Arena: The True Story of One Man’s Search for Excellence and the Price He Paid for Daring to Achieve It”, which dealt with his upbringing, his time as a professional baseball player, alcoholism, suicide, and the hurtles of adversity and overcoming them.
