10 Things You Didn't Know About Mike Marshall, The First
Plus tangential trivia about other relief workhorses of the era
Today’s Lineup…
🔁 Card of the Day - Mike Marshall on a Loop
🥱 Yes — Yet One More Mike Marhsall
1974 Topps Traded Mike Marshall (#73T) - Card of the Day
If you were here last week, this might seem a bit familiar. I mean, a Mike Marshall who played with the Dodgers? Yeah, we’ve been there before.
But instead of rehashing the overlaps we covered on Friday, let’s just jump straight into 10 essential facts about pitcher Mike Marshall:
Marshall’s 106 appearances in 1974 is still the record for pitchers, well ahead of second-placers Kent Tekulve (1979) and Salomon Torres (2006), each with 94.
The man whose record Marshall broke? That would be Mike Marshall himself, who had appeared in 92 games for the Expos in 1973.
Before Marshall, Wayne Granger of the Reds held the record, with 90 appearances in 1969.
Marshall matched those 90 appearances for the 1979 Minnesota Twins, setting the American League record — it, too, still stands.
Speaking of 1969, Marshall was a teammate of Jim Bouton on the ill-fated 1969 Seattle Pilots, then followed Bouton to the Houston Astros in 1970 (via trade).
And speaking of trades, Marshall played for 9 different teams over his 14-year career but was traded just 3 times.
Back to 1974, Marshall’s 208.1 relief innings that summer are also an all-time record, topping the 179 he had in 1973. Bob Stanley holds the American League mark with 168.1 relief frames for the 1982 Red Sox.
For his amazing 1974 performance, Marshall became the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award, easily outdistancing Dodgers teammate Andy Messersmith. Phil Niekro and Don Sutton also picked up first-place votes.
Marshall was so invested in mastering pitching mechanics that he earned a Ph.D. in kinesiology while still an active player.
Marshall taught his signature pitch, the screwball, to his cousin Brent Honeywell, who taught it to his son. Brent Honeywell, Jr., who carried the pitch with him all the way to the majors.
There’s plenty more to know about Mike Marshall, baseball iconoclast and overall colorful character. You can read more about him in several places online.
For now, just revel once again in that god-awful but quintessential 1970s airbrush job on his 1974 Topps Traded card as we celebrate what would have been the late hurler’s 81st birthday.
And I’ll even throw in a parting shot of Marshall from one of his more fleeting stops. Behold his 1977 Topps baseball card (#263):
1971 Pro Star Expos
Oh, OK, fine — one more Mike Marshall parting shot, but then you’ve got to give it a rest with all this Mike Marshall stuff. I’m starting to think you have an obsession or something.
Anyway, this is one of 28 unnumbered player photos published by Pro Star Publications in 1971 and originally sold at Jarry Park. You can usually find these oversized (3 1/2” x 5 1/2”) dandies on eBay for less than $10 each.
—
That’s it for this second edition of the Mike Marshall Chronicles. So help me, it will be the last. Unless, you know, I uncover some other irresistible Mike Marshall tidbit or collectible.
Then all bets are off.
Until then, I’ll be over here in the baseball archives, looking for other ruts of redundancy to get rutted in.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
More cardboard fun:
His career stats are a beauty to behold. Sort of like a mountain range---amazing peaks and multiple valleys. He also had wildly divergent appearances when it comes to Clean Shaven vs The Stache-Sideburns Combo.