Gregory Brian Minton (born July 29, 1951), nicknamed "Moon Man", is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. Minton enjoyed a 16-year major league career, from to , and was a member of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

All-Star Team.

Career

A crippling injury in caused Minton to alter his delivery. Instead of using his high leg kick, Minton shortened his stride to take pressure off his knee. The new delivery gave Minton a 92-mph sinker that batters were unable to drive. Minton went three full seasons (269 innings) without allowing a home run until

John Stearns John Hardin Stearns (August 21, 1951 – September 15, 2022), nicknamed "Bad Dude", was an American professional baseball catcher and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets from 1975 to 1984 after playing a single ...

homered against him on May 2, 1982. , this is the longest such streak in the period for which game-by-game data is available (since 1904). Also in 1982, Minton appeared in his only

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

and finished sixth in National League

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

voting. On August 14, 1986, Minton gave up the last of

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

's MLB record 4,256 career hits. In 1989, Minton made 62 appearances in relief. He earned eight saves and a 2.20

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). Over portions of 1988 and 1989, he pitched another consecutive innings without giving up a home run, which was the longest stretch of this type by any pitcher in Angels history. He signed a one-year extension for 1990 worth $850,000. He spent much of the 1990 season on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with elbow problems, and he pitched only innings before announcing his retirement that October. After his career as a player, Minton was a pitching coach in the California Angels organization and managed the independent

Lubbock Crickets The Lubbock Crickets were the first minor league baseball team to play in Lubbock, Texas after a 39-year hiatus. The Crickets joined the Texas-Louisiana League in 1995 as the first team not known as the Lubbock Hubbers. The team was named after ...

for two years.

Personal

Minton's nickname, "Moon Man," stemmed from various escapades such as the hijacking of the team bus and the flooding of a minor league ballpark so he could leave Amarillo one day early at the end of the season. Minton is currently married to Kari Jill Granville, a Phoenix attorney and former USA Archery team member.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minton, Greg 1951 births Living people Amarillo Giants players Baseball players from Texas Billings Mustangs players California Angels players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Fresno Giants players Major League Baseball pitchers Midland Angels players Minor league baseball managers National League All-Stars Palm Springs Angels players Phoenix Giants players San Diego Mesa College alumni San Francisco Giants players San Jose Bees players Sportspeople from Lubbock, Texas Tiburones de La Guaira players Waterloo Royals players

Career

Personal

See also

References

External links