Jeffrey Allen Lahti (born October 8, 1956) 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), ...

pitcher. He is an alumnus of

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Early life

Lahti was born in

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

on October 8, 1956 to parents Marlene and Bob. Following their divorce, Marlene married Fred Lahti in Astoria. He attended

Hood River Valley High School Hood River Valley High School is a public high school in Hood River, Oregon, United States. It opened in September 1970 as the result of a consolidation of the former Hood River and Wy'East high schools. Academics Hood River Valley High School i ...

where he earned first-team All State honors as a pitcher. In 1973, Lahti set the school record for most strikeouts in a season with 70. He graduated from Hood River Valley High School in 1975. Lahti attended

Treasure Valley Community College Treasure Valley Community College is a public community college in Ontario, Oregon, at the western edge of the Treasure Valley. Its service area is sections of Malheur and Baker counties. Additionally Harney County and the city of Burns have ...

before being recruited for

by Jack Dunn.

Playing career

Drafted by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

in the 5th round of the 1978

MLB 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), ...

amateur draft, Lahti made his Major League Baseball debut with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

on June 27, 1982, and appeared in his final game on April 24, 1986. Lahti was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals team that defeated the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in the

1982 World Series The 1982 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1982 Major League Baseball season, 1982 season. The 79th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National Leag ...

. He spent his entire career with the Cardinals. He led the 1985 Cardinal team that went to the World Series in saves a year after the departure of

relief ace In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

Bruce Sutter Howard Bruce Sutter (; January 8, 1953 – October 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1976 and 1988. He was one of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970 ...

. He went 5–2 with a 1.84 ERA in 1985. He was forced into retirement due to injuries and turned to coaching. In 2016, Lahti was appointed the manager of the

Portland Pickles The Portland Pickles are a collegiate woodbat baseball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the South Division of the West Coast League, a premier collegiate summer baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. The ...

References

External links

1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Oregon City, Oregon Baseball players from Oregon St. Louis Cardinals players Major League Baseball pitchers Portland State Vikings baseball players Treasure Valley Chukars baseball players Nashville Sounds players American people of Finnish descent Eugene Emeralds players Greensboro Hornets players Indianapolis Indians players Louisville Redbirds players Waterbury Reds players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub