Michael Warren Scott (born April 26, 1955) is an American right-handed former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

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) ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

and the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. He won 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 ...

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 Ha ...

in . Scott is part of a select group of pitchers that have thrown a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

and struck out 300 batters in the same season.

Early career

Scott was selected by the Mets in the second round of the

1976 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The 1976 Arizona State University team, considered by ma ...

. He made his major league debut with the

Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, ...

in . By the end of the 1982 season, Scott had compiled a 14–27 record. The Mets traded him to the Astros for Danny Heep on December 11, . In 1983, Scott had a mostly successful first season with the Astros making 24 starts and going 10–6 with a 3.72 earned run average. Scott struggled in 1984 going 5–11 with a 4.68 ERA for the Astros. The turning point in Scott's career came in , when he became a student of pitching coach Roger Craig. Craig taught Scott the

split-finger fastball A split-finger fastball or splitter is an off-speed pitch in baseball that looks to the batter like a fastball until it drops suddenly. Derived from the forkball, it is so named because the pitcher puts the index and middle finger on different ...

, a pitch he had made famous while coaching the pitchers of the

1984 World Series The 1984 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1984 season. The 81st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Detroit Tigers and the Nationa ...

champion

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. Scott became an 18-game winner in 1985 and was rewarded with a three-year deal with the Astros, valued at $2 million. However, there were rumors that Scott's dominating performance was the result of

ball scuffing An emery ball is an illegal pitch in baseball, in which the ball has been altered by scuffing it with a rough surface, such as an emery board or sandpaper. This technique alters the spin of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner, as ...

. Scott had been accused of using sandpaper by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. In August 1986, Roger Craig, then the manager of the San Francisco Giants, complained that Scott's real secret was that he scuffed the baseball. "It's great," Scott said of the charges. "Any time you have hitters coming to the plate thinking you're doing something, it takes their minds off the pitch . . . Nine times out of 10 the umpire will look at the ball and throw it right back to me."

1986

Scott enjoyed his most successful season in 1986, when he posted an 18–10 record with a 2.22 earned run average, striking out a league-leading 306 batters. On September 25 of that season, he threw a 2–0

against the

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 Y ...

at the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Housto ...

to clinch the

National League West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

division title for the

Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

. This game was voted one of the top five games played in the Astrodome after the Astros moved to Enron Field following the 1999 season. He led a strong starting rotation that included

Bob Knepper Robert Wesley Knepper (born May 25, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. From 1976 to 1990, he pitched 15 seasons for the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros, earning two All-Star appearances as well as the 1981 NL Comeb ...

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...

, and Jim Deshaies. Scott had a stretch from May 9 to August 8 where he had a quality start (a minimum of six innings pitched without allowing more than three runs) in all twenty games started, setting a club record (the previous record was Don Wilson with fifteen in 1971).. Scott's twenty starts would be a club record until Framber Valdez passed him on August 24, 2022. Scott's outstanding form continued into the postseason, when Houston faced the Eastern Division champion

in the

1986 National League Championship Series The 1986 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven Major League Baseball postseason series between the NL East champion New York Mets and NL West champion Houston Astros. It was the 18th NLCS and the first MLB playoff series in whi ...

. The Astros lost the series in six games but both Astros victories were courtesy of Scott's overwhelming starting pitching performances in Games 1 and 4. The Mets aggressively voiced their suspicions that Scott was doctoring the baseball to the media during the series, although nothing was ever found to support these claims. So dominant was Scott in those two games — 0.50 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 8 hits and only one walk in 18 innings — that the Mets considered Game 6 something of a "must win"; a loss would have meant facing an apparently unbeatable Mike Scott in Game 7 in the Astrodome. The Mets won Game 6 in 16 innings, averting another Scott start, to win the league pennant. In recognition of his regular season performance, Scott was awarded the 1986 National League

as the league's best pitcher. Scott was also voted the NL 1986 NLCS MVP, the first time in NLCS history that a member of the losing team was so honored (a year later, the

' Jeffrey Leonard would become the second consecutive NLCS MVP of the losing team).

Later career

In , Scott was the National League starter in the

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 d ...

, and threw two scoreless innings. He was also the opening day starter for the

. He went 16–13 with a 3.23 earned run average, eight complete games and three shutouts in 247.2 innings while finishing second in the

with 233 strikeouts. In , Scott once more was named the

' opening day starter. On June 12, he was denied a second no-hitter when the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

' Ken Oberkfell singled to right with two outs in the ninth inning. He had a 14–8 record with a 2.92 earned run average, eight complete games and five shutouts in 218.2 innings while having 190 strikeouts. In , Scott won 20 games (while losing 10) and finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting, behind reliever Mark Davis of the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. He was for the third consecutive time the opening day starter for the

. He had a 3.10 earned run average, nine complete games and 172 strikeouts in 229 innings pitched. Injuries began to plague him shortly thereafter. His 1990 season was his last full season. He had a 9–13 record with a 3.81 earned run average in 32 games, having four complete games, two shutouts and 121 strikeouts in 205.2 innings. He played in just two games in the 1991 season, losing both games while lasting a total of seven innings, giving up 10 earned runs and having three strikeouts. Scott retired after the season. As of the 2021 season, he is fourth all-time for the Astros in wins (110) and fifth in strikeouts (1318), and sixth in games started (259). On October 3, 1992, he and his former teammate

José Cruz José Cruz Dilan (born August 8, 1947) nicknamed Cheo, is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player, coach and baseball front office executive. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1970 to 1988, most prominently a ...

had their jersey numbers retired by the Astros.

References

External links

Audio: Scott clinches the '86 NL West title with a no-hitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Mike 1955 births Living people Cy Young Award winners National League All-Stars National League ERA champions National League strikeout champions National League wins champions New York Mets players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Santa Monica, California Baseball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pepperdine University alumni Major League Baseball players with retired numbers Jackson Mets players Tidewater Tides players National League Championship Series MVPs American sportsmen Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pepperdine Waves baseball players Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Rieleros de Aguascalientes players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico

Early career

1986

Later career

See also

References

External links