Michael Wallace Loynd (born March 26, 1964) 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 with the Texas Rangers.

College career

Michael Wallace was drafted in June 1986 out of

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

and made the jump from college to the big leagues in less than two months. At Florida State he had tied an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

record by winning 20 games during the '86 season and was largely responsible for their trip to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

. He was the 1986

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

winner as the best college baseball player in the nation. After an initial flurry of success in the Majors his career flamed out and he was demoted to the minor leagues. He had a career total of 3 wins, 7 losses, an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 5.82 with 81 strikeouts in 111 innings pitched.

Professional career

Loynd, age 22, made his debut on Thursday, July 24, 1986. Like the much-heralded

David Clyde David Eugene Clyde (born April 22, 1955) is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played for five seasons with the Texas Rangers (1973–1975) and Cleveland Indians (1978–1979). He is noted for his once promising baseball ca ...

in 1973, Loynd was expected to contribute immediately upon being called to the Majors. The Rangers were involved in a close pennant race and manager

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (196 ...

was strapped for pitching. Loynd won his first start in front of 34,256 fans with a 6–3 win over future Hall of Famer

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 31 ...

and the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. Loynd hurled 6 innings, allowed 3 runs, walked 3, and struck out 6. After his next three starts resulted in no decisions, Loynd was back in the win column again on Thursday, August 14, 1986, after defeating

Teddy Higuera Teodoro Higuera Valenzuela (born November 9, 1957) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He played for nine years (– and –) for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Early career Higuera was named the rookie of th ...

and 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 ...

8–2. Loynd surrendered only one run over 7 strong innings while giving up only 5 hits and one walk. He struck out 4. The victory improved his record to 2-0 and moved the Rangers just 1.5 games behind the first-place

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 ...

. After moving his record to 2–0, Loynd would begin to struggle. Many experts felt it was due to his not having pitched as many innings before during a season. Rangers' manager

began to use him more selectively, but yet he struggled greatly and for the year ended with 2 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 5.36. In 1987 he began the year in the bullpen and had some initial success in the first month. The Rangers however had been a team predicted by many pundits to contend for their first title. Instead, the club started the year 1-10 and never recovered. Perhaps the most iconic moment of that frustration involved Loynd in front of the hometown crowd at

Arlington Stadium Arlington Stadium was a baseball stadium located in Arlington, Texas, United States, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. It served as the home for the Texas Rangers (MLB) from 1972 until 1993, after which the team moved into The Bal ...

. On Saturday, May 9, 1987, Loynd was brought in relief of Edwin Correa against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. After

Tony Fernández Octavio Antonio Fernández Castro (June 30, 1962 – February 16, 2020), better known as Tony Fernández, was a Dominican baseball player who played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven teams from 1983 to 2001, most notably ...

connected off him for a home run that pushed the score to 7–0, Loynd vented his anger by hitting the next batter,

Lloyd Moseby Lloyd Anthony Moseby (born November 5, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball player. A center fielder, and good all-around athlete, Moseby's nickname, Shaker, was said to stem from his ability to get away from or "shake" players who at ...

, with a pitch. Moseby proceeded to charge the mound while Loynd ran away. Both were ejected from the game and Toronto ended up winning 15–4. Loynd concluded the 1987 season with 1 win, 5 losses, and a ERA of 6.10. It was his last time in the Major Leagues. Loynd was traded from the Rangers to 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 ...

for Robbie Wine during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

on March 25, 1988."The Texas Rangers Friday traded minor-league right-hander Mike Loynd...," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Friday, March 25, 1988.
Retrieved September 6, 2022. He spent the next seven seasons in the minor league organizations of the Astros,

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 ...

, and

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) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

before ending his career with the

West Palm Beach Expos The West Palm Beach Expos were a Florida State League minor league baseball team which existed from 1969 through the 1997 season in West Palm Beach, Florida. History The West Palm Beach Expos were a Class A affiliate of the Montreal Expos and pla ...

of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in 1994. Loynd is living in St. Louis, Missouri with wife Lori.

References

Sources

*Mike Loynd's career stat

*1987 Texas Rangers media guide

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loynd, Mike 1964 births Living people Golden Spikes Award winners Texas Rangers players Baseball players from St. Louis People from Essex County, New Jersey Florida State Seminoles baseball players All-American college baseball players Columbus Mudcats players Louisville Redbirds players Oklahoma City 89ers players Richmond Braves players Syracuse Chiefs players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos players Tucson Toros players Tulsa Drillers players West Palm Beach Expos players

College career

Professional career

See also

References

Sources

External links