Peter Dennis Vuckovich ''(VOO-koh-vich)'' (born October 27, 1952) is an American former professional baseball

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

who played 10 seasons in

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) from 1975 to 1986. He came across as an intimidating presence on the mound with his 6'4" (1.93 m) 215 lb (100 kg) frame and

horseshoe moustache A horseshoe moustache, also known as a biker moustache, is a full moustache with vertical extensions grown on the corners of the lips and down the sides of the mouth to the jawline, resembling an upside-down U or a horseshoe. The whiskers grown ...

. Vuckovich was drafted by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. Despite a notable 12-year career as a professional baseball player, he is known mainly for his role as fictional

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

slugger Clu Haywood, the chief nemesis of

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

's character Ricky Vaughn, in the popular 1989 film '' Major League''. Vuckovich graduated from Conemaugh Valley High School then went on to Clarion University to play baseball. Nearly 30 years to the day after the Chicago White Sox drafted Vuckovich they drafted his son, Peter Vuckovich, Jr., who also attended both Conemaugh Valley High School and Clarion University, in the 48th round of the 2004 amateur draft. Vuckovich, winner of the 1982

AL 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 ...

, is a member of the Clarion University Sports Hall of Fame. Vuckovich is also a member of both the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Vuckovich is of Serbian descent.

Baseball career

Vuckovich developed a reputation for bizarre, hyper-competitive behavior during his twelve-season career. He would fidget, twitch, pace, and convulse while on the mound. He was known to cross his eyes and stick his tongue out at batters. He would spit in his glove, scream at umpires while in the stretch, and sometimes step to the back of the mound and dry heave.

Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals

After minimal duty with Chicago from 1975–76, Vuckovich was selected by 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 ...

in the 1976 MLB expansion draft. Even though the Blue Jays lost 107 games in 1977, and although mostly used in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

, Vuckovich managed a 7-7 record with eight saves. He recorded the first

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in Toronto franchise history, a 2-0 victory over

Jim Palmer James Alvin Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the ...

and the

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

. He also recorded the first save in Toronto franchise history on Opening Day on April 7, 1977 at

Exhibition Stadium Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National E ...

in Toronto, versus the

. Involved in a multi-player trade to 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 ha ...

, Vuckovich's career went to the next level. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, he started more often, winning 39 games for the Cardinals during three years. He finished third in 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 ...

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 ...

with a 2.55 mark in 1978, and ranked fourth in shutouts (3) in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Milwaukee Brewers

A part of a blockbuster seven-player trade in December 1980, Vuckovich went to 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 ...

along with Rollie Fingers and

Ted Simmons Ted Lyle Simmons (born August 9, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. A switch-hitter, Simmons was a catcher for most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1968–1980), the Milwau ...

. With the Brewers, Vuckovich continued his stellar pitching. He led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in wins (14) and winning percentage Win–loss % (.778) during the strike-shortened season. When Milwaukee won the AL pennant in , Vuckovich won the

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 ...

with an 18-6 record and a 3.34

, and once again tied for the league lead with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in winning percentage Win–loss % (.750) He lost Game Two of the ALCS to the

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

4-2, and started the decisive fifth game, though not figuring in the decision. 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 ...

, the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

beat him 6-2 in Game Three, and he got a no-decision in the final loss. This however, proved to be the zenith of his career, as Vuckovich had been battling shoulder pain for two seasons, and in

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 ...

of , it was discovered he had torn his

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

. Vuckovich skipped surgery in favor of an exercise rehabilitation. He attempted a comeback for three games, but went 0-2 in 14 innings, then missed all of 1984. Subsequent and prolonged comeback attempts all failed, and by the end of the season, Milwaukee released Vuckovich. In an eleven-season career, Vuckovich posted a 93-69 record with 882

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and a 3.66 ERA in 1455.1

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. In postseason play, he was 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA. While with the Brewers, Vuckovich co-owned a bar in Milwaukee with outfielder

Gorman Thomas James Gorman Thomas III (born December 12, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder and right-handed hitter. Thomas played in the American League (AL) with the Milwaukee ...

. It was called "Stormin' & Vuke's", a play on their nicknames.

Following retirement

Following his retirement, Vuckovich worked for three years (1989–1991) as a television announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers. Vuckovich portrayed fictional

slugger Clu Haywood in the film '' Major League''. In 1992, he was hired by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

as a pitching instructor. Vuckovich served as the pitching coach for the

for the 1997–2000 seasons. He then worked his way through the Pirates organization to the position of special assistant to the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

with the Pirates, and held a similar post with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

' organization under

Jack Zduriencik John A. “Jack” Zduriencik (; born January 11, 1951) is an American radio broadcaster and former professional baseball executive, scout, and player. He currently works as a radio host for KDKA-FM, which is affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates ...

, Seattle's GM from 2009–15. In 2016, Vuckovich served as a professional scout with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

References

External links