Steven Lee "Buzz" Busby (born September 29, 1949) is a former

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 ...

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), ...

who played his entire career for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

High school

Busby attended

Fullerton Union High School Fullerton Union High School is a public high school located in the Orange County, California city of Fullerton, operated by the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. History In 1893 a special election was held to create Fullerton Union High ...

in Fullerton, CA.

Professional career

A bright prospect, Busby won 56 games in his first three full seasons, only to have his career derailed by a

rotator cuff tear A rotator cuff tear is an injury where one or more of the tendons or muscles of the rotator cuff of the shoulder get torn. Symptoms may include shoulder pain, which is often worse with movement, limited range of motion, or weakness. This may limi ...

. Drafted by the Royals in in the second round, the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

graduate made his debut the following season and stuck in the major leagues for good in , when he won 16 games and on April 27 pitched the first

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 wh ...

in Kansas City Royals history, defeating the

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 ...

at Tiger Stadium 3–0 on April 27. Busby became the first no-hit pitcher who did not come to bat during the entire game, with 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 ...

having adopted the

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

rule that year. In a game against 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 ...

on September 20, 1972, Busby hit a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

only to have it taken back by the first base umpire John Rice who said time out had been called to eject Jerry May. Nonetheless, Busby went on to hit a double and two singles in the game, while also earning the victory on the mound. In , Busby enjoyed his best season, winning 22 games and making the American League All-Star team. He also pitched a second no-hitter on June 19, this one against 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 ...

County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packer ...

. Yielding only a second-inning walk to George Scott, Busby defeated the Brewers 2-0, besting

Clyde Wright Clyde Wright (born February 20, 1941), nicknamed "Skeeter", is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels (1966–73), Milwauk ...

—himself a no-hit pitcher in 1970. With this no-hitter, Busby became the first pitcher in major-league history to throw no-hitters in each of his first two complete seasons. In he won 18 games and made the All-Star team again. Busby had struggled with his control early in his career, but his problems returned to a greater degree in when he was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff; an injury that at the time ended a pitcher's career. Busby subsequently became the first baseball player to undergo rotator cuff surgery. In an effort to help his arm recover from the surgery, his doctor recommended that Busby be placed on a

pitch count In baseball statistics, pitch count is the number of pitches thrown by a pitcher in a game. Pitch counts are especially a concern for young pitchers, pitchers recovering from injury, or pitchers who have a history of injuries. The pitcher wants ...

. He is often believed to be the first baseball player to be placed on a pitch count, something that Busby has stated is a myth. Before his injury, he is alleged to have thrown close to 200 pitches in a game, which Busby also says is untrue. Unfortunately for Busby, the surgery did not save his career. After missing the entire season and most of , he pitched in 22 games (including 12 starts) the next year, compiling a respectable 6-6 record with a 3.63

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 ...

, but his walks outnumbered his

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 (64-to-45). In he even pitched a one-hitter, but otherwise pitched ineffectively, compiling a 6.17 ERA and allowing 80 baserunners in 42.1

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

. He pitched his final game on August 26 and the Royals released him three days later. Busby signed a contract 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 ha ...

before the season, but never pitched in the major leagues again. In an eight-year career, Busby posted a 70-54 record with 659 strikeouts and a 3.72 ERA in 1060.2 innings. Busby and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Amos Otis Amos Joseph Otis (born April 26, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from to , most prominently as an integral member of the Kansas City Royals team that won t ...

were the first two players elected to the Royals Hall of Fame. In 2009, Busby was elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. His 70 career victories ranks him ninth on the Royals' all-time list.

Broadcasting career

Following the end of his playing career, Busby became a sportscaster, primarily for the Texas Rangers, and has also worked as an instructor at a baseball school. Unlike most former players, Busby acts as both a play-by-play man and a color commentator, and traded positions with

Eric Nadel Eric Nadel (born May 16, 1951) is a sports announcer on radio broadcasts for the Texas Rangers baseball organization. In 2014, he was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Muse ...

on radio broadcasts. After replacing

Dave Barnett David Lane Barnett (born April 27, 1958) is a play-by-play broadcaster who calls Big 12 baseball games on Fox Sports 1, college basketball on American Sports Network, and football and men's basketball for the University of North Texas (UNT). He h ...

as television play-by-play announcer in the middle of the 2012 season, Busby had been working exclusively on play-by-play, with

Tom Grieve Thomas Alan Grieve (born March 4, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1979 for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. He was nicknam ...

on color. However, in October 2016, the Rangers announced that Busby would not be returning for the 2017 season.

Dave Raymond Dave Raymond (born August 12, 1972) is an American sportscaster. He is the primary television play-by-play announcer for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. He has also worked for the San Francisco Giants (2003), Baltimore Orioles (2005), ...

has replaced Busby for the 2017 season.

References

External links

Steve Busby
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Steve Busby
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) :
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busby, Steve 1949 births Living people American League All-Stars Baseball players from California Daytona Beach Islanders players Gulf Coast Royals players Kansas City Royals announcers Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers Omaha Royals players Orlando Juice players Sportspeople from Burbank, California San Jose Bees players Texas Rangers (baseball) announcers Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela University of Southern California alumni USC Trojans baseball players All-American college baseball players