John Allen Denny (born November 8, 1952) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

, who played 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 (A ...

(MLB) for 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 ...

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) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, and

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 ...

, from to . Denny 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 s ...

(NL)

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 .

Career

Denny was born in Prescott, Arizona, and attended Prescott High School. He excelled at sports there, playing football and basketball as well as baseball. In the 1970 amateur draft, he was selected by the Cardinals in the 29th round. He made his professional debut that year at the age of 17. Denny pitched for the Triple-A

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

in 1974 and went 9-8 with a 3.75

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

. He made his major league debut in September. JohnDenny1974

The next season, Denny started back in Tulsa but he pitched well and soon entered the St. Louis starting rotation. In 1976, Denny had a breakout season. He led the

in ERA at 2.52 and was the best pitcher on the club. Due to poor run support, his record was just 11-9. Denny also pitched well in 1978, going 14-11 with a 2.96 ERA, but he fell off badly in 1979 and was traded with Jerry Mumphrey from the Cardinals to the Indians for

Bobby Bonds Bobby Lee Bonds (March 15, 1946 – August 23, 2003) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball from to , primarily with the San Francisco Giants. Noted for his outstanding combination of power hitting and speed, he was the first pl ...

on December 7, 1979."LeFlore, Rodriguez Swapped by Tigers," ''The New York Times'', Saturday, December 8, 1979.
Retrieved June 7, 2020 He continued his inconsistent pitching with the Indians, going 24-23 for them in three seasons. He pitched three straight

shutouts 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 ...

late in 1981John Denny
- Baseballbiography.com and was rewarded with a three-year, $2 million contract after the season. Nine months later, he was traded to the Phillies. In 1983, Denny enjoyed the best season of his career, going 19-6 with a 2.37 ERA. He topped the NL in wins and winning percentage and was second in ERA. He also led the Phillies to the NL championship. In that year's Cy Young Award voting, he received 20 of 24 first-place votes to win going away. Denny suffered arm problems late in his career. After 1983, he spent two more years in Philadelphia before being traded to Cincinnati. He went 11-10 in 1986 and then retired from baseball. Denny was rehabilitation coach for 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 ...

organization from 2001-2004.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, John 1952 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Cy Young Award winners National League ERA champions National League wins champions St. Louis Cardinals players Cleveland Indians players Philadelphia Phillies players Cincinnati Reds players Gulf Coast Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Arkansas Travelers players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Baseball players from Arizona People from Prescott, Arizona