Patrick John Underwood (born February 9, 1957) is a retired

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 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 draw ...

who played from to . Underwood was drafted by 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 ...

in the first 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 ...

, as the second pick overall.Pat Underwood

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. Accessed November 18, 2008. His older brother, Tom was also a pitcher. Pat made his major league debut against Tom. It is the first time in major league history this has occurred.

Minor league career

He spent the next several seasons in the Tigers farm system. He had a record of 6-2 in 1976 with the Advanced A level

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in the

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and an

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 number ...

of 2.22. He split the 1977 season, spending the first half of the year at Montgomery in the AA Southern League, where he had a record of 9-2 and an ERA of 3.38 with 64 strikeouts in 104 innings of work. At

Evansville Triplets The Evansville Triplets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A American Association (AA) from 1970 to 1984. They were located in Evansville, Indiana, and played their home games at Bosse Field. The Triplets served as a farm club for t ...

in the AAA

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, Underwood was 3-5 with a 5.22 ERA. He spent the entire 1978 season in Evansville, finishing with a 5-5 record a 4.15 ERA.Pat Underwood
Baseball Cube. Accessed November 18, 2008.

Detroit Tigers

Underwood started the 1979 season in Evansville and had a 2-3 record and an ERA of 2.81. He was called up by the Tigers and pitched his first game on May 31 against the

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. Making the start for the Jays was his brother, Tom. Tom found the whole thing stupid, but the brothers brought their best. Pat did not give up a hit until the fifth inning. Tom allowed four hits and struck out four in keeping the Tigers scoreless through seven. Then, Tigers

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

Jerry Morales Julio Ruben "Jerry" Morales Torres (born February 18, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from -. Career Morales was originally signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent at the age of 17 in 1966. He went to th ...

led off the eighth with a home run. Pat pitched into the ninth before handing the game over to the bullpen with one out. For Tom, it was a complete game loss. He also started against the

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on the famed

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, going innings and giving up just 1 run in what was supposed to be game 1 of a doubleheader. With the Tigers, he had a 6-4 record and an ERA of 4.59 with 83 strikeouts in 27 appearances. He spent the entire 1981 season with the Tigers, switching from starting to relieving. He had a 3-6 record that season and five saves, with an ERA of 3.59. In 1982, he was back in the minor leagues at Evansville, where he was used exclusively as a starting pitcher, and had a record of 9-8 with an ERA of 3.98, throwing 90 strikeouts in 165 innings. With the Tigers in 1983, he pitched in four games and had an ERA of 8.71. His final major league appearance was on June 21, 1983, when he gave up five runs in two innings as part of a 10-3 loss 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 ...

.Jun 21, 1983, Brewers at Tigers Play by Play and Box Score

. Accessed November 19, 2008. The Tigers traded him on June 30, 1983 to the

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 ...

in exchange for third baseman

Wayne Krenchicki Wayne Richard Krenchicki (September 17, 1954 – October 16, 2018) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played all or parts of eight seasons in the majors from until . He was a past manager of the Evansville Otters of the independ ...

. He split the season in the minor leagues between Evansville with the Tigers and at the

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of the

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for the Reds. Between the two teams he had a record of 7-4 with a 4.09 ERA.

Post-Tigers career

He was drafted by the Texas Rangers on December 5, 1983 from the Reds in the 1983 Rule 5 draft, but the Rangers released him before the start of the 1984 season. He signed 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 ...

on April 2, 1984 as a free agent. He played in 1984 for the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

, the Orioles' AAA affiliate, and had an 0-2 record and an ERA of 9.00 in three appearances in relief.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Pat 1957 births Living people Baseball players from Indiana Detroit Tigers players Indianapolis Indians players Evansville Triplets players Rochester Red Wings players Montgomery Rebels players Toledo Mud Hens players Major League Baseball pitchers Lakeland Tigers players Sportspeople from Kokomo, Indiana