Warren Scott Brusstar (born February 2, 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 ...

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 nine years 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

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. He is currently the

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

Napa Valley College Napa Valley College, formerly Napa Junior College and Napa Community College, is a public community college in Napa, California. The tree-lined main campus is on overlooking the Napa River and includes a performing arts center, a child develop ...

. Brusstar was inducted into the Napa Valley College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011

Amateur career

Brusstar, who batted and threw right-handed, graduated from

Napa High School Napa High School, established in 1897, is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Napa, California. The high school is a comprehensive high school of 1860 students. It is one of three comprehensive high schools in the Napa Valley Unifie ...

in 1970, and was selected by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

in the 27th round (635th overall) of the 1970 MLB Draft. He chose not to sign, and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

. In 1971, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. He was selected by the Giants again in the 1971 MLB Draft, this time in the sixth round (114th overall). Again, the , 200 pound Brusstar did not sign. He would have to wait until the 1973 MLB Draft to be selected again, this time by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

in the 33rd round (684th), but again did not sign. In the 1974 MLB Draft, the Phillies were able to sign Brusstar after drafting him in the fourth round (67th).

Minor leagues

Brusstar was a very successful starter and reliever in the minor leagues. His ERA never reached 3.00 in any of the years he played before making his major league debut (the highest it reached was 2.71), although in two seasons he walked 90 or more batters.

Major Leagues

On May 6, 1977, at the age of 25, Brusstar made his major league debut with the Phillies when he was called up to replace

Tug McGraw Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr. (August 30, 1944 – January 5, 2004) was an American professional baseball relief pitcher and long-time Major League Baseball (MLB) player, often remembered for coining the phrase "Ya Gotta Believe", which became th ...

on the team's roster after McGraw suffered an elbow injury. He would never start a game in his career, because he was used primarily as a

middle reliever In baseball, a middle reliever or middle relief pitcher, is a relief pitcher who typically pitches during the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings of a standard baseball game. In leagues with no designated hitter, such as in the National League prio ...

. In only three seasons did Brusstar appear in over 50 games in a season, because he was constantly hampered by elbow and shoulder problems. However, he did win a World Series title in 1980 as a member of the Phillies. He played his last game on October 3, 1985.

Transactions

On August 30, 1982, the Chicago White Sox purchased Brusstar from the Phillies. He would end up only pitching ten games for the White Sox. On January 25, 1983, the Chicago White Sox made a trade sending Brusstar and

Steve Trout Steven Russell Trout (born July 30, 1957) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 1980s. He is the son of former MLB pitcher Dizzy Trout. He had the nickname " Rainbow". Career Chic ...

to the Cubs for Scott Fletcher,

Pat Tabler Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball player. After retiring professional baseball, he became a color analyst for the Toronto Blue Jays on the Canadian sports television networks TSN and Sports ...

, Randy Martz, and Dick Tidrow.

Bill Buckner William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red ...

, who also graduated from Napa High School, was a teammate with Brusstar for a year and a half while they played for the Cubs.

Personal

Brusstar's wife Jennifer is the President and Chief Executive of the

Foundation. Brusstar and McGraw were teammates for several years on the Philadelphia Phillies.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brusstar, Warren Major League Baseball pitchers 1952 births Living people Philadelphia Phillies players Chicago White Sox players Chicago Cubs players Rocky Mount Phillies players Peninsula Pilots players Spartanburg Phillies players San Jose Bees players Oklahoma City 89ers players Reading Phillies players Chatham Anglers players Baseball players from Oakland, California People from Napa, California Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Napa Valley Storm baseball players