Saturday, July 31, 2010

1976 Topps #511 - Jamie Easterly

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  • Jamie Easterly pitched in the majors off-and-on from 1974-1987. I had lost track of him when he left the National League in 1980 and I don't remember his AL career at all. Easterly was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1971. He was in the minors for all of the 1971-1973 seasons and most of the 1974 season. Jamie was 9-6 with a 2.54 ERA in 23 starts for AAA Richmond in 1974 and got his first taste of the majors at the end of the 1974 season (0-0, 16.88 ERA in 3 games).
  • Easterly was with the Braves for most of the 1975 season and went 2-9 with a 4.98 ERA in 21 games (13 starts). He was in Richmond for most of the 1976 season. Jamie went 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in four September starts for the Braves in 1976.
  • Jamie stayed with the Braves for the entire 1977 and 1978 seasons. In 1977 Easterly was 2-4 with a 6.14 ERA in 22 games (5 starts) and in 1978 he was 3-6 with a 5.65 ERA in 37 games (6 starts). On June 30, 1978 Easterly gave up Willie McCovey's 500th home run. Jamie was back in Richmond for the first part of the 1979 season and was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA in four appearances for the Braves in May and June. He then was loaned to the Montreal Expos organization and he pitched a 7-inning perfect game for AAA Denver on July 14, 1979.
  • After the 1979 season Easterly was purchased by the Expos. He spent the 1980 season with Denver and was sold to the Milwaukee Brewers in September of 1980.
  • Jamie's best season was probably the 1981 season. He became a full-time reliever and was 3-3 with four saves and a 3.19 ERA in 44 games. Easterly pitched in two games in the ALDS and gave up one run in 1.1 innings.
  • Easterly missed about nine weeks of the 1982 season with an injury. He went 0-2 with two saves and a 4.70 ERA in 28 games and wasn't on the Brewers' postseason roster. 
  • Jamie started the 1983 season with the Brewers and was 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA in 12 games. Easterly was traded with Ernie Camacho and Gorman Thomas to the Cleveland Indians for Rick Manning and Rick Waits on June 6. He went 4-2 with three saves and a 3.63 ERA in 41 games for the Indians to finish the 1983 season.
  • Easterly signed a 2-year $490,000 contract with the Indians before the 1984 season. In 1984 Jamie was 3-1 with two saves and a 3.38 ERA in 26 games (1 start). Easterly was 4-1 with a 3.92 ERA in 50 games (7 starts) in 1985.
  • After the 1985 season Jamie became a free agent and resigned with the Indians for two years and $720,000. He was injured a lot and didn't have much success in those two years. In 1986 Jamie was 0-2 with a 7.64 ERA in 13 games and in 1987 he was 1-1 with a 4.55 ERA in 16 games. The Indians released Easterly after the 1987 season.
  • After his playing career Jamie returned to his hometown of Crockett, Texas. Here is his TTM information.
  • Liked to face: Lee Lacy (.000 in 11 AB); Gary Roenicke (.063 in 16 AB); Ken Griffey (.077 in 13 AB)
  • Hated to face: Cecil Cooper (.571 in 14 AB); Ken Griffey (.550 in 20 AB); Dave Concepcion (.526 in 19 AB)

2 comments:

  1. The Rat! If you had an APBA or Strat game, he was the only pitcher worth anything on the 1985 Indians. Of course, that staff was full of Wardle, Schulze, Creel, and Behenna after they traded Blyleven.

    Don't know why he's "The Rat". Maybe the same reason Ross Grimsley was "Scuzz"? But Easterly could have been nicknamed "Lost Cause". In 285 relief appearances, he had 14 saves, 11 blown saves and 25 holds. So in only 50 of his 285 appearances did he try to hold a lead.

    Yikes!

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  2. Wow -- the Indians staff must have been hurting. That would be a tough strat team to manage.

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