1976 Topps #559 - Clyde Wright

• Clyde Wright's major league career was over when this card came out. He was cut by the Rangers at the end of spring training in 1976.
• Clyde Wright was drafted by the California Angels in 1965. Before he was drafted, Clyde pitched Carson-Newman College to the 1965 NAIA World Series Championship and struck out 22 batters in one game during that series. He was more than a match for his class A opponents in 1965 as he went 7-2 with a 1.99 ERA in ten starts. 
• Clyde was 9-0 in AA El Paso in 1966 when he was brought up to the Angels in mid-June. Wright pitched in 20 games (13 starts) and was 4-7 with a 3.74 ERA for the Angels.
• Wright started the 1967 season in AAA and came up to the Angels in early June. Clyde pitched in 20 games (11 starts) and was 5-5 with a 3.26 ERA.
• Clyde was a swingman in 1968. He pitched in 41 games, 13 of them starts. Wright went 10-6 with three saves and a 3.94 ERA (which was pretty high for a season with so much pitching). Clyde slipped to a 1-8 record with a 4.10 ERA in 1969.
• Wright had his biggest season in 1970. He made the AL All Star team and took the loss as he allowed Pete Rose's winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Clyde went 22-12 with a 2.83 ERA in 39 starts and finished 6th in AL Cy Young Award voting. Wright pitched a no-hitter on July 3. He was the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 1970.
• Clyde had another good year in 1971 (16-17, 2.99 ERA in 37 starts). Wright went 18-11 with a 2.98 ERA in 35 starts in 1972.
• Wright slipped in 1973 and went 11-19 with a 3.68 ERA in 36 starts. After the 1973 season Clyde was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a nine-player deal.
• Clyde spent one season (1974) in Milwaukee and went 9-20 with a 4.42 ERA in 32 starts. After the 1974 season Wright was traded to the Texas Rangers for Pete Broberg.
• Wright went 4-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 25 games (14 starts) in 1975. After his release from the Rangers in 1976 Clyde went to Japan and pitched for the Yomuri Giants for three seasons (1976-1978). Clyde Wright - Remembering Japanese Baseball (Robert K. Fitts, 2005)
• After he returned from Japan in 1979 Clyde was afraid he had become an alcoholic. He later told the Los Angeles Times that his wife had given him an ultimatum in 1979 that he should stop drinking or she would  leave. One time when his wife came home Clyde tried to open the car door to let his three-year-old son Jaret out. Jaret locked the door and wouldn't let Clyde in. He said that that was the last day he had a drink.
• Jaret Wright later became a major league pitcher. Clyde has run a baseball school in Anaheim for 30 years.
• Liked to face: Bobby Knoop/Rich Reese (.000 in 15 AB); Phil Roof (.071 in 28 AB)
• Hated to face: Jim Fregosi (.500 in 14 AB); Reggie Smith (.471 in 34 AB); Frank Howard (.450 with 6 HR in 40 AB)

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