And Erik Swanson
Former Blue Jays pitcher Doyle Alexander turns 74 today.
Doyle played with the Jays for four seasons, or, more accurately, two full seasons and two half seasons. As a Jay, he was 46-26 with a 3.56 ERA in 106 games and 103 starts.
The Jays signed him as a free agent on June 21, 1983, about a month after the Yankees released him. When the Yankees let him go, he had a 0-2 record with a 6.35 ERA in 8 games. He was 1-7 the season before with a 6.08 ERA in 16 starts.
He turned things around with the Jays, going 7-8 with a 3.93 ERA 17 games. We finished 4th that season, 9 games back, but at the time we pictured up Doyle, we were just 1.5 out of first, and we kept close until tough August dropped us well back.
In 1984, Doyle had the best season of his career, going 17-6 with a 3.13 ERA in 36 games, 11 complete games. He even got some MVP votes that year. He only struck out 139 batters in 261.2 innings but got the outs when needed.
1985 was the first time we made the playoffs, and Doyle was a big part of the reason we made it. He finished 17-10 with a 3.45 ERA in 36 starts. Again, he didn’t strike many batters out, 142 in 260 innings, but we had a pretty decent defense behind him. We didn’t go far in the playoffs, losing out to the Royals in the ALCS, and Doyle didn’t help, putting up an 8.71 ERA in 2 starts.
We traded Alexander to the Braves in the middle of the 1986 season for Duane Ward. The trade worked out great, but the Braves sent Doyle to the Tigers for John Smoltz a year later. We could have done better. Doyle did help the Tigers beat out the Jays for the AL East crown in 1987, starting 2 of the games in that seven-game-losing streak that ended our season. He went 10.2 innings without getting the decision in the game, which started that losing skid. I’ll never forgive him for that.
Doyle finished his career with a 194-174 record and a 3.74 ERA. He didn’t throw hard; he got by throwing a bunch of different pitches from different arm angles. I always figured Doyle could make a good pitching coach. He played for eight different teams.
He wasn’t exactly a friendly, happy, pleasant fellow, or at least he didn’t seem that way from a distance. Maybe he was warm and friendly with his teammates. He didn’t get any votes when he was on the Hall of Fame ballot, which seems a bit strange to me. Everyone has one writer friend who would write his name on the ballot. But it looks like Doyle didn’t have a friend like that.
Happy Birthday, Doyle.
It is also Brian Simmons’s 51st and Matt DeWitt’s 47th birthday. I’m lumping them together because they were both involved in the infamous Mike Sirotka trade.
DeWitt and David Wells were traded to the White Sox for Simmons, Kevin Beirne, and Sirotka in January 2001. Only Wells and Siroka’s names counted.
As I’m sure you know, Siroka never pitched for the Blue Jays. He was damaged goods (this is why teams do physicals now), but Bud Selig was good friends with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, so we didn’t get any relief. But then, Wells was pretty terrible for the White Sox.
DeWitt pitched in 24 games with the Jays between 2000 and 2001. He pitched in 5 games for the White Sox in 2002, and that was his MLB career. After the 2002 season, he was traded back to the Jays for Mike Williams (who was also part of the Sirotka trade), but neither would play in the majors again.
Simmons was a utility outfielder. He played 55 games for the White Sox in 1999 but didn’t play in the majors. He would play 60 games for us in 2001, hitting .176/.239/.280. After the season, the White Sox grabbed him off us from waivers. After that, he went from team to team but never played in the majors again.
Happy Birthday to both Matt and Brian.
And Erik Swanson turns 31 today.
Swanson (along with Adam Macko) came to us in the Teoscar Hernandez trade with the Mariners.
Swanson was a big part of our bullpen in 2023, with 29 holds in 69 games with a 2.97 ERA.
This year? Well, you know. On May 27, when he was sent out to the minors, he had a 9.20 ERA. Since returning in mid-July, he’s had a 3.21 ERA with batters hitting .192 against him.
I’m hoping next year will be better.
Happy Birthday, Erik