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The Legend of Steve Dalkowski


Tony-OH

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Our Hangout baseball historian drungohazewood brought up Steve Dalkowski in another thread and that got me thinking. I've read a lot about Dalkowski, but I remain fascinated by the entire Dalkowski story. Steve Treder put together a nice article at the Hardball times on the Dalkowski story, but I truly believe this story should be told as a movie or at least a documentary.

Although by no means am I filmmaker, I do have a daughter as Film/TV/editing major at Towson, so maybe one day I can help put something together with her. I just think the Dalkowski story is fascinating and I want to know more about his post career life even though it's pretty apparent it's not a Disney style happy ending.

Maybe this would be a good place for people to post or link information about Dalkowski. I know at the end of the article there are some articles and of course his wikipedia page has some information as well.

Maybe we can put together the most comprehensive collection of information on Dalkowski in this thread?

Let's see what the power of the Hangout can come up with!

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http://www.sportshollywood.com/poorsports13.html

- Former Yankees manager Bob Lemon said the best Dalkowski exploit he saw was in Miami's Bobby Maduro Stadium when Steve hit a guy in the back -- and the guy was outside the playing field, standing in line to buy a hot dog! "The guy came up to me after and asked if I'd autograph the ball," Dalkowski said.

- A batter in Knoxville had to return to the clubhouse and change his pants after a fastball sailed past his head. "I threw so hard I scared the whole town that night," recalled Dalkowski.

- In 1965 with Kennewick, Wash., Dalkowski fanned Rick Monday -- who had just signed a then-record bonus of $104,000 -- four times. Each time Monday fanned, Dalkowski was heard to mutter, "$104,000, my ass."

- "I was awarded a Bronze Star for my actions in Vietnam, but I should have gotten a Silver Star for spending 20 minutes in a batting cage with Steve Dalkowski." http://www.sportshollywood.com/poorsports.html

Some interesting things in this thread on Baseball Fever - http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?1035-Fastest-Fastball/page6

- An interview he gave in 2005 - http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/447168.html

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The Orioles had assigned the on-the-way-down veteran Altobelli to act as mentor and protector to the abundantly talented but-perennially immature Dalkowski, no doubt an exasperating task. Shelton used the Altobelli-Dalkowski relationship as inspiration for his characters Crash Davis (played by Kevin Costner) and "Nuke" LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins) for his iconic baseball film Bull Durham.

Scouts and reporters gathered to buzz about the phenomenon, only to see this explosive arm die in a whimper, fielding a bunt by Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton of all people -- the same Bouton who would later write the classic "Ball Four."

Dalko picked up the bunt, flipped the toss to first . . . and his arm went dead.

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His bb-ref page. Even though most of his leagues didn't track pitcher strikeouts (or they've yet to be incorporated by bb-ref), his numbers are flat-out crazy. As a 19-year-old he walked 245 in 118 innings, while allowing 53 hits. He had a short stint in a Class D league in '58 where he walked 28.8 batters per nine. Apparently in 1960 he had 262 strikeouts and 262 walks in 170 innings. I would love to see some complete lines for him, including Ks, HB and WP.

This paragraph from his wiki page is nuts:

During a game at Kingsport on August 31, 1957, Dalkowski struck out 24 Bluefield hitters in a single minor league game, yet lost 8–4. He had issued 18 walks, hit four batters, and threw six wild pitches. Dalkowski pitched a total of 62 innings in 1957, struck out 121 (averaging 18 strikeouts per game), but won only once because he walked 129 and threw 39 wild pitches.[4] Moving on the Northern League in 1958-59, he threw a one-hitter but lost 9-8 on the strength of 17 walks. In 1957-58, Dalkowski either struck out or walked almost three out of every four batters he faced.
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The pitching coaches he had must of felt terrible that he could never had solved those control problems.

Dalkowski didn't have control problems, he was lucky his pitches landed in the right zip code. I don't think doctors feel that terrible when they can't cure a patient who comes in with addictions to painkillers, herion, LSD, peyote, cannabis, absinthe, whiskey, mushrooms, opium, quaaludes, cocaine, Nyquil, paint thinner, creasote, sudafed, amphetamines, crystal meth, X, and rubber cement fumes. Some guys are just too far gone.

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I have written a book (Beating About the Bushes) describing my 8 year career in the O's organization during the '60's. The longest chapter (31 pages) is on Dalkowski. I was with him in Lewiston, Id and give an account as to what his troubles were that resulted in Cal Ripken releasing him the next day. The book is available on amazon.com and the publisher's website buybooksontheweb.com where an excerpt can be read. Anyone wanting a personalized copy, contact me at tims123@aol.com

Tim Sommer

from the book-

Steve became a shadow during the 1965 spring training camp with no apparent explanation after the excellent statistics in Stockton. His value to the Orioles had substantially diminished becoming someone soon to depart the game. We competed on the mound this spring and he was below average putting him in a failure category for many reasons.

Once the roster was set for Tri-Cities, Steve became advisor since he had played there in 1961 for a team without a hint of talent. There wasn?t a single player to reach the major leagues and the club record was 49-90. One pitcher, John Dewald, had an amazing year in reverse. Dewald was 4-21 with an ERA of 5.15 and Dalkowski followed with 3-12 and an ERA of 8.39. Steve was strangely quiet about this year except for one item. He insisted there would be a woman awaiting his arrival even though there had been a four year separation between the two.

Typically there is a one week gap before games allowing everyone to find apartments and settle within the community. Several of us, including Cal Ripken, found a complex outside Kennewick. Dalkowski found a hole somewhere and only those who gave him rides knew where he lived. But it didn?t matter since he had become very ordinary. His greatest value was sharing important local knowledge which included apartments, restaurants, and bars.

After several days of intense practice under Ripken we were ready to have some fun. The season opener was still two days away but our club had come together as a group due to Ripken?s management skills. Someone suggested going to a club in nearby Richland because it had class and was perfect to further the bonding process. This someone suggesting was Dalkowski since this particular club had been his base camp during the 1961 season.

Every player attended and the party moved to a level that isn?t experienced very often before a season starts. All wanted to swap stories about how we got to this point in our careers producing funny anecdotes. Steve was sitting across from me facing the main entrance. His head tilted to the right and a broad grin developed. When I turned to see what he was looking at, I was amazed at the picture. A woman matching Steve?s ?awaiting woman? description was standing in the door scanning the room. She was wearing a black cocktail dress with a hair style producing a Liz Taylor image.

?Boys, I told you she would come!? With that, Steve stood up and walked toward this beautiful person. There was no kiss, no handshake, no hugs, just a classic joining of arms as they left the building. It didn?t matter to either she was married and provided credibility as to the stories told about this person and his amorous skills.

We were a powerhouse. In addition to the excellent pitching staff there were hitters and sluggers on the team. Six regulars produced an average of 3.4 runs per game and all our pitching performed up to pre season expectations

Power was the prime element for Earl Weaver?s master plan of managing and Rip had such a team. Earl believed one at bat producing a home run would have a multiplying effect if there were men on base. His skills as a manager were how to mold his team into this perfect storm. There had to be excellent leadoff batters reaching base, players willing to sacrifice themselves to move the runner over and then the big blast producing a psychological blow to the opposition. Shut the other team down with the best relief staff possible and the game was won.

Weaver?s managerial ascension through the organization was through intimidation and in Thomasville it was easy to observe his tactics. Since we were housed in barracks connected to a common corridor it was a simple matter to crouch below the windows of the ?Bird?s Nest? able to hear the selection process. Only a few had the nerve since it might be the end of their career being discussed. Cuts typically started at 10 pm, meaning most decision makers had been at the local American Legion before the nightly meeting.

The Nest had unlimited beer and after managers and scouts settled in chaos usually ensued. ?Who the hell wants this guy and why?? Your career was controlled by alcohol and someone willing to stand up to that night?s bully. Earl was the master manipulator molding teams he wanted since most managers yielded during the process. Weaver could also out drink everyone at these meetings.

No one was able to eavesdrop on a nightly basis because of the possibility their name might be next. It was Baltimore?s version of Russian Roullete and we waited for the early morning cut list to be posted next to the cafeteria door. At least you would get a final feeding before packing the suitcase.

Dalkowski immediately became a favorite of the fans but it was hard to understand the love since his record was miserable for the 1961 season. Helping to pull everything together was Cal Ripken. Rip was the perfect fit as far as giving Steve and the Orioles one last chance together. There were only three years separation in age and Cal had been his catcher when Steve?s speed produced stories hard to imagine.

Our club in Kennewick was so poor there was no team bus and transportation for trips around the league was donated cars, the newest being ten years old If a vehicle broke down, the starting pitcher from that night?s game stayed to oversee repairs, hoping to be reimbursed by the front office. This happened to me once in Portland, Oregon and it was two weeks before I saw my out of pocket money return. Fortunately, my landlord was a baseball fan and understanding when I couldn?t come up with rent money on the first of the month.

Ripken encouraged a natural selection process to determine who would be in each car. It allowed friendships to form in small clusters as we rode around the northwest. This was important because we were to be together for long amounts of time on the road, unable to move away from personal conflicts. Each ride would have players dealing with their own personal successes or failures. Our travel wagon was driven by Herm Rathmann who didn?t mind the long stretches at the wheel and also didn?t drink.

One night on the return from Wenatchee to Kennewick, our car radio locked onto the Monitor Sports Network. ?Hi everybody, this is Joe Garagiola and tonight?s fifteen minutes is all about the legendary Steve Dalkowski. We?ll be right back after this commercial message.?

Our first trip to this city had been carefully analyzed by our crew. There was a need to find a tavern having enough frontal parking to allow stopping quickly without anyone noticing and we found one. I think, because of our car?s veteran status, Rip allowed us to be last in the caravan and somewhat invisible.

Two of us jumped from the car and ran into the bar looking for the owner or anyone who could handle our long term request for cold beer on short notice. The bartender turned out to be the owner who worked evenings and found our request to be amusing. We left a large poster with scheduled return dates circled in red. No other tavern could boast what would be happening and we noticed his patronage had increased every time we arrived.

As the season progressed, time away from the highway decreased significantly since we now put three people out of the car. One to locate the beer, one to throw money on the bar, one to impress patrons also extending an invitation for that night?s game. We were in full uniform and over the course of the season we converted many to rooting for the Atoms instead of the local team.

Dalko was between Howie Stethers and me in the back seat well into a case of beer we were hauling in our antique Chevy wagon. The empty bottles were launched out the open rear window by Steve without concern for anyone following.

Garagiola returned to the broadcast. ?Our feature tonight is all about Steve Dalkowski. I don?t expect many to know who this person is but you should understand his importance to professional baseball.? Joe went on to describe many of the legendary happenings attributed to Steve. Most were true and Steve would nod his head in the affirmative between swigs of beer. When something wasn?t true, he became agitated and set the record straight right there in the car.

?I didn?t rip the guy?s ear off, just hit him on the earlobe and there was a lot of blood.? In doing research, I found a description where the ear was torn off and had to be stitched back on. This came using a MSNBC website that posted an article written by some Connecticut sports writer.

He did win a bet in Stockton that he could throw a ball through the outfield fence with no warm up. When I played in Stockton my first year, the evidence was still there in the form of a patch job on the wall. During Joe?s show, Steve provided all the information needed to reverse many of the untruths. The biggest story was given to me by Steve the following year after he was out of baseball and living in Stockton.

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Despite the Orioles' consistent struggles (and nonetheless crossing my fingers that we aren't witnessing a Cubs-like era during my lifetime), I would consider myself extremely fortunate, and could probably "retire" as a baseball fan satisfied, if I ever get to see Dalkowski's second-coming throw a game.

Absolutely amazing story. If it's ever repeated, I just hope it includes a happier ending.

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Despite the Orioles' consistent struggles (and nonetheless crossing my fingers that we aren't witnessing a Cubs-like era during my lifetime), I would consider myself extremely fortunate, and could probably "retire" as a baseball fan satisfied, if I ever get to see Dalkowski's second-coming throw a game.

I'm fairly pleased I got to see a game on the 1998 Mark Wohlers minor league rehab tour when he threw about 2/3rds of an inning, walked three or four batters, and threw three or four wild pitches. Several pitches didn't make it 50 feet, others short-hopped the backstop. He wasn't throwing 100, but it was kind of a faint echo of Dalkowski. Or maybe Steve Blass.

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I'm fairly pleased I got to see a game on the 1998 Mark Wohlers minor league rehab tour when he threw about 2/3rds of an inning, walked three or four batters, and threw three or four wild pitches. Several pitches didn't make it 50 feet, others short-hopped the backstop. He wasn't throwing 100, but it was kind of a faint echo of Dalkowski. Or maybe Steve Blass.

Hah...that must've been something. Whenever I read about Dalkowski, I remember a kid, Mark, who I played ball with from little league through travel. Somehow he was throwing in the low/mid-80's as a 13 year-old, despite the fact that he was kind of short/stocky. Of course, his mechanics were all over the place, and you basically stood in fear of having your head taken off every time you hit against him. And, of course, he burned out way before reaching "Dalkowski" stature (combination of the aforementioned mechanics tearing up his arm, and bad personal habits).

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