Former Phillies Killers Who Later Joined the Phils: Kent Tekulve


As a Philadelphia Phillies fan, you know when a certain baseball player consistently plays well against your team.  It's the guy who gives you a sinking feeling in your stomach whenever he comes to the plate, or takes the mound against the Phils.  We call them “Phillies Killers.” One such Phillies Killer back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, whom I remember giving me agita, was Pirates relief pitcher, Kent Tekulve.

Kent Tekulve Was a Phillies Killer


To set the stage, in the five season from 1976 through 1980, the Phillies won the NL East four times.  The only year another team captured the division championship during that span was 1979, when the Pirates won the World Series. In fact, from 1976 to 1978, the Pirates finished second in the division, right on the tail of the Phillies.  During that time, their late inning relief workhorse was one Kent Tekulve.

Kent Tekulve’s Time with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Telkuve debuted for the Pirates at age 27 on May 20, 1974.  Whereas now, major league teams are reluctant to take a chance on a pitcher over the age of thirty, Tekulve was in his prime at that age. Known as "the Rubberband Man" for his submarine-style of throwing, he posted a 2.85 ERA over his career.  It was 2.68 when Teke was mowing batters down for Pittsburgh.  His lowest ERA came at age 36, at 1.64 over 99 innings.

Pitching at a time before it was fashionable for teams to bring in a specialist, now known as a closer, to shut the opposing team down for the final inning of play, Tekulve was a fireman who logged in multiple innings over his many appearances.  In 1978, Teke pitched in 91 games, for a total of 135 1/3 innings, earning 31 saves.  He repeated that performance in 1979, appearing this time in 94 games, where he pitched 134 1/3 innings, and again earning 31 saves.  He appeared in five of the seven World Series games, earning three saves, which included Game Seven.

Embed from Getty Images 
His winning percentage was .511 lifetime, and .534 with Pittsburgh.  But against the Phillies, it was a whopping .632, as he went 12-7.  His ERA against the Phillies was 2.62, compared to his lifetime ERA of 2.85.  Only three Phillies hit a home run off Tekulve: Mike Schmidt in 1981, and Garry Maddox and Von Hayes, who both hit their home runs in 1984.

Kent Tekulve Becomes a Member of the Philadelphia Phillies

Teke stopped being a Phillies Killer in 1985.  After the 1984 season, he found himself in a public squabble with Pirates' Manager Chuck Tanner over the way he was used during the season.  Pittsburgh traded him to Philadelphia for Al Holland and a minor league prospect.  When he allowed only an infield hit over four innings in his first two appearances, the Phillies made Tekulve their closer for the remainder of the 1985 season.  He posted a 2.99 ERA, and notched 14 saves.

Over the next three seasons, Tekulve served as the set-up man for the 1987 Cy Young Award winner, Steve Bedrosian.  He continued to be a workhorse, logging in 110 innings in 1986, while going 11-5 in relief, for a .688 winning percentage.  Tekulve appeared in 90 games in 1987, posting a respectable 3.09 ERA over 105 innings.  Among the games in which he appeared was one on April 18, 1987 in Pittsburgh.  In the top of the ninth, Mike Schmidt launched a three-run home run, which just so happened to be Schmitty's 500th, and gave the Phillies a lead of 8-6.  Tekulve came in the game in the bottom of the ninth to shut down his former team, retiring Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds and Sid Bream in order for the victory.

Embed from Getty Images 
Teke's last season with the Phillies was 1988.  When the Phillies did not offer Teke a contract for the 1989 season, he entered spring training as a non-roster player for the Reds, and made the major league team.  Disappointed with his performance, Tekulve retired in July of that year.  He later served as a Phillies broadcaster from 1991 through 1997.

Phillies Fans Appreciated Kent Tekulve

Tekulve learned that Phillies fans recognized and appreciated talent, even when that talent played for a division rival.  Tekulve noted that when he made his first appearance in a Phillies uniform at Veterans Stadiums, Phillies fans gave him a standing ovation.  Impressed by the event, Tekulve later stated, "The fans really didn't hate me."

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.






References

Statistics obtained from Baseball-Reference.com.

Constantino, Rocco, 50 Moments That Defined Major League Baseball (Rowman & Littlefield 2016).

Hurte, Bob, "Kent Tekulve," When Pops Led the Family: The 1979 PitttsburghPirates (SABR, 2016), edited by Bill Nowlin and Gregory H. Wolf.

Shenk, Larry, If These Wall Could Talk: Philadelphia Phillies: Stories from the Philadelphia Pillies Dugout, Locker Room, and Press Box (Triumph Books 2014).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hall of Fame Should Reverse the Slight to Dick Allen

Image
Despite a career average of .292, 351 total home runs, 1,119 total RBIs, the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year award, seven All-Star appearances, and the 1972 AL MVP award, during his fifteen years of eligibility of 1982 through 1997, Dick Allen never garnered more than 20% of the vote from the BBWAA for Hall of Fame induction. The oft-cited reason for this has been the character issue. Baseball writers viewed Allen as a divisive figure in the clubhouse. Bill James has accused Allen of “manipulat[ing] racism as an explosive to blow his teams apart.” But far from manipulating racism, Allen was a victim of racism, who was saddled with an undeserved reputation because of his reactions to regrettable treatment by players and fans alike.  Allen broke into the major leagues in Philadelphia, a city Curt Flood described as “[t]he nation’s northernmost southern city.”  Philadelphia was infamous for its treatment of Jackie Robinson when he broke the color barrier in 1947. The Phillies, led b
Read more

Jimmy Rollins: The Best of the Phillies Shortstops

Image
From a certain set of Phillies fans, Jimmy Rollins gets no love.   It’s hard to see why.   Rollins is only the all time Phillies leader in hits (2,306) and doubles (479).   In stolen bases, he’s second only to the legendary Slidin’ Billy Hamilton, whose numbers may be inflated due to how stolen bases were credited in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.   He’s second only to Mike Schmidt in extra base hits and total bases.   In triples, he is third behind Hall of Famers Ed Delahanty and Sherry Magee. Certainly, in a team that has suffered through the likes of Steve Jeltz and Ivan DeJesus, Rollins has been a highlight of the shortstop position. Having grown up in the 1970s, I loved Larry Bowa.   He was a team leader.   In his twelve years with the Phillies, Bowa batted .264 with 1,798 hits and 421 RBIs.   But, in his fifteen years with the Phillies, Rollins edges out Bowa, his mentor, with a .267 average, and 887 RBIs.   Additionally, Rollins’ career fielding
Read more

Dick Allen: Integrating Philadelphia’s Baseball Culture

Image
Much of what has hurt Dick Allen in reaching the Hall of Fame has been his reputation in the press of creating racial divisions on the teams for which he played. This is a reputation that has been perpetuated unfairly. To the contrary, Allen has been caught in a world where American society in general, and baseball in particular, has had to come to grips with racial discrimination. While white America preferred to sweep the problem of racial discrimination under the rug, players such as Allen were outspoken, refusing to let the issue be covered up. It is his outspokenness, when many Americans preferred to turn a blind eye to societal ills, that handicapped Allen’s chances of being inducted into the Hall, and which to this day haunts his candidacy.  Some have called Allen Philadelphia’s Jackie Robinson. And rightly so. Allen’s career was marred by racial discrimination by fans in Philadelphia. His endurance of this mistreatment, while acting as one of the greatest power hitters o
Read more