Mike Caldwell (baseball)


Ralph Michael "Mike" Caldwell is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher.

Career

Caldwell was drafted in the 12th round of the 1971 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres after graduating from North Carolina State University, where he played college baseball for the Wolfpack. He made his major league debut on September 4, 1971 against the Atlanta Braves. In October 1973, the Padres traded Caldwell to the San Francisco Giants for Willie McCovey and Bernie Williams. Caldwell was traded again in 1976, this time to the St. Louis Cardinals with John D'Acquisto and Dave Rader for Willie Crawford, Vic Harris and John Curtis. Before the start of the 1977 season, Caldwell was traded for the third time, going to the Cincinnati Reds for Pat Darcy. After just 14 games, the Reds traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor leaguers Dick O'Keefe and Garry Pyka.
Caldwell had his best season in 1978 when he went 22–9 with a 2.36 ERA and led the AL in complete games with 23. Caldwell was named the AL Comeback Player of the Year by The Sporting News and finished second in the Cy Young Award balloting to Ron Guidry. Caldwell finished in double figures in victories for six consecutive seasons for the Brewers and won two games in the 1982 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals in a losing effort. Caldwell was given his unconditional release by the Brewers organization in 1985. Caldwell, as of 2019, is still the Brewers' all-time leader in wins by a left-handed pitcher, with 102.
In 1978, he was one of the three left-handed pitchers named "Mike" to hand the New York Yankees' Ron Guidry a loss in his 25–3 season. He and the Brewers shut out the New York Yankees and Guidry 6–0 on July 7,. During his prime years in Milwaukee, Caldwell was known as a "Yankee killer", and proved to be very successful against them. From 1977 to 1982, Caldwell was 12-5 with a 2.66 ERA against the Yankees.