The Story of Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley
Bob Stanley pitched for 13 seasons in the Major Leagues from 1977–1989. Stanley was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers (9th round) in 1973, however after being drafted Stanley and the Dodgers did not work out and could not work out a deal. The next year in 74' Stanley was drafted in the first round (9th overall) by his childhood favorite team the Boston Red Sox. Stanley spent his entire career in Boston. During Stanley’s career he was a very versatile pitcher; starting pitcher, early bullpen guy, closing pitcher earning saves. Stanley said “I had a rubber arm. Back then, you did whatever they told you to do. It was short, long, middle, start — I was just happy to be there.” Bob was a what he called a “sinker baller”, he didn't throw a lot of breaking pitches, Stanley was old school and pitched to contact. In his first MLB season Stanley pitched in 41 games and started in 13 of them. With 3 saves, he showed that he was a versatile pitcher at the start of his career and would continue to pitch wherever his team needed him. In Stanley’s second year in 78' he finished with a record of 15–2 with a 2.60 ERA. He pitched in 52 games but only started in 3 of them. In 1979 he started the most games in a season he ever would in his career with 30 games started, He pitched 216 innings with a 3.99 ERA and a record of 16–12. Bob himself thought that he was a better pitcher when coming in as a relief pitcher. Coming up to the 1982 season he kept his ERA under 4 and would mostly work out of the bullpen. In 1982 Stanley set a record that he still holds today. He holds the record for most innings pitched in a single season out of the bullpen in the American League with 168.1. In the 80’s Stanley would go 5 consecutive seasons not starting a game until 1986 when he had 1 start and then 20 starts in 87'. Bob Stanley was really good at being such a versatile pitcher. Nowadays it is rare to see someone who can and would pitch any time and pitch so many innings out of the bullpen. His old school strategy of pitching to contact and throwing strikes worked well for him. In his 1,707 career innings Bob walked 471 batters. In his versatile career Stanley finished with a 115–97 record, 3.74 ERA, 637 games, 85 games started, 21 complete games, 377 games finished, and 132 saves. This just shows what a versatile career he was. After Stanley retired he took some time to spend with his son who at the age of 9 had a battle with cancer. His son overcame the battle with cancer. Bob eventually would get back into professional baseball by becoming a pitching coach for minor league teams. Stanley had a kind heart; throughout his career and after he would help as much as he could. He would help pitchers develop skill as well as visit sick people in hospitals, whenever asked he would always say yes. Bob Stanley is not someone people remembered from this era of the Red Sox. Bob played with people like Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans and many more. Stanley played a key role as he was a go to pitcher. He was someone who as a manager you could call on him in any situation and he was ready to go perform at his best. Check out a cool interview with Bob Stanley done by Budd Bailey here: https://www.buffalosportspage.com/the-interview-the-bisons-bob-stanley/
Every other Wednesday I will be posting a random former MLB player story. I have a collection of cards and will be randomly picking a card and whichever player I pick I will write about no matter how well or poor they played in their career.
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Bailey, Budd. “THE INTERVIEW: THE BISONS’ BOB STANLEY.” Https://Www.buffalosportspage.com/, 20 June 2018, www.buffalosportspage.com/the-interview-the-bisons-bob-stanley/.
