#658 Steve Dunning

Straight out of Stanford U to the Mistake on the Lake…1^st round draft pick in 1970…which turned out to be a mistake too…immediately pressed into service with the big club…winning pitcher in debut and was solid in next two games…subsequent poor outings inflated ERA to low 5’s or high 4’s…Finished season 4-9 and 1971 with 8-14 record...highlight of 1971 was hitting a grand slam and would be the last AL pitcher to do so in more than 37 years…Best season was 1972 where he went to the minors for the first time and was a mid season call up with a 6-4 record and 3.26 ERA….Pretty much went downhill afterwards…A bad start in 1973 prompted the Tribe to send him to Texas…things didn’t get much better, going 2-6 with ERA over 5.00….Spent next two years almost primarily in AAA and changing organizations…Did win American Association pitcher of the year award in 1975…Didn’t translate to for big success…despite appearing 36 games in 1976 Steve drifted through four teams in two years...White Sox, Angels, Expos, Oakland…finished career in 1978 with Hawaii.