Friday, November 19, 2021

#81 Mike Hedlund

Texas native known for flaming red hair....along with freckled skin ....a Cleveland prospect initially....lead the Eastern League in losses in 1968 obscured his 2.30 ERA....also topped the circuit in strikeouts....picked by KC in expansion draft....in a mixed role the Rookie stayed with the big club all season....sported in 3-6 record....a poor start for KC in 1970 demoted Mike to AAA Omaha....downfall may have been the resulted contracting Hong Kong flu while playing winter ball in Venus....healthier and buoyed by a strong bullpen resulted in a career year in 1971....assisted the overachieving Royal to second place in AL with 15 wins....Fourth best ERA too....could not follow up in 1972 and Royals faltered accordingly.....registered 5 wins while losing 7 with surrendering more than two more runs in a game....turned out to be last MLB year....returned to Cleveland for 1973....remained in AAA....flipped to White Sox for 1974 faring no better....trade to Reds resulted in his retirement from baseball...hobbies were hunting, fishing, and automobiles.  




No comments:

Post a Comment