GaryMrMets
01-02-2002, 11:40 AM
MLB .com has been running these articles at their site, so, I thought it would be nice to post them here.
http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nym/news/nym_news_story.jsp?article_id=nym_20011224_greatmo ments8_zachary_news&team_id=nym
News
12/24/2001 11:08 am ET
Â* Â* Â* Â*
Where are they now -- Pat Zachary
Acquired for Seaver, pitcher now admits he wasn't ready for New York
By Kevin T. Czerwinski
mets.com
Pat Zachary had the talent to excel with the New York Mets. But age, circumstances and ultimately injuries prevented the gangly right hander from fully realizing his potential during his nearly six-year stay in Queens.
Zachary joined the Mets on June 15, 1977, a date etched in team history. It was the day Tom Seaver was traded to Cincinnati; the day Zachary, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman became part of New York baseball lore. For Zachary, though, the pressure of the deal proved to be greater than that felt by any of the others involved.
He was the only pitcher New York got back in the deal. Therefore, the expectations placed on him to replace "The Franchise" were great. Considering he shared the National League Rookie of the Year Award with San Diego's Butch Metzger in 1976, some felt those expectations were reasonable. Zachary, in retrospect, was not among them.
"I certainly felt more pressure because of that deal," Zachary said. "The baseball was hard enough with just having to worry about playing ball. But being traded for Tom, having to leave a baseball family that I had been with for six or seven years and then having to come to and live in a new city; all things being equal I was in way over my head at the time.
"I don't guess I ever fully adapted. If I had adapted better, I probably would have done better. At the same time, I think it was the kind of thing that only age and experience could help you with. I don't mean to sound vague. I had heard all these horror stories about New York. I'm going to be 50 years old and I go there now and have a blast. But 25 years ago maybe I wasn't mature enough. I think it could have been different if I were 29 or 30 [at the time of the trade] instead of 25."
It didn't help, either, that the Mets of the late Seventies weren't a very good team. Zachary was coming off a splendid rookie year and even pitched in the 1976 World Series, helping the Reds sweep the Yankees. He started in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium and picked up the victory.
"It was awfully tough after playing with the Reds," Zachary said. "Pitching in the World Series was the ultimate. You have 60,000 people yelling against you. That was a blast, it was a boyhood dream come true.
"I thought with my youth and the year that I had, I would never be traded. Looking back, it was a shock because I spent so much time in the minors with the Reds. You know in the back recesses of your mind, a trade can happen at any time. But you never think it can happen to you."
But after going 14-7 in '76, Zachary got off to a slow start the following year. He was 3-7 in 12 starts with Cincy before the deal with the Mets. After initially struggling in New York, Zachary got hot, finishing up the year with a 7-6 mark for the Mets. He went 5-1 in his final eight starts, posting a 2.64 ERA over that stretch.
Zachary started hot in '78. He was 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA on his way to a 10-3 record at the All-Star break. He was the only Met chosen for the Mid-Summer Classic. Zachary, it appeared was headed for a 20-win season.
But on July 24th his year came to a crashing halt. Zachary was facing the Reds in a sold out series at Shea Stadium. Pete Rose was in the midst of his 44-game hitting streak and the New York fans were anxious to see if Zachary and the Mets could shut him down. Zachary kept Rose off base the first three times he came to the plate but in the seventh inning, Rose singled to left.
With the hit, Rose tied Tommy Holmes's National League record at 37 consecutive games. It also sparked a rally that snapped a 2-2 tie. Zachary never made it out of the inning. When he reached the dugout, he kicked the step out of frustration, fracturing his left foot and effectively ending his season.
Zachary began 1979 where he left off in '78 -- pitching well. He was 5-1 with a 3.59 ERA after seven starts. But he felt pain in his arm on June 10 and that proved to be his last outing of the year. Surgery would end his season and Zachary could take little solace in the fact that he was 22-13 since joining the Mets two years earlier.
"I liked playing for Joe Torre," Zachary said. "He just gave me the ball and said go out, do your best and just pitch. He didn't bother me. He didn't care what I looked like. Having Rube Walker around as a pitching coach was great, too. We used to just sit and talk. Eventually we got around to saying important things. That's how most people worked stuff out with Rube. I liked both of them a lot."
Zachary pitched three more years for New York, including his first injury-free season with the Mets in 1981. But he never matched the success he had over the course of the first two and a half years. Oh, he had his moments, such as winning NL pitcher of the month honors in July of 1980.
He was traded to the Dodgers on Dec. 28, 1982 for Jorge Orta. Ironically, Seaver returned to New York the following season and took Zachary's spot in the rotation. Zachary pitched two seasons with Los Angeles, working almost exclusively out of the pen. He was 6-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 40 games in 1983. His career ended in 1985 after pitching 10 games with Philadelphia.
"When I left the Mets I was glad to be going to a pennant contending club again," Zachary said. "One of the things that was a shock to going to the Mets when I did was that Shea Stadium was real ugly at that time. They had that blue and orange tin roofing hanging all over the stadium. I got used to the noise from the jets [at nearby LaGuardia Airport] but I never got used to the dirtiness. It was a depressing place back then.
"I went to Los Angeles and you could walk into Dodger Stadium at noon and eat off the concrete floor. It was bright and colorful and it was a nice atmosphere. And being in a winning atmosphere on a daily basis was nice."
Zachary was released by the Phillies in 1985 and that, he said, made him angry. He was in the best condition of his career but couldn't find a team that wanted him on a Major League roster.
"I couldn't find anything open," Zachary said. "I couldn't find anything more than a Double-A pitching job and I didn't want to go to the minors after 10 years in the Majors. So I went to winter ball in Puerto Rico and when I came back to Texas, I still couldn't find anything. So I said the heck with it and opened a batting cage."
Zachary eventually hooked up as a minor league pitching coach in the Dodgers system, staying with Los Angeles for several years. Now, he's a teacher in an elementary school in Waco, Texas. He and his wife Sharron (they've been married 24 years) have two children. Zachary's daughter Meredith is a junior in high school while his son, Joshua, is a sophomore at Baylor, where he saw time as the quarterback on the football team.
It's all a long way from being part of one the biggest trades in baseball history.
Kevin Czerwinski is the site reporter for mets.com.
http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nym/news/nym_news_story.jsp?article_id=nym_20011224_greatmo ments8_zachary_news&team_id=nym
News
12/24/2001 11:08 am ET
Â* Â* Â* Â*
Where are they now -- Pat Zachary
Acquired for Seaver, pitcher now admits he wasn't ready for New York
By Kevin T. Czerwinski
mets.com
Pat Zachary had the talent to excel with the New York Mets. But age, circumstances and ultimately injuries prevented the gangly right hander from fully realizing his potential during his nearly six-year stay in Queens.
Zachary joined the Mets on June 15, 1977, a date etched in team history. It was the day Tom Seaver was traded to Cincinnati; the day Zachary, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman became part of New York baseball lore. For Zachary, though, the pressure of the deal proved to be greater than that felt by any of the others involved.
He was the only pitcher New York got back in the deal. Therefore, the expectations placed on him to replace "The Franchise" were great. Considering he shared the National League Rookie of the Year Award with San Diego's Butch Metzger in 1976, some felt those expectations were reasonable. Zachary, in retrospect, was not among them.
"I certainly felt more pressure because of that deal," Zachary said. "The baseball was hard enough with just having to worry about playing ball. But being traded for Tom, having to leave a baseball family that I had been with for six or seven years and then having to come to and live in a new city; all things being equal I was in way over my head at the time.
"I don't guess I ever fully adapted. If I had adapted better, I probably would have done better. At the same time, I think it was the kind of thing that only age and experience could help you with. I don't mean to sound vague. I had heard all these horror stories about New York. I'm going to be 50 years old and I go there now and have a blast. But 25 years ago maybe I wasn't mature enough. I think it could have been different if I were 29 or 30 [at the time of the trade] instead of 25."
It didn't help, either, that the Mets of the late Seventies weren't a very good team. Zachary was coming off a splendid rookie year and even pitched in the 1976 World Series, helping the Reds sweep the Yankees. He started in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium and picked up the victory.
"It was awfully tough after playing with the Reds," Zachary said. "Pitching in the World Series was the ultimate. You have 60,000 people yelling against you. That was a blast, it was a boyhood dream come true.
"I thought with my youth and the year that I had, I would never be traded. Looking back, it was a shock because I spent so much time in the minors with the Reds. You know in the back recesses of your mind, a trade can happen at any time. But you never think it can happen to you."
But after going 14-7 in '76, Zachary got off to a slow start the following year. He was 3-7 in 12 starts with Cincy before the deal with the Mets. After initially struggling in New York, Zachary got hot, finishing up the year with a 7-6 mark for the Mets. He went 5-1 in his final eight starts, posting a 2.64 ERA over that stretch.
Zachary started hot in '78. He was 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA on his way to a 10-3 record at the All-Star break. He was the only Met chosen for the Mid-Summer Classic. Zachary, it appeared was headed for a 20-win season.
But on July 24th his year came to a crashing halt. Zachary was facing the Reds in a sold out series at Shea Stadium. Pete Rose was in the midst of his 44-game hitting streak and the New York fans were anxious to see if Zachary and the Mets could shut him down. Zachary kept Rose off base the first three times he came to the plate but in the seventh inning, Rose singled to left.
With the hit, Rose tied Tommy Holmes's National League record at 37 consecutive games. It also sparked a rally that snapped a 2-2 tie. Zachary never made it out of the inning. When he reached the dugout, he kicked the step out of frustration, fracturing his left foot and effectively ending his season.
Zachary began 1979 where he left off in '78 -- pitching well. He was 5-1 with a 3.59 ERA after seven starts. But he felt pain in his arm on June 10 and that proved to be his last outing of the year. Surgery would end his season and Zachary could take little solace in the fact that he was 22-13 since joining the Mets two years earlier.
"I liked playing for Joe Torre," Zachary said. "He just gave me the ball and said go out, do your best and just pitch. He didn't bother me. He didn't care what I looked like. Having Rube Walker around as a pitching coach was great, too. We used to just sit and talk. Eventually we got around to saying important things. That's how most people worked stuff out with Rube. I liked both of them a lot."
Zachary pitched three more years for New York, including his first injury-free season with the Mets in 1981. But he never matched the success he had over the course of the first two and a half years. Oh, he had his moments, such as winning NL pitcher of the month honors in July of 1980.
He was traded to the Dodgers on Dec. 28, 1982 for Jorge Orta. Ironically, Seaver returned to New York the following season and took Zachary's spot in the rotation. Zachary pitched two seasons with Los Angeles, working almost exclusively out of the pen. He was 6-1 with a 2.49 ERA in 40 games in 1983. His career ended in 1985 after pitching 10 games with Philadelphia.
"When I left the Mets I was glad to be going to a pennant contending club again," Zachary said. "One of the things that was a shock to going to the Mets when I did was that Shea Stadium was real ugly at that time. They had that blue and orange tin roofing hanging all over the stadium. I got used to the noise from the jets [at nearby LaGuardia Airport] but I never got used to the dirtiness. It was a depressing place back then.
"I went to Los Angeles and you could walk into Dodger Stadium at noon and eat off the concrete floor. It was bright and colorful and it was a nice atmosphere. And being in a winning atmosphere on a daily basis was nice."
Zachary was released by the Phillies in 1985 and that, he said, made him angry. He was in the best condition of his career but couldn't find a team that wanted him on a Major League roster.
"I couldn't find anything open," Zachary said. "I couldn't find anything more than a Double-A pitching job and I didn't want to go to the minors after 10 years in the Majors. So I went to winter ball in Puerto Rico and when I came back to Texas, I still couldn't find anything. So I said the heck with it and opened a batting cage."
Zachary eventually hooked up as a minor league pitching coach in the Dodgers system, staying with Los Angeles for several years. Now, he's a teacher in an elementary school in Waco, Texas. He and his wife Sharron (they've been married 24 years) have two children. Zachary's daughter Meredith is a junior in high school while his son, Joshua, is a sophomore at Baylor, where he saw time as the quarterback on the football team.
It's all a long way from being part of one the biggest trades in baseball history.
Kevin Czerwinski is the site reporter for mets.com.