Despite his inauspicious debut, Knowles went on to have a 16-season career for eight teams, chiefly the Athletics and Senators. He was a workhouse reliever, averaging 54 games pitched from 1966 through 1979. Overall, he had a record of 66-74 with a 3.12 ERA and 143 saves. He had an impressively bizarre stat line with Washington in 1970: 2-14, 2.07 ERA, and a career-high 27 saves. (Somehow he managed to lead the 70-92 Sens in losses.) In 1973, he set a World Series record by appearing in all seven games for the A's, allowing one unearned run in six and a third innings and picking up two saves. No other pitcher matched that feat until Dodgers reliever Brandon Morrow went seven-for-seven in last year's Fall Classic.
Also worth mentioning: he's the only "Darold" in MLB history.
I've been reading Keith Law and Brian Kenny's books of late, and they both rag on win/loss records. This seems to be a good argument in their favor...
ReplyDeleteRob - I got Keith's book "Smart Baseball" for Christmas. It's on my to-do list.
ReplyDeleteI love how you know this is the only Darold in the MLB. Growing up in DC during his era, I thought that Darold was a normal name.
ReplyDeletevto - I did a quick search on Baseball Reference. There have been three minor league players named Darold, though!
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