Gott was a pitcher with impressive stuff, but not always the greatest consistency. Drafted by the Blue Jays from the St. Louis organization in December 1991, the 22-year-old rookie won a 10-inning complete-game 1-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. In his three seasons in Toronto, Gott was shuttled between the bullpen and the starting rotation.
In 1985 he was traded to San Francisco (for Gary Lavelle) where he learned the split-fingered fastball from manager Roger Craig and was used mainly as a starter. In 1987 Gott went to the Pirates in the late-season deal that sent Rick Reuschel and Don Robinson to the Giants.
In Pittsburgh Gott emerged as the Pirates' late-inning stopper, but missed practically all of 1989 after being injured in the Pirates' opener. When trying to convince people that Dwight Gooden wasn't unhittable, Chili Davis remarked, "He ain't Gott, man."
The Hollywood native signed with Los Angeles as a free agent in December 1989, and spent the next five seasons in the Dodger bullpen before returning to the Pirates for a last hurrah in 1995. Working mainly in middle relief, Gott saved 25 games in 1993, the only season the Dodgers used him as a closer. (TF/JGR)
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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»May 30, 1982: Toronto's Jim Gott beats Jim Palmer and the Orioles, 6–0. Cal Ripken starts his streak of 8243 consecutive innings played which will end in 1987.
»May 12, 1985: Giants pitcher Jim Gott belts two home runs as San Francisco beats St. Louis 5–4 in 10 innings.
»August 6, 1988: Pirates reliever Jim Gott balks three times in the 8th inning to force in the winning run in a 5–3 loss to the Mets.
»May 1, 1990: The Braves Derek Lilliquist homers twice in a 5–2 win over the Mets, becoming the first pitcher to do so since Jim Gott in 1985.
»June 14, 1995: The Dodgers Hideo Nomo strikes out 16 Pirates. Nomo is the 1st pitcher since Dwight Gooden in 1985 to record a 14 K and 16 K game in the same season. Both of Gooden's games came against the Giants' Jim Gott, now a reliever for the Pirates.
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