Books and articles about Lindy McDaniel

Tall, lanky, and durable, McDaniel pitched mostly in relief for 21 ML seasons and retired with 987 appearances, second only to Hoyt Wilhelm in ML history. A righthander with splendid control, McDaniel was rarely overpowering and recorded 20 or more saves in a season only three times, but his quiet consistency was welcome in any bullpen. Off the field McDaniel was deeply religious (he was an ordained minister in the Church of Christ) and in great demand as an off-season speaker, but he avoided preaching to his teammates directly, instead confining his thoughts to a monthly newsletter, "Pitching for The Master."

SHOPPING » Look for Lindy McDaniel books at BN.com » Look for Lindy McDaniel books at Amazon.com Your purchases keep BaseballLibrary.com online. Thank you!

RELATED LINKS Ask The Experts » Who was the last Yankee pitcher to hit a home run? Around the Web » Lou for Lindy? from kansascity.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

McDaniel bypassed the minor leagues completely after signing with the Cardinals in 1955, and in 1957 he was 15-9, 3.49 as a 21-year-old starter. His ERA swelled to a career-worst 5.80 in 1958, however, and he was demoted briefly to the American Association, and in 1959 he became a reliever almost exclusively and led the NL with 15 saves while also winning 13 games in relief. McDaniel led the NL in saves again the following year with 26, and after an October, 1962 trade sent him to the Cubs he led the NL in saves for the third time in five seasons, posting 22 in 1963. He pitched for the Cubs and Giants from 1963 to 1967, but was no longer used to finish games as frequently, and in mid-season 1968 he was traded to the Yankees for Bill Monboquette. McDaniel enjoyed a resurgence with the Yankees in 1970, finishing second in the AL with 29 saves while posting a career-best 2.01 ERA, but by 1974 he had been traded a final time, to the Royals for Lou Piniella and pitcher Ken Wright. When he retired, McDaniel's 172 career saves placed him fourth all-time, but he has since fallen out of the top ten. (SCL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 27, 1956: Thanks to a dropped 3rd strike by C Hobie Landrith, P Jim Davis of the Cubs fans four straight Cardinals in the 6th inning. Wally Moon leads off the inning with a double and then steals 3B. The knuckler then K's Hal Smith and Jackie Brandt. His 3rd strike on Lindy McDaniel eludes Landrith, and the pitcher reaches first while Moon scores. Don Blasingame then strikes out for the 4th strikeout in the inning. Not since Guy Morton, in 1916, has a pitcher fanned four in one inning. But the Cubs still lose, 11–9. The Cards pummel the Cubs in the 2nd game as well, winning 12–2. » April 14, 1959: The Dodgers set a new night-game attendance record when 61,552 fans watch their home opener against the Cards. Lindy McDaniel spoils the party with a 6-hitter and beats Johnny Podres, 6–2. Hal Smith hits a 2-run homer for St. Louis. » May 10, 1959: In the first game of a doubleheader, Cubs reliever Elmer Singleton defeats reliever Lindy McDaniel of the Cardinals 10–9. In the nightcap, McDaniel is the winner and Singleton the loser 8–7. » July 1, 1960: Cards reliever Ernie Broglio is nothing but efficient, tossing a total of two 1/3 innings of relief in two games with the Braves. Ernie wins both. The Cards blow a 7–0 lead in the opener before winning in the 10th, 8–7. They blow a 5–0 lead in the nitecap, but win 7–5. Fellow reliever Lindy McDaniel gets rapped in both games. » August 9, 1960: With fine relief pitching of Lindy McDaniel in the opener and a 5-hitter by Curt Simmons in the nitecap, the Cards sweep the Phils, 5–4 and 6–0. Phillie Tony Taylor ties a major-league record for 2B by going the entire doubleheader (18 innings) without a putout, the first to achieve the feat since Connie Ryan of the Phillies, June 14, 1953. » October 17, 1962: Pitchers Larry Jackson and Lindy McDaniel and C Jimmie Schaffer are traded by St. Louis to the Cubs for P Don Cardwell, OF George Altman, and C Moe Thacker. » June 6, 1963: With the bases loaded and one out in the 12th, Cubs reliever Lindy McDaniel picks Willie Mays off 2B and then strikes out Ed Bailey. McDaniel then hits a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 10th, off reliever Billy Pierce, to win 3–2. It was Lindy's first hit of the season. Chicago moves into a 3-way, first-place tie with St. Louis and San Francisco, its first taste of the lead since May 1958. » July 21, 1963: Jerry Lynch's ML record-tying 14th pinch-hit home run, a 3-run shot off the Cubs Lindy McDaniel in the 9th inning, ties the game, and the Bucs win 6–5 in 14 innings. The Cubs take the opener 5–1. » August 9, 1963: Roger Craig's National League record-tying 18-game losing streak (broken by teammate Craig Anderson) ends thanks to Jim Hickman's 9th-inning grand slam off Lindy McDaniel. New York beats the Cubs 7–3. Craig will be on the wrong end of a shutout nine times this year: only Bugs Raymond (11 in 1908) and Walter Johnson (10 in 1909) have had more shutouts thrown at them in a year. » September 24, 1963: The idle Dodgers clinch their 2nd Los Angeles pennant when Chicago's Lindy McDaniel beats Bob Gibson and the Cards 6–3. » December 2, 1965: P Lindy McDaniel and OF Don Landrum are traded by the Cubs to the Giants for C Randy Hundley and P Bill Hands. » May 6, 1968: In a 10–2 loss to Houston, Giants reliever Lindy McDaniel sets a National League record with his 225th consecutive errorless game. The veteran hurler has handled 108 chances consecutively since June 16, 1964. » July 12, 1968: The Giants trade P Lindy McDaniel to the Yankees for P Bill Monbouquette. » August 23, 1968: Stan Bahnsen outpitches Earl Wilson to give the host Yankees a 2–1 win over Detroit. The two teams then battle for 19 innings, before the 2nd game is suspended by curfew with the score 3–3. The game will be finished tomorrow. In the long tie, Lindy McDaniel retires 21 straight Tiger batters, six on strikeouts. In his last three relief appearances, he has retired 30 batters in a row. » August 25, 1968: The Tigers, ahead 5–0, fail to score with two on in the 4th inning when the Yanks bring in Rocky Colavito. The 35-year-old slugger retires Al Kaline and Willie Horton and tosses two 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. In Rocky's only other appearance, in 1958, he also faced Kaline, and the victory by a non-pitcher will be the last this century. Bill Robinson and Bobby Cox crash successive homers to tie the score and, after a walk, Rocky comes around to score the winning run. In the 8th, Yankees reliever Lindy McDaniel ties the American League record for consecutive batters retired by setting down the first Tiger he faces, giving him 32 straight batters retired over four appearances. New York sweeps, winning 6–5 and then topping Mickey Lolich, 5–4. The four losses in New York leaves the Tigers just five ahead of the Orioles. » July 7, 1970: Brooks Robinson cracks a 10th inning grand slam off New York's Lindy McDaniel to give the Orioles a 6–2 win. » August 23, 1972: Chicago's Dick Allen becomes the 4th ML player (Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, and Alex Johnson are the others) to hit one into the CF bleachers in Comiskey Park when he connects off New York's Lindy McDaniel. The 2-run homer in the 7th ices the 5–2 win for the Sox. In 1972, all the Chicago Wednesday games are in the afternoon, and Harry Caray announces them while sitting in the CF bleachers. Allen's drive misses Caray by just a few rows. » August 4, 1973: In an outstanding relief performance, Yankee Lindy McDaniel comes to the rescue of Fritz Peterson, who exits with a muscle pull in the 2nd inning, and allows just one run in 13 innings to earn a 3–2 victory over the Tigers. Horace Clarke's home run is the game winner. » December 7, 1973: A controversial trade for Kansas City: they get veteran P Lindy McDaniel from the Yankees for OF Lou Piniella and P Ken Wright. » May 31, 1975: The Royals beat the Brewers 7–5 in a game bridging the generation gap. Home run leaders Henry Aaron and Harmon Killebrew are in their 22nd ML seasons and winning pitcher Lindy McDaniel is in his 21st. All three were playing in the majors before Brewers SS Robin Yount was born. » January 3, 1977: The Royals release P Lindy McDaniel, ending his 21-year career. He appeared in 987 games, 2nd only to Hoyt Wilhelm's 1,070.