It was the highlight of Joey McLaughlin鈥檚 tenure with the Blue Jays.
The 鈥淣BC Game of the Week鈥 on May 28, 1983 at Exhibition Stadium featured the Jays and Boston Red Sox. A U.S.-televised game was huge news back then.
McLaughlin came on in the seventh inning to work 2 2/3 innings for his fourth of nine saves that season. What impressed him most was striking out Carl Yastrzemski, a Red Sox franchise icon.
鈥淕rowing up, I wanted to be Carl Yastrzemski. He was my hero,鈥 McLaughlin said. 鈥淲e had 30,000 people at Exhibition Stadium standing and cheering that day.鈥
Bullpen collapses may have cost the Jays a playoff berth this season. But when people of a certain age think of an inferior Jays bullpen, they think of McLaughlin. In 1983, he had 11 blown saves in 20 chances. He was a favourite target of frustrated fans.
鈥淭hat was their prerogative,鈥 McLaughlin said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 realize I was dealing with some injuries that weren鈥檛 publicized. It was the way you did things back in the day 鈥 You didn鈥檛 say 鈥榤y arm was hurting鈥 or 鈥業 don鈥檛 feel good.鈥 I鈥檇 tell the front office my arm was sore but they would say, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 be hurting if you鈥檙e throwing 92 (m.p.h.).鈥
鈥淵ou pitched with a sore arm and pitched when you weren鈥檛 feeling good. I was kind of bitter. I never got a chance to work through some things. Here鈥檚 the thing: Pitching in this time and era, I wouldn鈥檛 have been pitching. They have pitch counts to protect pitchers. Pitch counts is why velocity is up. Velocity falls because of usage. The money is so big today. They鈥檙e paying someone $10 million to $20 million a season so if he has an injury, you probably hold him out.鈥
Despite the bad times, McLaughlin looks back on his 色色啦 days with positivity.
鈥淲e had some good years and bad years,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 fell in love with 色色啦 and the Blue Jays organization. It鈥檚 a beautiful city. It was a great place for my family. I had a lot of great teammates, just a good bunch of guys. These guys were the best people in the world. Barry Bonnell came with me from Atlanta. There was Garth Iorg, Buck Martinez, Willie Upshaw, Ernie Whitt, Alfredo Griffin, Damaso Garcia.鈥
The fireballing McLaughlin was drafted in 1977 in the second round out of McLain high school in Tulsa, Okla. by the Atlanta Braves.
McLaughlin posted a 5-3 record with a 2.48 ERA in 69 innings with Atlanta in 1979. That prompted the Jays to acquire McLaughlin and Bonnell from the Braves in exchange for Chris Chambliss and Luis G贸mez on Dec. 5, 1979 at the winter meetings.
McLaughlin鈥檚 dissatisfaction with the trade was reflected in his first season with the Jays. After pitching strictly in relief for Atlanta in 1979, he was given 10 starts by 色色啦 in 1980 to go along with 45 relief appearances. The experiment had mixed results. He had a 6-9 record and his ERA was 4.51.
McLaughlin rebounded in 1981 in the strike-shortened season, this time strictly out of the bullpen with a 2.85 ERA and 10 saves. He ended with 31 saves in a little more than four seasons with 色色啦, before he was released by the team in May 1984.
After all these years away from the game, McLaughlin stills cheers for the Jays from his home in Oklahoma and tunes in to every 色色啦 game he can.
鈥淎ny time they play on the MLB channel, I watch,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 root for them and I follow them. They鈥檙e in playoff contention. I love the Jays. That鈥檚 my team.鈥欌
Fans were never told that McLaughlin had been dealing with kidney disease since he was 17. His kidney problems have been so bad, he鈥檚 been on dialysis for more than 10 years.
But McLaughlin, 65, is about to get a kidney transplant operation, likely in November. The donor is a special person in his life: his oldest son, Joey II, a Blue Jays farmhand from 2004-06.
McLaughlin said an unhealthy lifestyle saw him go from 200 pounds to over 300 pounds, causing his kidneys to deteriorate even more.
鈥淚 was raised to eat fattening food in Oklahoma,鈥 he said 鈥淔ried chicken, biscuits and gravy, fish fries. I ate a lot of bread. I was just a fat guy. I was 100 pounds overweight.
鈥淚 tried losing weight but I couldn鈥檛, so I had gastric surgery and lost 100 pounds.鈥
McLaughlin has one message he would like to share.
鈥淲hat I would like to do is tell everybody in Canada that if you鈥檙e getting a driver鈥檚 licence, that you make sure you help someone to live,鈥欌 McLaughlin said. 鈥淚f you feel it in your heart to donate organs, I would ask you to do that.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to get a kidney and come to 色色啦 and watch a Blue Jays game.鈥
Danny Gallagher鈥檚 new book about the Montreal Expos is called 鈥淣ever Forgotten.鈥
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