April 30, 1977 - Yankees 7, Mariners 2
- Sal Maiorana
- Apr 30, 2017
- 2 min read
NEW YORK – If you’ve never heard of Gary Wheelock, don’t feel bad; neither had I until I began researching for this post. But that’s who started for the Mariners, and predictably, it didn’t go well against the red-hot Yankees who won for the ninth time in their last 10 games.
Wheelock was knocked out in the third inning after facing three batters without retiring a batter. His final line read two-plus innings, five hits, two walks, and six earned runs allowed as he was tagged for solo home runs by Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson, and a two-run triple by Willie Randolph. Munson thus extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Wheelock, originally a sixth-round pick of the Angels in the 1974 draft, enjoyed some success at triple-A Salt Lake City, going 22-14 combined in the 1975 and ’76 seasons, and the Mariners scouts liked what they saw. When the Mariners and Blue Jays met for their expansion draft in 1976, Seattle had the first pick and used it pluck outfielder Ruppert Jones off the Royals’ roster. Toronto used the second pick to draft outfielder Bob Bailor from the Orioles. Both players were mainstays for their franchises in those infancy years. With third pick, the Mariners picked Wheelock from the Angels, and that didn’t work out quite as well.
Interestingly, the highlight of his career probably occurred in his very first start for the Mariners. It came on April 9, 1977, against his former team, the Angels, and Wheelock pitched six solid innings in a 5-1 victory. “I didn’t have a very good spring training that year and I was nervous for my first major league start,” Wheelock recalled. “I remember (Angels manager Norm Sherry) saying, ‘The guy couldn’t get anybody out in the spring and now he comes out and beats us here.”
Wheelock wound up pitching only 20 games in the major leagues, 17 of those starts in Seattle’s inaugural season. He went 6-9 with a 5.40 ERA, and after 1977, pitched only one more major league game – that with Seattle in 1980. Upon retirement in 1983, the Mariners hired him to be their roving pitching instructor, a job he held four years, and he ultimately spent more than three decades coaching in the minor leagues.
So there you go, all you ever needed to know about Gary Wheelock.
Jackson’s home run was the highlight of the day, his first at Yankee Stadium wearing pinstripes. “I’m just glad I finally hit one here,” Jackson said.
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