[Terry D]

Bill Laskey was one of those pitchers who live on a high wire, a right handed control pitcher who relied on placement and smarts to get by rather than great stuff. Laskey started out in the KC organization and went to the Giants before the 1982 season as part of the price for Vida Blue. He started off hot in his '82 rookie season and even made the All-Star team, but nobly relinquished his spot so that Tommy Lasorda could pick Phil Niekro, who was reportedly about to retire (and actually didn't, of course). Laskey was a regular in the SF rotation for three and a half seasons. He posted a 3.14 ERA in '82, his best season, but even then his K/BB ratio was only just OK, he was striking out less than three men per game, and he was giving up nearly a hit an inning. Pitchers like that don't tend to have long careers in the majors, but Bill seems to have been popular with the fans and he kept grinding out the innings for another two and a half seasons, posting ERAs of 4.19 and 4.33 in '83 and '84 as his K/BB and H/IP ratios deteriorated. 1985 was a dreadful year for the Giants, their worst since coming to SF, but Laskey started off fairly well and was one of the club's few bright spots for much of the year. He didn't win many games for the Giants (5-11) but he was working on a 3.55 ERA when the Giants traded him and Scot Thompson to the Expos for Dan Driessen as part of their policy of acquiring faded first basemen (Al Oliver, David Green, Gary Rajsich, Thompson, Driessen, etc.). The Expos had traded Gary Carter to the Mets over the winter but they were playing surprisingly well and hoped that Laskey might assist them in a title drive. Those hopes were unrealistic and Laskey's ERA was deceptive; his ratios were borderline at the time of the trade and the batters caught up to him in Montreal (0-5, 9.44 ERA). Laskey's career never really recovered. He went back to SF over the winter in a deal for a no-hit outfielder (Alonzo Powell) and a fringe pitcher (George Riley). Roger Craig was looking at a lot of pitchers that year and he gave Laskey a shot. Bill went 1-1 with 1 save and a 4.28 ERA in relief, and the Giants released him after the season. Bill spent '87 in the Tigers system (3.86 ERA at Toledo). After that he was more than ready to join the Cleveland Indians, who spent the mid and late 80s collecting lousy pitchers (Don Schulze, Dickie Noles, Ramon Romero, Jose Roman, Jerry Ujdur, Rich Yett, John Butcher, Ernie Camacho, Bryan Clark, Chris Codiroli, Ken Schrom, a washed-up Jim Kern, a washed-up Neil Allen, a washed-up Tim Stoddard, ad infinitum and nauseam). Laskey fit right in, going 1-0 with 1 save and a 5.18 ERA for the '88 Tribe. After Cleveland released him Laskey hung on for three more seasons in the minors. Bill seems like a good guy and people like him, so I am pleased to say that he is now a successful sports journalist in the SF Bay area where he often teams with Vida Blue, the man he was traded for. I had never seen Laskey in a Cleveland uniform before I spotted him in a 1988 Tribe team photo, which I cropped him out of to create this image. I think the other guy in the shot is John Farrell. I did a little enlarging and sharpening before posting this, and if people want to see the original as well I can put that up here.