He tried to right the ship in the minors, but nothing worked; even minor-league hitters were lighting him up. The last straw came in when after issuing six walks in two games, Wohlers was traded to the Reds where he was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. His symptoms were an example of Steve Blass Syndrome, named for the Pirates pitcher from the '70s who experienced similar troubles.
Wohlers also had Tommy John surgery during that time and again in with Cleveland. Instead of returning to action, however, he opted to walk away, never officially announcing his retirement. Wohlers now owns a real estate business in the upper Atlanta area. At the end of August, the Braves had first place all to themselves — but by only one game over the Dodgers. In the game of Sunday, September 1, at Philadelphia, Wohlers was brought in to start the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game and got through unscathed.
Atlanta failed to score in the top of the 10th, but in the bottom of the inning, leadoff batter John Morris hit a long home run to deep center field to give the Phillies a walk-off win. Avery had allowed two singles leading off the inning, and after Wohlers retired Marquis Grissom on a groundout, he gave up two doubles and a single to surrender the lead.
He then retired Tony Gwynn to preserve the shutout and what turned out to be the first combined no-hitter more than one pitcher in National League history.
From this point on, the Braves won 15 and lost eight, including winning eight of their last nine games. They moved into first place for good on October 2 and held on to finish a game in front of the Dodgers, to claim the NL West Division title. Tom Glavine started Game One, but left the game after the sixth inning, behind Wohlers came in to pitch a scoreless seventh, but the Bucs added another run off Mike Stanton in the eighth and held on for a victory.
Wohlers pitched again back home in Atlanta in Game Three, giving up a hit and a walk and recording a strikeout in the eighth inning of an eventual Braves victory. In Game Four, Wohlers relieved Kent Mercker in the 10th inning of a tie, and the first batter he faced, Mike LaValliere , stroked an 0-and-2 pitch into center field to drive in what would prove to be the winning run for the Pirates. The Braves eventually won the Series four games to three, though, sending the team to its first World Series since it relocated from Milwaukee in He held the Twins in check with a scoreless seventh inning, but a Braves rally failed, with a final score.
Many consider the World Series the best ever, with six of the seven games being decided by one run and the Twins taking the deciding Game Seven by a score in 10 innings. Wohlers bounced between Richmond and the big-league club for the next two seasons, while learning to harness his control and take command of his fastball.
In he became an important cog in the bullpen after his second call-up from Richmond in late August, going 14 straight games without allowing an earned run. In Wohlers spent the first two months of the season in Richmond, where he fashioned a 1. After being recalled on June 4, he spent the rest of the season in Atlanta, appearing in 46 games and compiling a won-lost record.
The stoppage wiped out the rest of the season, and put an end to a successful season for Wohlers. He had surrendered only one home run in 51 innings, and had begun the season with five consecutive wins, the best start by a reliever in Atlanta franchise history.
He ended the season by striking out 40 batters in his last 36 innings. During the season, Wohlers was also busy with community activities, by helping the Braves Club raise funds to construct a baseball field at the Devereux Center campus in nearby Kennesaw, Georgia. The Devereux Center is designed to help support the needs of youth with emotional and behavioral challenges.
At the field dedication, the Devereux students divided into two teams, with Wohlers pitching for each side. The students fared better than their major-league counterparts, as every single participant registered at least one hit off Wohlers before the game ended.
His job was to arrive at 7 A. I never took anything for granted. I never thought because I played baseball I was better than anyone else. Nobody has documented exactly when Wohlers first threw a pitch over mph in a major-league game,but there seems no doubt that he did it.
There are numerous reports that he hit on the radar gun during a spring-training game against the Marlins in , and it was possible that this was the fastest pitch until Joel Zumaya of the Tigers threw a Spring training started late in , and so did Opening Day, due to the player strike not being settled until April 2.
An abbreviated game schedule was started on April From that point on, he finished the year with 25 saves, while McMichael and Stanton each added one. WAR 3. ERA 3. Games Played This includes all times that the player appeared on the lineup card. Pitchers in non-DH games that appeared on the lineup card but didn't bat will still have a game in this column.
IP WHIP 1. Pitching Career Batting Career Pitching Postseason Batting Postseason Fielding Postseason. Standard Pitching Show Minors. Sign up for the free Stathead newsletter and get scores, news and notes in your inbox every day.
View a sample email. It's also available for football, basketball and hockey. Sign Up For Free. He went on to record 97 saves over the next three seasons, also saving the victory in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series , establishing himself as one of the best closers in the majors.
Wohlers' success would not last forever. After this, the momentum of the Series shifted and the Yankees won it in six games. Many observe that Wohlers was never the same after that. In , he seemed to lose all ability to control his pitches.
He spent part of the season at Triple-A Richmond , but still finished the season with a major league earned run average of His control problems were dramatic. His symptoms were a prime example of what is commonly known as Steve Blass disease - a psychological block which manifests itself when baseball players overthink the act of throwing a baseball and consequently become unable to throw with any sort of control.
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