Steve Renko, Jr. (born December 10, 1944) is a former American right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

(1969–1976),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(1976–1977),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

(1977),

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

(1978),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1979–1980),

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

(1981–1982) and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

(1983).

Career

Renko attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, where he played baseball,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

.and

Track and Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame
/ref> Renko was a 24-year-old minor league pitcher for the New York Mets when he was traded to the Montreal Expos in 1969. It was the Expos' inaugural year in Major League Baseball, and the Mets became the 1969 World Series champions. Renko pitched for the Expos during their first seven seasons (1969-1975), leading the team in wins in 1973 with 15 victories. Renko ranks in the top five of all Expos pitchers with 68 career victories. He helped the Angels win the 1982

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

Western Division with a win/loss of 11-6. He was a 15-game winner in 1971 and 1973. He led the National League in earned runs allowed (115) in 1971. He led the National League in wild pitches (19) in 1974. He ranks 99th on the career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s allowed List (248). In 15 seasons, he had a 134-146 win-loss record, 451 games, 365 games started, 57 complete games, 9 shutouts, 36 games finished, 6 saves, 2,494 innings pitched, 2,438 hits allowed, 1,233 runs allowed, 1,107 earned runs allowed, 248 home runs allowed, 1,010 walks allowed, 1,455

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s, 22 hit batsmen, 73 wild pitches, 10,704 batters faced, 86 intentional walks, 4 balks, and a 3.99 earned run average. In 1979, he carried a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

into the ninth inning against the Oakland A's in Oakland, only to be broken up by a

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (December 25, 1958 – December 20, 2024), nicknamed "Man of Steal", was an American professional baseball left fielder who played 25 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, inc ...

double with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Renko pitched 3 career one-hitters. As a hitter, Renko was above average for a pitcher, posting a .215 batting average (114-for-531) with 44 runs, 6

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 42 RBI, 3 stolen bases, and 25 bases on balls.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renko, Steve 1944 births Living people Baseball players from Kansas City, Kansas American expatriate baseball players in Canada Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Expos players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Oakland Athletics players Boston Red Sox players California Angels players Kansas City Royals players Kansas Jayhawks baseball players Auburn Mets players Williamsport Mets players Memphis Blues players Jacksonville Suns players Tidewater Tides players Kansas Jayhawks football players Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players American football quarterbacks Players of American football from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen