Timothy Wayne Belcher (born October 19, 1961) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1987 to 2000 for seven different teams. He was named ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' Rookie Pitcher of the Year in 1988 for the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

. After his playing career, he served as pitching coach for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in 2010 and 2011.

Career

During his 14-year baseball career, Belcher pitched from 1987–2000 for seven different ballclubs: the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

(1987–1991), Cincinnati Reds (1992–1993),

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(1993), Detroit Tigers (1994),

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(1995), Kansas City Royals (1996–1998), and

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

(1999–2000). Belcher played high school baseball at Highland High School and intercollegiate varsity baseball at Mount Vernon Nazarene College in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He was the first draft pick in the

1983 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Compensation picks Other notable players *Bill Swift, 2nd round, 29th overall by the Minnesota Twins, but did not ...

, selected by the Minnesota Twins. However, he refused to sign with the Twins, and instead was selected in the 1984 supplemental draft by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. He was picked up by the Oakland Athletics in the compensation pool. After climbing through the A's system to Triple-A, he was traded to Los Angeles on September 3, 1987, as the "player to be named later" in the

Rick Honeycutt Frederick Wayne Honeycutt (born June 29, 1954) is an American former professional baseball coach and pitcher. Honeycutt pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six different teams over 21 years, from 1977 to 1997. He pitched in 30 post-season ...

transaction. He made his MLB debut on September 6 as a Dodger. Belcher was a member of the 1988 Dodgers team that won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, defeating the Oakland Athletics. Belcher won one game in the World Series after winning twice in the

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Nation ...

. In 1989, he led the National League with 10 complete games and tied (with Roger Clemens, of the American League) for the MLB lead in total shutouts with eight, while placing in the top ten in wins and ERA. His 1989 shutout total has not since been equaled in MLB. However, his stay in Los Angeles proved brief, as he was traded to the Reds in 1991 as a part of the Eric Davis multi-player transaction. He tied a career high with 15 wins for the Reds, but was dealt again, this time to the White Sox in the middle of the 1993 season at the trading deadline. He won Game Four of the American League Championship Series in relief against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. Filing for free agency, he signed with the Tigers for 1994, but led the American League in losses with 15 that strike-shortened year. He returned in 1995 to the Reds on a one-year minor-league contract, but was soon dealt by them a second time, this time in May to the Mariners.

superstar shortstop Derek Jeter got his first major league hit off Belcher in the Kingdome on May 30, 1995. At the end of the regular season, Belcher lost two post-season games, the only two playoff losses he suffered in his career; after Game 2 of the 1995 American League Division Series, he raged in the locker room area and assaulted a cameraman for filming him after giving up a game-winning

home run 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 i ...

to Yankee

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Jim Leyritz. Again becoming a free agent, he signed with the Royals for the 1996 season, spending the next three years with Kansas City and leading the team in wins each season. On June 5, 1999, Belcher was involved in an on-field brawl at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

. At the time a member of the Anaheim Angels, Belcher was involved in an altercation with then-Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park. Park claimed that Belcher had tagged him too hard on the just-concluded play and asked him about the incident. Park accused Belcher of making racist comments before his attack on Belcher. Belcher played his final game on September 30, 2000. He retired in spring training in 2001, his effectiveness gone following a series of injuries. He later served as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations in the

organization, and was the team's major-league pitching coach during the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, Tim 1961 births Living people Albany-Colonie A's players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Anaheim Angels players Baseball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Baseball coaches from Ohio Baseball players from Ohio Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians coaches Detroit Tigers players Edmonton Trappers players Erie SeaWolves players Huntsville Stars players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Royals players Lake Elsinore Storm players Los Angeles Dodgers players Madison Muskies players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars baseball players Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in baseball People from Mount Gilead, Ohio Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Tigers players Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games