Michael James LaCoss (born May 30, 1956) is an American former

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Baseball career

Minor Leagues

LaCoss was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of the 1974 amateur draft.

Cincinnati Reds

LaCoss made his major league debut in 1978, appearing in 18 games and recording an

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

of 4.50 LaCoss had a breakout season in 1979 for the division champion Reds, winning eight consecutive decisions at the start on his way to a 9-3 record and a berth on the National League All-Star team. LaCoss entered the game in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs. The American League squad had taken a 6-5 lead in the game and were threatening for more when LaCoss retired Don Baylor on a force play. LaCoss then pitched a scoreless seventh as the NL came back to win with single runs in the eighth and ninth. LaCoss went 5-5 for the remainder of 1979 on his way to a 14-8 record with an

of 3.50. After two seasons with less impressive results, LaCoss was placed on waivers and claimed by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Houston Astros

LaCoss bounced back in 1982, appearing in 41 games, mostly as a reliever and recording a 6-6 record with an ERA of 2.90. LaCoss appeared for two more years for the Astros before being granted free agency on November 8, 1984.

San Francisco Giants

LaCoss pitched a 10-inning complete game shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 16, 1987; as of 2021, he remains the last Giants pitcher to throw more than nine innings in a game. In 1987 he was ninth in the National League with 13 wins. He appeared in the earthquake-marred

1989 World Series The 1989 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1989 season. The 86th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the ...

with the Giants.

Career

An All-Star in 1979, LaCoss posted a 98–103 career record with 783

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 and a 4.02

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. LaCoss recorded two

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 his entire career, in consecutive at-bats in 1986. The first was off Dane Iorg, a utility player who entered the game to pitch for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

near the end of an 18–1 Giants blowout. The next came off

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

ace Tom Browning in the next game.

Personal life

Mike owned and operated Mike LaCoss Enterprises Inc, YESS Foundation, and a website called ibaseballchannel.

References

External links

National League All-Stars Cincinnati Reds players Houston Astros players Kansas City Royals players San Francisco Giants players Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Major League Baseball pitchers 1956 births Living people Baseball players from Glendale, California 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub