Rawlins Jackson "Rawly" Eastwick (born October 24, 1950), 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 professiona ...
relief pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...
, who 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) for the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
,
St. Louis Cardinals,
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 o ...
,
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...
,
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) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...
, and
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
, from to .
Career
Eastwick was born in
Camden, New Jersey
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 20 ...
, and grew up in
Haddonfield, New Jersey
:''Not the fictional Illinois town from the Halloween film series.''
Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593, , where he attended
Haddonfield Memorial High School
Haddonfield Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Haddonfield, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary scho ...
. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of the
1969 amateur draft. In 1973, he made it to the
Indianapolis Indians
The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which opene ...
of the
American Association and made his major league debut in September 1974 with the Reds. He started back at Indianapolis in 1975 but pitched well and was called up for good. In his rookie season, he tied 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 ...
lead in
saves with 22.
In the
1975 World Series
The 1975 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1975 season. The 72nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the Natio ...
against the
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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...
, Eastwick won Games 2 and 3 and also earned a save in Game 5 as the Reds won the series in seven. In Game 6 he gave up a three-run home run to
Bernie Carbo that tied the game, which the Red Sox won in twelve innings. In 1976, Eastwick had his best season, going 11-5 in relief with a 2.06
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...
. He also led the league in saves and won the
NL Fireman of the Year award.
["Rawley Eastwick Biography"](_blank)
. ''baseballlibrary.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-1. The Reds won their second consecutive
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...
title.
Eastwick was dealt to the Cardinals for
at the
trade deadline
In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, ...
on June 15, 1977 as a result of a contract dispute with Reds management. His desire to become a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
by not signing a contract with any team for the remainder of the season precluded him from being sent to the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...
in the
Tom Seaver
George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cinc ...
trade. Eastwick signed a five-year, $1.2 million deal with the Yankees at the
Winter Meetings
Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...
on December 9, 1977. He joined a bullpen which already had
Sparky Lyle,
Dick Tidrow and
Goose Gossage
Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage (born July 5, 1951) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1972 and 1994. He pitched for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New York ...
who had signed for $2.7 million two weeks earlier. Eastwick's time with the Yankees lasted until the day before the trade deadline on June 14, 1978 when he was sent to the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...
for
Jay Johnstone and
Bobby Brown
Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...
.
Eichel, Larry & Livingston, Bill. "The locker-room clearance," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', Thursday, June 15, 1978.
Retrieved October 22, 2020 He spent two seasons with the Phillies, posting a 4.90 ERA in 1979 and was released. He then pitched for the Kansas City Royals in 1980 and the Chicago Cubs in 1981 before retiring.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders
The following is a list of annual leaders in saves in Major League Baseball (MLB), with separate lists for the American League and the National League. The list includes several professional leagues and associations that were never part of MLB.
...
References
External links
Rawly Eastwick
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Rawly Eastwick
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwick, Rawly
1950 births
Living people
Baseball players from Camden, New Jersey
Chicago Cubs players
Cincinnati Reds players
Florida Instructional League Reds players
Gulf Coast Reds players
Haddonfield Memorial High School alumni
Indianapolis Indians players
Kansas City Royals players
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League saves champions
New York Yankees players
Omaha Royals players
People from Haddonfield, New Jersey
People from West Newbury, Massachusetts
Philadelphia Phillies players
Raleigh-Durham Triangles players
Sportspeople from the Delaware Valley
Sportspeople from Essex County, Massachusetts
St. Louis Cardinals players
Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players
Tigres de Aragua players
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
Trois-Rivières Aigles players