Michael Richard Waits (born May 15, 1952) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. Waits, who threw left-handed, played all or part of twelve seasons 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 Texas Rangers (1973),

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 ...

(1975–83), and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

(1983–85). Waits served as minor league pitching coordinator for the

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 ...

organizationMariners name Rick Waits Minor League pitching coordinator
/ref> before being named pitching coach for the Mariners under new manager Lloyd McClendon for the 2014 season.

Playing career

Waits was originally drafted by the Washington Senators in the fifth round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his debut on September 17, 1973, pitching one game for the Texas Rangers, who had moved from Washington by then. On June 13, 1975 he was traded to the

with

Jim Bibby James Blair Bibby (October 29, 1944 – February 16, 2010)Morris, Chri"Former Major League pitcher Jim Bibby dies at 65" ''The News & Advance'' (Lynchburg, Virginia), Wednesday, February 17, 2010 was an American Major League Baseball right-han ...

, Jackie Brown and cash for

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year ba ...

. Waits, a starter in his prime, beat 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 o ...

in the final regular season game of , forcing a one-game playoff between the Yankees and

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 ...

for the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

division title. After the Indians-Yankees game ended, news of the Indians' victory was announced on

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

's video screen (The Red Sox had defeated 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 ...

5–0 only moments earlier) with the words "THANK YOU, RICK WAITS, GAME TOMORROW." He was dealt along with Rick Manning from the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

to the Brewers for Gorman Thomas,

Jamie Easterly James Morris Easterly (born February 17, 1953) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in the major leagues for the Atlanta Braves (1974–79), Milwaukee Brewers (1981–83) and Cleveland Indians (1983–87). On June 30, 1 ...

and Ernie Camacho on June 6, 1983.

Coaching career

In , Waits joined the

Rimini Pirates The Rimini Baseball Club is a team that played in Serie A1 Italian Baseball League. The team is based in the city of Rimini and plays its home games at the Stadio dei Pirati since 1973. Rimini has won 13 national championships and three European ...

of the Italian Baseball League, leading them to two championships (1987 and 1988) and a European Cup Championship (1989). He led the league in ERA, serving the last two seasons (1988 and 1989) as a player-manager. He also managed the IBL's Parma Angels. Waits later joined 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 ...

organization, where he worked for fifteen years in various capacities, including a stint as the team's bullpen coach in 2003. Waits was hired by Cory Snyder, manager of the Chinatrust Brothers of Taiwan's CPBL as pitching coach for 2017 season.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Waits, Rick 1952 births Living people American expatriate baseball people in Taiwan American expatriate baseball players in Canada Anderson Senators players Baseball coaches from Georgia (U.S. state) Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Baseball player-managers Cleveland Indians players American expatriate baseball players in Italy Fort Myers Sun Sox players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Milwaukee Brewers players New York Mets coaches Oklahoma City 89ers players Pittsfield Rangers players Pittsfield Senators players Rimini Baseball Club players Seattle Mariners coaches Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players Vancouver Canadians players