Texas Rangers: David Clyde sets example for what owners should avoid

47 years ago today pitcher David Clyde made his MLB debut for the Texas Rangers at the age of 18. His arm still hasn’t recovered.

You remember David Clyde right? The 18-year-old pitching phenom who debuted the same month he was drafted. Sure you do. The Texas Rangers selected him first overall in the 1973 draft and before the ink had dried on his contract he was ushered off to start in the big leagues in an attempt to put fans in seats and make money for the owner.

Interesting concept here. Baseball owners have been crying foul for weeks now, on how little money they make in this business. When they do get their product, uh um, players back on the field, what will they try to recoup some of the lost revenue caused by the pandemic shutdown?

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Clyde was a homegrown Texan. Although he was born in Kansas City, he played his high school ball in Houston and was somewhat of a local legend. As a senior in high school, he was 18-0 with a 0.18 earned run average. He tossed five no-hitters his final year as an amateur and he struck out nearly every pimple-faced, teenaged high schooler he faced, amassing 328 punchouts in just under 150 innings pitched.

Rangers owner Bob Short (who moved the team to Arlington from Washington D.C. as part of another money grab and run) thought he could use a boost in attendance immediately. He knew Texans would come out to see one of their own. And they did.

With a sellout attendance of 35,568, Clyde toed the rubber and labored through five innings, striking out eight, while also walking seven. He left after five innings with his team-leading, and at night end had his first Major League victory, just weeks after graduating from high school.

Were the dollar signs large in the eyes of Bob Short? Why not keep running this kid out to the mound? The team was winning and the boy was putting fans in the seats. What was there to lose?

The strength in Clyde’s left arm, that’s what.

All told Clyde to make 18 starts in his initial summer, with 12 of them coming at home. In five of his last seven, he failed to get past the fourth inning as he ended the year 4-8 with an ERA north of five.

Inconsistency in use led to arm troubles, compounded by a multitude of pitching coaches and managers, and this once-promising pitcher was a washed-up twenty-year-old with a career record of 7-18 by the time his tenure in Texas was over.

Three years from his last appearance in the majors he pitched again at the highest level, with the Cleveland Indians, though by age twenty-four he was out of the game for good.

Unfortunately, the left arm of David Clyde acts as a reminder of what owners should not do, put making money over a player’s health.