Mike Myers

Unique in every respect, left-handed submarine pitcher Michael Stanley Myers brought a presence to the mound that exhibited the definition of left-handed specialist. In a 13-year career with nine major-league teams, Myers made his presence known as a one-trick pony with a few more tricks up his sleeve. Myers, the premier LOOGY of the late 1990s and early 2000s, was part of an analytical overhaul of how a bullpen can be utilized.

Born on June 26, 1969, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, to Warren Myers, a high-school math teacher, and Carol Myers. Michael was their second oldest child, his siblings being older brother Gary and younger brother Don.1 Growing up a Cubs fan, he excelled in pitching at Crystal Lake High School, graduating from there in 1987 and pitching at Iowa State University soon thereafter. In 1988, his freshman year, he appeared in 18 games and recorded 46 strikeouts.

In 1989 Myers worked as a starter for the Iowa State Cyclones and was named to the All-Big Eight second team, with 6 wins and a team-high 62 strikeouts. That summer he was named a Cape Cod Baseball League all-star for the Brewster Whitecaps. In 1990 Myers was named to the Big 8 All-Tournament team. In the fourth round of the June amateur draft, Myers was selected by the San Francisco Giants, and soon made his pro debut for the Everett Giants of the short-season low Class-A Northwest League.

Finishing 1990 with a 4-5 record in 14 starts with a 3.90 ERA, Myers moved up to the Class-A Clinton Giants (Midwest League) in 1991, where he accumulated a 5-3 record in 11 games started. In 1992 he split his time Clinton (1.19 ERA in 7 starts) and the High-A California League San Jose Giants (2.30 ERA in 8 starts) before getting a different chance come the winter.

On December 7, 1992, the Florida Marlins took Myers in the Rule 5 draft, and a strong spring training threw him into the Marlins’ projected starting rotation for 1993. The acquisition of pitchers Chris Hammond and Luis Aquino in the last week of spring training hurt Myers’ chances of making the big-league roster, and two days before the season started he was sent down to the Triple-A Edmonton Trappers (Pacific Coast League), starting 27 games with a 7-14 record and a 5.18 ERA. He earned an invite to 1994 spring training.2  

Myers spent all of 1994 in the minors, struggling in his time in Edmonton with a 1-5 record and a 5.55 ERA in 12 games. Demoted to Class-A Brevard County (Florida State League), he fared better in three games with a 0.79 ERA. In 1995 it took a while for him to prove himself in spring training again, but took longer after the players strike in the majors prematurely ended the 1994 season and the beginning of the 1995 season.

Nevertheless, Myers made his major-league debut on Opening Day, April 25, 1995, pitching one inning of scoreless relief in an 8-7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His only other appearance for Florida, another scoreless inning, came in a loss to Atlanta on May 2. He was optioned to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on May 7. In Triple A that year, he had a 5.65 ERA with an 0-5 record in 37 games as a reliever.

When the Marlins traded for Buddy Groom from the Detroit Tigers on August 7, it was for a player to be named later. Two days later, Myers was named as the player. Optioned to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, Myers appeared in six games before being called up to Detroit on August 30, making his Tigers debut against the Chicago White Sox. Myers finished the year as a left-handed specialist for the 60-84 Detroit Tigers, Sparky Anderson’s last year managing in the majors.

Myers improved his pitching after a tip from Tigers broadcaster Al Kaline. After a rough outing against the Minnesota Twins on September 6, Myers’ three Detroit appearances resulted in two-thirds of an inning of work, with 11 batters faced and a 67.50 ERA. Hall of Famer Kaline suggested Myers drop his pitches down and work from a submarine release.3 In a situation where it couldn’t hurt to try, Myers’ remaining eight Detroit appearances resulted in a more respectable 3.18 ERA.

All told, Myers had a 9.11 ERA in 11 appearances with a won-lost record of 1-0. His one decision came in a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Tiger Stadium on September 19. He was the pitcher of record as he worked a scoreless top of the fifth inning in a game the Tigers won 7-4.

Myers’ submarine delivery and situational pitching against lefties gave him great durability throughout his career. Beginning in 1996 and through 2007, he appeared in at least 64 games in each season. In 1996 Myers led both leagues in games pitched with 83, despite pitching only 64⅔ innings. His high number of appearances and 5.01 ERA represented only part of the struggles of the 1996 Tigers, who lost a league-high 109 games.

The 1997 Tigers improved to a more respectable 79-83 record, with Myers leading the American League in games pitched with 88. In 49 of his appearances, he came in with runners on base. Because most of his work was facing lefties, he accrued only 53⅔ innings pitched with a 5.70 ERA. He was 0-4.

On November 20, the Tigers traded Myers, Rick Greene and Santiago Pérez to the Milwaukee Brewers  for right-handed reliever Bryce Florie. The Brewers knew that Myers had struggled in his time in Detroit but hoped that NL hitters would not be used to the submarine motion he employed.

Their hopes were upheld. In 70 games in his first year for the Brewers, Myers dramatically improved his earned run average to 2.70 in 50 innings of work. He was 2-2. Perhaps NL batters adapted to his submarine delivery in 1999; his ERA climbed to 5.23 in 71 appearances and 41⅓ innings. 

On November 17, 1999, the Brewers shipped Myers to the Colorado Rockies for right-handed reliever Curtis Leskanic, and Myers entered the new millennium with his second expansion team. The 2000 season saw an improvement on Myers’ part despite the notoriously hitter-friendly home ballpark, Coors Field.

In 78 games pitched in 2000 (third most in the NL), Myers’ 1.99 ERA in 45⅓ innings was the best to come out of the Rockies bullpen, and his 2.6 bWAR was fifth best on the team, tied with starting pitcher Pedro Astacio and closer José Jiménez. His park-adjusted ERA+ of 294 led the Rockies staff. Myers’ opponent batting average of .160 was a franchise record that was held for 18 years until it was broken by Adam Ottavino with .158 in 2018.4   

Myers continued his durable streak in the league in 2001, pitching in 73 games and posting a 3.60 ERA in 40 innings pitched. On January 7, 2002 the Rockies traded Myers to the Arizona Diamondbacks for catcher JD Closser and outfielder Jack Cust.5

With Arizona Myers saw his appearances go down and ERA go up. Pitching in 69 and 64 games in 2002 and 2003, he had ERAs of 4.38 in ’02, and 5.70 in ’03. Myers made his postseason debut in the 2002 National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, facing two batters in Game Two and four in Game Three, not allowing a run in either game. After the 2003 season Myers became a free agent.

On January 19, 2004, Myers signed a minor-league contract with the Seattle Mariners worth $550,000. He made the major-league roster out of spring training and appeared in 50 games for the Mariners, racking up a 4.88 ERA. On August 6, after the Mariners had placed Myers on waivers, he was claimed by the Boston Red Sox. He appeared in 25 games for the Red Sox with a 4.20 ERA, and finishing the season with a 75 games pitched.7Myers’ time with Boston in 2004 saw him make a return to postseason pitching. He earned a hold in the Red Sox’ Game Two victory over the Los Angeles Angels in the ALDS; he faced one batter and struck him out on four pitches. In Game Three he walked the only batter he faced, José Molina, who scored when Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam off Mike Timlin. This was largely forgotten by the time David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th and the Red Sox headed to the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

Myers made three appearances against the Yankees, with varying success. His worst game, in a 19-8 blowout, was the last Red Sox loss in the 2004 postseason, with Myers pitching the last two innings, allowing 2 earned runs in a 19-8 shellacking. The Red Sox famously overcame the three-games-to-none deficit. Myers pitched in Games Four and Five– in the 11th inning of both games – facing one batter in each, granting an uneventful four-pitch walk to Hideki Matsui in Game Four and striking out Matsui when the Yankees batter led off the 11th.

Though he warmed up in the bullpen several times during Game One of the World Series, he was not called upon to pitch during the Series, but Myers had arrived in Boston in time to be a part of the historic Red Sox playoff run and he earned a World Series ring for his efforts after the Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four games. Asked if he regretted not getting into one of those games, he said, “Absolutely not. … No, because if I did, the scores could have been completely different.”6 Better that Boston won the games than him having to be called upon to help.

Oddly, Myers joined the Cardinals soon after the World Series, signing as a free agent on December 22, 2004, but he was back with Boston when the Red Sox acquired him in a March 29 trade for minor leaguers Carlos De La Cruz and Kevin Ool. Myers had one of his better years in 2005, with a 3.13 ERA in 65 games, with 37⅓ innings pitched, cementing his place as one of the best LOOGYs in the majors. His 749 games pitched up to this point with only 456⅔ innings pitched showed his one-out efficiency.

There was one more playoff appearance. Myers faced one batter in Game Three of the 2005 ALDS against the Chicago White Sox, and walked him. The Red Sox were swept by Chicago, the White Sox ultimately winning the 2005 World Series.

Myers was a free agent once more. On December 16 he decided he would continue his career with the New York Yankees, signing a two-year deal worth $2.4 million.

In 2006 Myers pitched in 62 games for the Yankees, working 30⅔ innings. A 3.23 ERA was a modest success for Myers’ career, and he made sure to make himself worth every dollar. He continued to showcase his durability in the 2007 season, appearing in 55 games (40⅔ innings) as of August 7. Despite a 2.66 ERA, he was designated for assignment on that date, and he signed a deal with the Chicago White Sox on August 20 to finish out the season (17 games, 13⅔ innings pitched, 11.20 ERA). The White Sox released him on October 30.

Myers signed a minor-league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 3, 2008, and was invited to spring training, but was released on April 24. He retired as a player shortly thereafter.

Myers had pitched in 883 games, accumulating 541⅔ innings pitched. He fared much better against left-handers, with righties hitting a much better .301 against him compared with the lefties’ .219 average in 157 more at-bats than right-handers. The epitome of a specialist, he holds the major-league records of 227 appearances with five pitches or fewer, and 503 appearances with 10 pitches or fewer.7

On March 17, 2009, Myers was named a special assistant to Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Association, and continued in the role under Fehr’s successors, Michael Weiner and Tony Clark.8 As a liaison between the union and its members, Myers was still active in the role as of 2023.

Since 2005, Myers, his wife, Robyn, and their children Christian, Daryl, and Laryssa, have resided in Castle Pines, Colorado, near Denver. All three children have followed in their father’s footsteps, with Christian and Daryl both playing high-school and collegiate baseball and Laryssa playing high-school volleyball.9

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 Obituary of Michael Myers’ father, Warren Myers, Arlington Heights (Illinois) Daily Herald, September 3, 2021. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailyherald/name/warren-myers-obituary?id=23837729.

2 Gordon Edes, “Florida Marlins; Fly on the Wall.” The Sporting News, March 29, 1993: 18. Gordon Edes, “Florida Marlins; Shallow Pitching,” The Sporting News, January 10, 1994: 39.

3 Jeff Horrigan, “Red Sox Notebook: Myers Owes Tiger Legend,” Milford (Massachusetts) Daily News, August 8, 2004. https://www.milforddailynews.com/story/sports/2004/08/08/red-sox-notebook-myers-owes/41376611007/.

4 2023 Colorado Rockies Media Guide, 51.

5 Bob Baum, “Diamondbacks Acquire Reliever Myers,” Midland (Michigan) Daily News, January 6, 2002. https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Diamondbacks-Acquire-Reliever-Myers-7074840.php.

6 Marvin Pave, “Glad This Sidearmer on Their Side,” Boston Globe, June 6, 2005: 44.

7 Sean Forman, “Keeping Score: Many Games, Few Innings,” New York Times, April 30, 2010, archive.nytimes.com/bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/many-games-few-innings/.

8 Richard Sandomir, “Ex-Pitcher Helling Is Named Assistant to Fehr,” New York Times, March 18, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/sports/baseball/18helling.html.

9 Lynn Zahorik, “America’s Favorite Pastime Is a Family Affair,” Castle Pines (Colorado) Connection, May 1, 2016, www.castlepinesconnection.com/americas-favorite-pastime-is-a-family-affair/.

18/sports/baseball/18helling.html”>www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/sports/baseball/18helling.html.

^[9] Lynn Zahorik, “America’s Favorite Pastime Is a Family Affair,” Castle Pines (Colorado) Connection, May 1, 2016, www.castlepinesconnection.com/americas-favorite-pastime-is-a-family-affair/.