Terry Adams

“Don’t ever get comfortable, because the game has a way of humbling you.” – Terry Adams1 

A relief pitcher most of his career, Terry Adams won his first and only World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004. Standing 6-feet-3-inches tall and weighing 225 pounds, the fiery right-hander was an imposing presence on the mound.2 In 11 seasons he spent time with many storied franchises including the Chicago Cubs (1995-1999), Los Angeles Dodgers (2000-2001), Philadelphia Phillies (2002-2003 and 2005), Toronto Blue Jays (2004), and Boston Red Sox (2004). He finished his career with the Indianapolis Indians, the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate in the International League (2005-2006).

With the Red Sox in 2004, Adams earned the distinction of being the only Red Sox pitcher on the postseason roster not to play a game in the ALDS, ALCS, or World Series but to earn a ring.

Terry Wayne Adams was born on March 6, 1973, in Mobile, Alabama, to Terry and Peggy Adams. Terry Adams Sr. was a route salesman for a grocery distributor and Peggy worked as an assistant broker for Merrill Lynch. Growing up, young Terry was a fan of the Chicago Cubs. “I would run home from the bus to catch the end of the day games on WGN,” he said. “I loved Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace, and Shawon Dunston.”3 In high school Adams played football, baseball, and basketball at Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes, Alabama. “I excelled in baseball,” Adams said. During his senior season in 1991, Adams hurled his way to a 12-2 record with a 1.17 earned-run average. He was named the Alabama High School Player of the Year and subsequently the Gatorade Player of the Year for the effort.4 “My high-school career was fun,” Adams said. “We finished 10th in the country according to USA Today in 1991.”

High-school senior Adams was selected in the fourth round of the 1991 amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs. His rookie season was spent with the Huntington Cubs of the Appalachian League. His career got off to an inauspicious start: an abysmal 0-9 record with a 5.77 ERA. His record of nine losses was enough to lead the Appalachian League that season.

In 1992 Adams moved up to the Peoria Chiefs of the Class-A Midwest League. In Peoria he looked to improve on his slow start as a rookie and did just that. Through 157 innings pitched, he amassed a 4.41 ERA with 96 strikeouts. He hurled three complete games, one of them a shutout.

Adams’s pitching at Peoria propelled him to the Daytona Cubs of the advanced Class-A Florida State League in 1993. In the first half of the season, he posted a 3-5 record and a 4.97 ERA in 70⅔ innings. Arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder caused him to miss the second half of the 1993 season and he spent time on the disabled list from June 21 to September 21.

After a successful surgery, Adams found himself in the starting rotation for Daytona in 1994. However, after a 1-5 start over his first seven games with a horrendous 6.32 ERA, he was converted to a reliever and finished the season with a 4.38 ERA and seven saves.

In 1995 Adams moved up, beginning the season with the Orlando Cubs of the Double-A Southern League before being moved up again to the Iowa Cubs of the Triple-A American Association. While with Orlando, he appeared in 37 games and put together a respectable 1.43 ERA over 37⅔ innings pitched, recording 19 saves. With Iowa he had five saves in seven games, with a stellar 0.00 ERA.

Adams made his major-league debut with the Cubs on August 10, 1995, in a Wrigley Field doubleheader against the San Diego Padres. Adams pitched two-thirds of an inning and gave up one hit in the first game, which the Cubs lost, 3-2. He was called on again in the second game, pitching one inning, striking out one and walking one in the Cubs’ 12-5 victory.5 Of his debut, Adams said, “I don’t recall how I felt, but I’m sure I was a bundle of nerves. I remember closing the first game and then in the locker room they told me to suit up again, so I ended up finishing both games of a doubleheader.”6 

On August 14, 1995, the Cubs had a historic game as Sammy Sosa hit what was widely reported as the 10,000th home run in Cubs history. Adams got the last three outs of the game to record his first major-league save in the Cubs’ 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.7 Against the Dodgers on September 13, Adams earned his first major-league victory, pitching a scoreless top of the 13th inning in a walk-off 7-6 victory over Los Angeles.8

In 1996, his first full year with the Chicago Cubs, Adams had a banner season. He pitched 101 innings in relief, making him the third Cubs rookie to pitch at least 100 relief innings alongside Willie Hernández (103 in 1977) and Chuck McElroy (101 1/3) in 1991).9 He pitched in 69 games and finished the season with four saves and a 2.94 ERA.

In 1997 Adams pitched in 74 games and had 18 saves in 22 opportunities. In 13 games from April 13 to May 11, he hurled 18⅔ consecutive scoreless innings, the longest streak by a Cubs reliever since Les Lancaster pitched 30⅔ innings in 1989. Adams finished the season with a 2-9 record and a 4.62 ERA.

In 1998 Rod Beck signed as a free agent with the Cubs and became the closer, collecting 51 saves. As as result, Adams’s production fell off; he recorded just one save in 72⅔ innings pitched. He finished the season with a 7-7 record and a 4.33 ERA.

In 1999 Adams rebounded, despite multiple trips to the disabled list, recording 13 saves in 18 tries. Through 65 innings pitched he had 6-3 record and a 4.02 ERA. But after the season the Cubs traded Adams, Chad Ricketts, and minor-league pitcher Brian Stephenson to the Los Angeles Dodgers for right-handed pitcher Ismael Valdéz and second baseman Eric Young Sr. “Giving up Terry Adams was a very tough thing to do because he has a chance to be one of the best relievers in the game,” Cubs GM Ed Lynch lamented. “But in Ismael Valdéz, we’ve got a very consistent performer, and Eric Young is a very exciting player who we think will make a difference for our offense in the leadoff role.”10

In 2000 Adams led the Dodgers pitchers with 66 appearances. He got his first save for the Dodgers in his first appearance of the season, at Montreal on April 3. On May 16, after a three-hit rally by the Cubs at Wrigley Field, he was part of what could have been the largest mass suspension resulting from one brawl in baseball history had it not been for Paul Beeson, baseball’s chief operating officer. Frank Robinson, then baseball’s vice president of on-field operations, handed down suspensions totaling 89 games to 16 players and issued $77,000 in fines for a scuffle between a fan and Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter after Kreuter was struck by the fan, who then stole his cap. Beeston overturned the suspensions of 11 of the 16 players and one of the three coaches involved in the melee. Adams’s suspension of three games was reduced to zero.11 Adams finished the season with a 6-9 record and a 3.52 ERA. In 84⅓ innings pitched he recorded two saves in seven opportunities.

In 2001 Adams began the season in the bullpen before being moved to the starting rotation after injuries sidelined Andy Ashby, Kevin Brown, and Darren Dreifort.12 He did not allow a run in his first six appearances of the season. The streak ended on April 17 when Barry Bonds deposited an Adams pitch into San Francisco Bay for his 500th career home run.13 Adams pitched a career-high 166⅓ innings and finished the season with a 12-8 record. He made 22 starts and led the NL that year in the fewest home runs allowed per nine innings pitched (0.487) and was third in the NL in Fielding Independent Pitching (3.09). His 12 victories were second on the Dodgers team.14

Despite a career year, Adams was released by the Dodgers after the season. The Dodgers said they released him to free up salary space but refused to comment beyond that. However, Adams believed the Dodgers had cost him millions of dollars by spreading rumors about his elbow.15 Whatever the case, Adams signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on January 15, 2002. He said of his time with the Dodgers, “I loved playing for the Dodgers and Jim Tracy and Jim Colburn. They treated me well.” He added, “My number one goal is to stay healthy and prove that I can be effective.”16 

The Phillies signed Adams to an incentive-laden one-year, $2.7 million contract with the option of two additional years totaling $19.5 million. Noting that Adams had made 22 starts in 2001, Phillies GM Ed Wade said, “Our guys have always liked Terry’s arm. They’ve always thought he had the stuff to be a quality closer. The Dodgers, and Terry, struck gold when they moved him into the rotation.”17 Adams was expected to be the third starter in the rotation that year behind Robert Person and Vicente Padilla. However, after posting a 4-7 record and a 5.00 ERA, Adams was replaced in the rotation by Brett Meyers.18 He pitched in 46 games, of which 19 were starts. He finished the season with a 7-9 record and a 4.35 ERA over 136⅔ innings pitched.

In 2003 Adams returned to the Phillies as a set-up man. He led the pitching staff in games pitched with 66. He posted a 1-4 record with a 2.65 ERA, the lowest of his career. He was taken out of the lineup for the remainder of the season on September 12, 2003, with loose bodies in his right elbow. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on September 27, 2003, in Birmingham, Alabama, bringing his season to a close. The Phillies released him on October 27 and he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on January 7, 2004.

The 2004 season was Adams’s first in the American League. With Toronto, he posted a 4-4 record with a 3.98 ERA and three saves before being traded to the Red Sox for Double-A third baseman John Hattig on July 24. At the time of the trade Adams led all Toronto pitchers with 42 appearances. “I had a good feeling I’d be traded by the Blue Jays,” Adams said in his interview with the author. “We weren’t contenders and I had pitched as a closer and in a set-up role mostly. I was excited to be traded to Boston.” Adams said that even though he was excited for the trade he had no idea what his role with the Red Sox would be. “I was fine with whatever role I was given,” he said. “I just wanted to be part of a winner and I was late in my career.”

The Red Sox assumed $1.7 million of Adams’s contract and brought him in to help strengthen the bullpen for the playoff run. Red Sox GM Theo Epstein said, “We’re hurting. We’ve got a lot of guys who have thrown a lot of innings lately.”19 Epstein went on to say, “We’ve been asking a lot of our relievers. You can only ask them to go to the well so many times in July and August if you expect them still to be healthy in September and October.” Manager Terry Francona echoed Epstein’s sentiments, saying, “Adams is a professional reliever who can help so we don’t go through our relievers and hurt them.”20

Adams appeared in 19 games for the Red Sox in 2004. His last appearance was two innings of relief against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, October 3, the last game of the regular season. Adams made the postseason roster for the Red Sox, but did not play in the Division Series, Championship Series, or World Series.21 “Yeah I was on the roster,” Adams said. “I was told prior to the playoffs I would be used as an insurance to any reliever who may get hurt or injured. I traveled with the team and did get a ring. I was proud to do what was asked of me.”

On October 29, just two days after the Red Sox brought Boston its first World Series championship in 86 years, they released Adams. He signed with the Phillies on January 11, 2005. Adams struggled mightily with Philadelphia, posting a 12.83 ERA in 16 appearances. He also pitched in 14 games for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre Red Barons but was released by the Phillies on May 24. In January 2006, he signed a minor-league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians of the International League.22 He made 48 appearances that season and finished with a 4.26 ERA. On October 15, 2006, Adams was released and retired from baseball.

Asked to summarize his career in his own words, Adams said, “I’m very proud of my career. I never expected to be so successful and play so long. I had amazing teammates and played for the best franchises and fan bases.” He lamented missing out on certain aspects of the game, saying, “I wished I would have taken it all in more and played longer. I ran out of gas and my arm just didn’t hold my velocity after my elbow surgery. I wish I could’ve played at a high level for longer.”

After baseball, “Life is different now and sometimes not so easy as baseball was,” Adams said. “When you retire it’s a huge change.” His high school jersey (#21) was retired in 1995 in Semmes, Alabama. Adams was made an honorary sheriff’s deputy and given the key to the city of Mobile, Alabama in1996. He has led a quiet life after baseball. He married his wife Sheila in 2013 and they have two children, Noah age 9 and Anistyn age 7 in 2023.  After retiring from baseball, he has spent time coaching T-ball, coaching pitching, and coaching travel baseball.

In 2023 he was coaching baseball at St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabama; his children attend the school. He said that aside from coaching, his duties as a cheer and dance Dad with his daughter kept him busy. In 2009 Adams was inducted into the Mobile, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, which also includes such names as Hank Aaron, Satchel Paige, Willie McCovey, and Ozzie Smith. Of the honor Adams said, “It’s not just being associated with great players from this area, but some guys who are in Cooperstown, too. I’m very proud to have that association and I’m very honored.”23 Reflecting on his time in baseball he said, “I miss those days. The competition and the clubhouse were fun. I’m glad I was able to be a part of such a great game and brotherhood.”

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, baseballalmanac.com, Stats Crew, and the Terry Adams player file at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thanks to Terry Adams, Sarah Coffin of the Boston Red Sox, and Rachel Wells at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as Greg Fowler, Joe Johnston, Pat Scheller, and Holly Scheller for their support.

Notes 

1 Sapna Pathak, “Twenty Questions with Terry Adams,” https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-102919, accessed September 3, 2023.

2 Several standard online baseball websites provide Adams’s weight as 180 pounds. In an October 2023 email to the author, Adams stated that he never weighed 180 pounds and asked that his weight be given as 225 pounds – which is the same weight cited in the 2004 Red Sox Post-Season Media Guide (p. 31).

3 Terry Adams, email interview with author, September 26, 2023. Unless indicated, all otherwise unattributed quotations from Adams come from this interview.

4 Gatorade Player of the Year: https://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com/winner/terry-adams/20609, accessed September 3, 2023.

5 “Scoreboard,” Galveston Daily News, August 11, 1995: 18.

6 Sapna Pathak, “Twenty Questions with Terry Adams.” The games were actually finished by other pitchers.

7 Bob Nightengale, “Dodgers Run Out of Magic in End,” Los Angeles Times, August 15, 1995: C1.

8 “Chicago Beats Dodgers After Blowing Lead,” Greenwood (South Carolina) Index-Journal, September 14, 1995: 16.

9 MLB.com, Terry Adams statistics: https://www.mlb.com/player/terry-adams-110067.

10 Chuck Johnson, “Dodgers Trade Pricey Pair,” USA Today, December 13, 1999.

11 Jason Reid, “12 Dodgers Get Pardon on Appeal,” Los Angeles Times, June 30, 2000: 1.

12 Rob Maaddi, “Adams Signs With Phillies,” Midland (Texas) Daily News, January 14, 2002. https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Adams-Signs-With-Phillies-7076513.php, accessed September 11, 2023.

13 “This Date in Baseball – Barry Bonds Hits His 500th Home Run,” USA Today, April 16, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/04/16/this-date-in-baseball-barry-bonds-hits-500th-home-run/70119456007/, accessed September 11, 2023.

14 Bill Shaikin, “Adams Joins Phillies’ Rotation,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2002: D9.

15 Bob Brookover, “Adams Bolsters Case – and Stays Angry,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 21, 2002.

16 Brookover.

17 Maaddi.

18 “Phillies, Adams Agree to a One-Year Deal,” Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania), February 10, 2003.

19 Bob Hohler, “Adams Acquired from Jays,” Boston Globe, July 25, 2004: D7.

20  Bob Hohler, “Adams Acquired from Jays,” Boston Globe, July 25, 2004: D7.

21 ESPN Terry Adams gamelog, https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/gamelog/_/id/3318/year/2004/category/pitching, accessed September 11, 2023.

22 “Scoreboard,” Indiana (Pennsylvania) Gazette, January 22, 2006: 24.

23 Paul Cloos, “Terry Adams Honored by Upcoming Mobile Sports Hall of Fame Induction,” Press-Register, (Mobile, Alabama), April 29, 2009. https://www.al.com/press-register-sports/2009/04/terry_adams_honored_by_upcomin.html, accessed October 15, 2023.