Scott McGregor

From 1979 through 1984, Scott McGregor’s six-year winning percentage of .650 was the majors’ best.1 Characterized by his strong Christian faith and constant changing of speeds with his pitches, the lefty had great success over parts of 13 seasons (1976-1988) with the Baltimore Orioles. McGregor was an All-Star, a 20-game winner, and pitched clinching games in both the 1979 ALCS and 1983 World Series.

Scott Houston McGregor was born on January 18, 1954, in Inglewood, California, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. His parents, John and Frances (Smith) McGregor, previously had another son, Bob, and later welcomed daughter, Jeanne. After coming to the United States from Kirriemuir, Scotland as a child, John had played high school baseball and basketball in Denver.2 Following his discharge from the Navy, John married Frances, an Ohio native who’d moved to California as a teen. He was an accountant for Computax and she worked as a secretary.3

“I grew up with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale,” Scott recalled. “I’d watch them all the time.”4 In the four years preceding his teens, the Los Angeles Dodgers won three NL pennants and two World Series. When Scott was a five-year-old, hurling baseballs with both hands from the pitcher’s mound his dad had erected in the backyard, his father encouraged him to throw exclusively lefthanded.5 By the time John coached Scott’s El Segundo Little League team, he had a “sneaking feeling that his son was going to be a major leaguer,” explaining, “[Scott] never said much about it. He just seemed to have that feeling, that desire.”6

In 1969, Scott led El Segundo to the Babe Ruth League World Series title by tossing two shutouts.7 At El Segundo High School, he also lettered in basketball and football, but baseball was his ticket to the institution’s Hall of Fame.8 As a 1970 sophomore, McGregor didn’t lose until the California Interscholastic Federation AAA championship contest at Anaheim Stadium, when an undefeated Lompoc squad featuring Roy Howell and Dave Stegman prevailed. McGregor, a switch-hitter, batted cleanup in El Segundo’s lineup behind shortstop George Brett.9 One year later, McGregor went 18-1 to earn AAA MVP honors.10 In a rematch for the city championship, he led the Eagles to victory by outpitching Lompoc’s previously unbeaten Roy Thomas. McGregor fired consecutive no-hitters in his 1972 senior season.11 When he wasn’t pitching, he played the outfield and batted .390 with four homers and 27 RBIs in 32 games.12 Though his Eagles’ career ended with a 2-0 defeat in the semifinals, his 18-2 record and 0.28 ERA made him a repeat MVP.13

The New York Yankees selected him in the first round (14th overall) of the 1972 June Amateur Draft, but McGregor had signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Southern California. “When it came to talking contract with the Yanks,” he said. “Dad and my high school coach, John Stevenson –to whom I owe a lot– felt anything over the $50,000 price tag we put on a four-year USC scholarship was gravy.”14 Scout Jackie Warner signed McGregor for a reported $80,000 bonus. The 18-year-old southpaw invested it in an apartment building, 200 head of cattle and an answering service for doctors.15

After signing in late-June, McGregor joined the Fort Lauderdale Yankees in the Single-A Florida State League. He was clobbered for eight runs in his professional debut but notched his first win five days later with a one-hit shutout.16 As a first-year pro, his strikeout rate declined from 12.3 per-nine-innings at El Segundo to 6.2.17 “In high school, I just tried to overpower people, but in Florida, when I tried to blow it by a batter, I was getting hit hard,” he said. “So, I worked on my control, on moving the ball in and out, on mixing my pitches, on becoming a more complete pitcher.”18 In 79 innings, he posted the lowest WHIP (1.152) on Fort Lauderdale’s pitching staff and finished 7-3 with a 2.73 ERA.

Though he had no chance to make the team, McGregor was invited to Yankees spring training in 1973. “I was just in awe the whole time,” he described. “When I put on the Yankee double-knits, I tingled all over.” New York’s 1967 first-round pick, Ron Blomberg, looked out for him. “Bloomy treated me like a little brother,” McGregor recalled.19 McGregor spent the season with the West Haven (Connecticut) Yankees. In 27 starts, he led the Double-A Eastern League in innings pitched (197) and complete games (14). His 12-13 record tied him for both the most wins and losses in the circuit. McGregor posted a 3.29 ERA, made the All-Star team, and impressed manager Doc Edwards. “The kid has incredible poise. Nothing fazes him,” Edwards said. “Fans ride him for his big bonus, or a guy will belt one over the fence and Scotty will come right back and battle the next hitter as if nothing happened. He is a super prospect.”

That offseason, A’s manager Dick Williams decided not to return to Oakland for the final year of his contract despite winning consecutive World Series. The Yankees explored bringing him to New York but backed off when A’s owner Charles O. Finley demanded McGregor and slugging prospect Otto Vélez as compensation. “It was one heckuva compliment,” said McGregor. “I was doubly honored when the Yankees said no.”20 As it happened, Williams remained out of baseball until summertime, when Finley let the last-place Angels hire him.

Optimistic observers compared McGregor to Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, the Yankees’ pitching coach in 1974. “They’d get pictures of the two of us together,” McGregor recalled. “Whitey and I used to talk a lot… It was just a privilege to be compared with [him].”21 McGregor spent the season in the Triple-A International League, where his Syracuse Chiefs’ pitching coach Cloyd Boyer remarked, “McGregor has been the most complete athlete I’ve seen. He’s a pitching coach’s dream.”22 After McGregor homered against Rochester on July 18, Syracuse skipper Bobby Cox insisted, “He’s one of my best hitters.”23 Playing for Cox, McGregor batted .242 with 15 RBIs and 13 walks in 165 at-bats over the next two seasons while making 51 of his 99 appearances as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner. On the mound, he won 10 of his first 13 decisions.24 Although he led the IL with 199 innings and 12 complete games in 1974, McGregor scuffled through the second half and finished 13-10 with a 3.44 ERA. “The Yankees didn’t call me up, which freaked me out, so I was in a funk,” he explained.25 He won two playoff games, but the Chiefs lost the IL finals to Rochester.26

McGregor’s struggles continued in 1975 as he was just 6-9 with a 3.99 ERA through the end of July battling the worst control problems of his career. “I started pitching too much, getting too smart,” he reflected later.27 His season ended abruptly on August 1. Prior to his scheduled start in Charleston, McGregor’s collarbone was broken when he was hit by a thrown ball while sitting on the bench.28 He recovered in time to pitch in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he was 8-3 with a 3.36 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) for the Cardenales de Lara, plus 2-1 in the playoffs.29

In spring training 1976, McGregor’s hopes of making the Yankees were quickly dashed. “[Manager] Billy Martin was there, and they were through with me,” he explained.30 McGregor returned to Syracuse for a third time. “Two of them, I didn’t think I needed to spend,” he said.31 McGregor’s record for the Chiefs was 4-5 when he was included in a 10-player trade with the Baltimore Orioles on June 15. The Yankees acquired former 20-game winner Ken Holtzman, pitchers Doyle Alexander and Grant Jackson, catcher Elrod Hendricks and minor-leaguer Jimmy Freeman in exchange for catcher Rick Dempsey and four pitchers: Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan and McGregor. Orioles GM Hank Peters said, “[McGregor]’s only 22 years old. We feel he has an excellent chance to develop into a good major league pitcher.”32 McGregor, Dempsey and Martinez all stuck with Baltimore for more than a decade and made the Orioles’ team Hall of Fame.

Initially, McGregor remained in the IL with Baltimore’s Rochester Red Wings affiliate. “He said the first thing he wanted to do was show the Yankees they made a mistake,” recalled pitching coach Ray Miller.33 With Rochester, McGregor went 8-1 and tossed five of his league-leading six shutouts. The Red Wings clinched the circuit’s best record on August 25 when he beat his ex-teammates for the third time.34 McGregor spun another shutout in the IL semifinals against Richmond, but it proved to be Rochester’s only post-season victory.35 After the Red Wings were eliminated, McGregor was called up to the Orioles. He debuted on September 19, 1976 in Cleveland. In relief of Wayne Garland, he struck out Duane Kuiper and popped up Rick Manning to complete the eighth inning of Baltimore’s 5-4 defeat.

On September 27, McGregor married Cara Bell, whom he’d first dated in high school. Two nights later, he started Baltimore’s last home game of the season, pitching into the eighth inning but losing to the Milwaukee Brewers. He also started the season finale at Fenway Park, dueling Boston’s Luis Tiant to a 1-1 standstill into the seventh before departing with a mild elbow strain. McGregor scrapped his winter ball plans to allow the injury to heal.36

In McGregor’s first outing of 1977, he notched his first major league victory by working the first 7 ⅓ innings against the Indians at Memorial Stadium on April 20. More than four months passed before he earned his second win in relief, as only five of his 29 appearances as a rookie were starts. On September 7 in Detroit, he pitched a career-high 11 innings in a complete-game victory over the Tigers. One week later, he saved both ends of a doubleheader in Toronto. Overall, McGregor was 3-5 with a 4.42 ERA in 114 innings. “[Pitching coach George] Bamberger and [manager] Earl [Weaver came to me and said they wanted to get my curveball down into the 60s,” McGregor recalled. “My fastball was in the high 80s, and the changeup was around 71 or 72…When I slowed the curve down, a hesitation appeared at the top of my delivery that proved to be very effective.”37

McGregor went 8-2 with a 2.22 ERA in the Puerto Rican Winter League, pitching for a Caguas Criollos club featuring fellow Orioles rookies Eddie Murray and Dave Skaggs.38 After seeing McGregor in action there, Baltimore coach Elrod Hendricks remarked, “He reminds me of Dave McNally. I do think he’s ready to step in and take a turn in the big leagues.”39 Despite losing one southpaw starter (Ross Grimsley) to free agency, the Orioles had enough confidence in McGregor to send another, Rudy May, to the Expos in a deal that brought them Gary Roenicke and Don Stanhouse.

Three starts into the 1978 season, however, McGregor was 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA. He rebounded to win his next seven appearances, including a six-start stretch with five complete games and an 8 ⅔-inning effort. Ten of McGregor’s dozen starts from May 13 to July 7 immediately followed those of Baltimore ace Jim Palmer. “I get to chart his game, and just from that I can learn a lot about how to pitch to the hitters,” McGregor explained.40 In a complete-game, five-hit, 2-0 loss to the Royals on August 9, McGregor retired the first 20 batters he faced. On September 4, he set down 23 consecutive Red Sox and worked the first 8 2/3 innings of a 5-3 victory. Despite missing his last start because of elbow pain, McGregor finished the year 15-13 with a 3.32 ERA and a career-high 13 complete games. The McGregors moved to the Baltimore area that offseason and their first child, Eric, was born in November. Katie followed in 1980, and Scott, Jr. in 1987.

The elbow tendonitis that bothered McGregor late in ’78 lingered into 1979 spring training. Then, during his second regular-season appearance, he recalled, “I couldn’t throw the ball to home plate. I said, ‘What happened?’ It dawned on me that quickly: That’s how quickly my career could end. That’s how uncertain life is.”41 He tried to pitch again two weeks later, then went onto the disabled list for nearly a month. It gave him a lot of time to think. “I wasn’t happy,” McGregor said. “I was using marijuana constantly. We partied pretty heavily, and cocaine started coming on the scene. I started getting into that some. It was like, go home after the game, drink four or five beers, smoke a couple of joints. It was something I couldn’t break.”42 McGregor prayed to Jesus Christ to take control of his life. His wife was saved a week later. “Being a Christian is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said. “It’s freed me on the inside. It sounds corny to a lot of people. I know, and I understand that. It sounded corny to me for a long time, too.”43

Beginning with a shutout in Chicago on June 11 for his first win, McGregor went 13-4 the rest of the season to help the Orioles win the AL East for the first time since 1974. He finished 1979 with the majors’ best strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.52) and base-on-balls rate per-nine-innings (1.2), and the AL’s top WHIP (1.076). Over seven appearances from June 29 to July 29, he went 47 innings without issuing a single base-on-balls. “He uses the art of pitching perfectly… Batters have no idea what’s coming or where. He keeps changing speeds, moving in and out,” observed pitching coach Ray Miller.44 “All great pitchers change speeds, but some people think that means a changeup. Not so. It’s just throwing the same pitches at different speeds.”45

McGregor made his first playoff start the day after the Orioles lost a chance to sweep the Angels in the best-of-five ALCS on centerfielder Al Bumbry’s two-run error in the bottom of the ninth. “The boldest move I ever saw by a pitcher was from McGregor before Game Four,” recalled Baltimore right fielder Ken Singleton. “He kind of walks over toward Bumbry and, loud enough for everybody to hear, says, ‘I guarantee we will win tomorrow.”46 McGregor tossed an 8-0 shutout at Anaheim Stadium to become the first Orioles pitcher other than Palmer to win a pennant clincher. “That was cool because I did it near my hometown,” he said.47 Six nights later, with the World Series tied one game apiece, McGregor survived a 67-minute, third-inning rain delay to beat the Pirates with a complete game at Three Rivers Stadium. Of his 95 pitches, 78 were strikes.48 When the series went to a decisive seventh game, McGregor faced Pittsburgh’s Jim Bibby in Baltimore. Until the top of the sixth inning, the only scoring was a home run by the Orioles’ Rich Dauer. After McGregor allowed a one-out single to Bill Robinson, however, World Series MVP Willie Stargell followed with a decisive, two-run homer. “I’m a high ball pitcher, but that pitch was too low,” McGregor said. “Mr. Stargell is an amazing man.”49

When Baltimore lefty Mike Flanagan claimed the Cy Young Award after his 23-9 season, he gave some of the credit to the teammate he called “Dr. Small”, saying, “Scott taught me the changeup.”50 McGregor, generously listed at 6-foot-1 and 190-pounds, spent part of his offseason as a teaching assistant for a communication and confidence building course at the Gilman School in Baltimore.51 His 1980 season got off to a rocky start when he felt another twinge in his elbow during a March 30 spring training appearance.52 He didn’t pitch for three weeks and had only one win through May 21. Ten days later, however, McGregor won his third straight outing and snapped Ken Landreaux’s 31-game hitting streak. On June 24, he needed only 79 pitches to outduel Toronto’s Dave Stieb, 1-0.53 The Orioles — 11 games behind in the AL East by July 14– charged within a half-game of the division-leading Yankees by August 22.t. In front of 50,073 in Baltimore on August 17, McGregor beat New York’s Luis Tiant, 1-0 and whiffed Reggie Jackson three times. “The only way to describe him is masterful,” said Mark Belanger. “Playing behind him at shortstop when he’s in a groove is a treat. You can watch him changing speeds, throwing what the hitter isn’t looking for, putting pitches in perfect spots.”54 Second baseman Rich Dauer added, “He’s got the best changeup in baseball. When I see the catcher give the wiggle, which is the sign for the pitch, I laugh to myself thinking what the batter’s going to look like trying to hit it.”55 In the final game of the season, McGregor earned his 20th win, by defeating Cleveland’s 19-game winner, Len Barker. It was also the Orioles’ 100th victory of the season, but they’d been eliminated by the Yankees the previous day. In December, Baltimore signed McGregor to a five-year contract for an estimated $2 to $2.5 million.56

An extensive offseason stretching and strengthening program for his elbow and shoulder helped McGregor enjoy a healthy April for the first time in three years in 1981.57 In addition to his active involvement with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, McGregor coordinated the Orioles’ chapel services and served as the club’s player representative in the strike-shortened season.58 During the extended work stoppage, he was a guest meteorologist for a Baltimore television station.59 Though he didn’t appear in the game, McGregor earned his only All-Star selection and finished 13-5 with 3.26 ERA. On September 25 at Yankee Stadium, he struck out 11 batters, his only career double-digit performance.

In 1982, McGregor made a career high 37 starts. Despite having his 12-game winning streak (including playoffs) against the Angels snapped, he was tied for the AL lead in victories through July 28. Shoulder weakness caused by tendinitis doomed him to a 4-6 record and 5.82 ERA after the All-Star break, however, and he finished the season 14-12, 4.61.60

McGregor was healthy in 1983, but the Orioles lost former Cy Young Award winners Palmer and Flanagan to injuries for all but four starts from May 19 to August 4. McGregor went 11-2 with a 2.28 ERA during that time, including an AL Pitcher of the Month performance in July when Baltimore was also without relief ace Tippy Martinez. With his overall 18-7, 3.18 mark in a career-high 260 innings, McGregor was the most reliable pitcher on an Orioles’ team that went 98-64 to win its division. In the postseason, he lost by identical 2-1 scores to the White Sox’s LaMarr Hoyt and the Phillies’ John Denny, their league’s 1983 Cy Young Award winners. Nevertheless, the Orioles led the World Series three-games-to-one before McGregor started again in Game Five. Baltimore had been in the same position in 1979 before losing three straight to the Pirates. “For us, it was, ‘Been here, done that, and we aren’t making the same mistake twice’,” said McGregor.61 Murray homered twice, Cal Ripken gloved the last out, and McGregor twirled a five-hit shutout to make the Orioles champions. The last time a World Series had ended with a shutout was 1966, when Baltimore’s McNally beat the Dodgers. McGregor struck out six, including a trio of Hall of Famers a total of four times (Tony Pérez twice, Mike Schmidt and Joe Morgan).

In 1984, McGregor was the Orioles’ Opening Day starter, but he uncharacteristically walked six and lost to the White Sox. Miller believed delays caused by pre-game ceremonies involving President Ronald Reagan played a part, but McGregor denied it. “The only way he could have bothered me would have been if he had been a hitter,” McGregor said. “And if he had been, he probably would’ve gotten a couple of hits the way I was throwing.”62 The aging Orioles were never in contention after the Tigers’ 35-5 start, but McGregor’s 15 wins through August 22 were one behind Detroit’s Jack Morris for the league lead. In his next start, however, McGregor broke the ring finger on his pitching hand trying to field a first-inning grounder.63 In addition to ending his season, McGregor suffered his first defeat in Anaheim since 1978. He would go 20-7 against the Angels in his career, seven more victories than against any other opponent.

McGregor skipped the Orioles’ postseason tour of Japan to recuperate. Baltimore signed him to a four-year contract extension through 1989 with club options for the 1990 and 1991 seasons.64 Early in the 1985 season, he battled bouts of blurry vision and arm weakness.65 McGregor led the team in wins, starts and innings, but his 14-14 record and 4.81 ERA were disappointing. The 65 walks he issued were the most of his career, and the 34 homers he allowed tied Texas’s Danny Darwin for the most in the league.

In 1986, the Orioles endured their first losing season since 1967. McGregor was 11-15 with a 4.52 ERA and surrendered 35 home runs to tie Robin Roberts’ 1963 club record.66 His best outing came in Milwaukee on September 27. After allowing a bunt single to Paul Molitor leading off the game, he retired the next 24 Brewers and finished with a two-hit shutout. In 1987, McGregor went 2-7 with a 6.64 ERA in 26 appearances (15 starts). He was sent to the bullpen in June, accepted a brief demotion to Triple-A Rochester in July and went on the disabled list in August. “In 1986, I started to feel my age, and I only had a little left in 1987,” McGregor reflected later. “My arm started to go.”67

After pitching more than 2,100 career major league innings, McGregor was diagnosed with a damaged rotator cuff after the 1987 season. “I don’t know how much pitching he can do,” remarked Orioles’ manager Cal Ripken Sr. “It looks pretty serious.”68 McGregor tried to rehabilitate the injury without undergoing surgery and defied the odds by winning a rotation spot in 1988 spring training. In four starts, he was 0-3 with an 8.83 ERA as Baltimore started the season with a record 21 consecutive losses. The Orioles were 1-23 when 50,402 filled into Memorial Stadium on May 2 to welcome them home on Fantastic Fans Night. “I was supposed to pitch that night, and [GM] Roland [Hemond] called me in the morning and released me,” McGregor recalled. “He started crying, but it was the right move. I was done.”69 McGregor finished his 13-year career with a 138-108 record and 3.99 ERA. As of 2021, Palmer, McNally and Flanagan are the only pitchers to start more career games for Baltimore. That trio, plus Mike Mussina and Mike Cuellar are the team’s only hurlers with more wins. In 1990, McGregor was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame.

Shortly after winning the 1983 World Series, McGregor had attended a Leighton Ford Crusade and taken the message to heart that he would one day lead a healing youth ministry.70 In 1987, he founded “Join Our Team: Athletes Against Drugs,” aimed at Baltimore City schools and visited Korea on behalf of Christian Youth Athletics. He had a TV show on the Christian Broadcasting Network.71 After retiring, McGregor became a youth pastor at the Rock Church in Towson, just north of Baltimore. “Athletes are a select bunch who live out in front,” he observed. “We definitely express every sin, every vice. We have everything people are looking for. We show the ups and the downs. That’s why it’s such an awesome responsibility.” Later, McGregor spent five years as a minister at church in Dover, Delaware before returning to the Baltimore area to assist a pastor.72

In 2002, McGregor returned to uniform as the pitching coach for the Aberdeen IronBirds’ inaugural season in the Single-A New York-Penn League. He spent a decade in the same role with various, Maryland-based Orioles affiliates: the Frederick Keys of the Single-A Carolina League from 2003 to 2005, the Bowie Baysox of the Double-A Eastern League from 2006 to 2007, and back to Aberdeen from 2008-2011. Other than an interim stint as the Orioles bullpen coach in 2013, he spent the next eight seasons as Baltimore’s Pitching Rehab Coordinator. As of 2021, McGregor is retired and lives near Baltimore with his wife.

“For six or seven years, we had a great ride,” he reflected. “No one ever had more fun playing baseball than we did. … I’m glad we finally won in ’83 because it cast the whole thing in a better light. We won as many World Series as the great Orioles team from ’69 to ’71.”73

Last revised: May 12, 2021

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Evan Katz.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.ancrestry.com, www.baseball-reference.com, and www.retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Jim Henneman, “McGregor Gets Contract Extension,” The Sporting News, February 25, 1985: 35.

2 Phil Pepe, “McGregor’s Pop A Yankee Fan,” (New York) Daily News, June 7, 1972: 52.

3 “John McGregor,” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21552692/john-mcgregor (last accessed February 23, 2021).

4 Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor.”

5 Bob Snyder, “Dad’s Tip Made McGregor Southpaw Whiz for Chiefs,” The Sporting News, July 27, 1974: 51.

6 Eric Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor,” Baltimore Sun, April 5, 1981: SM6.

7 Snyder, “Dad’s Tip Made McGregor Southpaw Whiz for Chiefs.”

8 “1987 ESHS Hall of Fame Inductee,” http://elsegundoalumni.org/hof_mcgregor.html#:~:text=Parents%3A%20John%20and%20Frances%20McGregor. (last accessed February 24, 2021).

9 “Lompoc Wins 26 in Row, AAA Title, 8-5,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1970: C4.

10 “El Segundo Pitcher Top AAA Player,” Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1971: C8.

11 “2nd No-Hitter for McGregor,” Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1972: E3.

12 “McGregor Top Player in CIF 3-A Baseball,” Los Angeles Times, June 22,1972: E8.

13 “El Segundo Eliminated by Rolling Hills,” Los Angeles Times, June 3, 1972: D3.

14 Snyder, “Dad’s Tip Made McGregor Southpaw Whiz for Chiefs.”

15 Dave Hirshey, “Scott McGregor: West Haven Rich Kid,” The Sporting News, September 1, 1973: 34.

16 “Class A Leagues,” The Sporting News, July 29, 1972: 54.

17 Pepe, “McGregor’s Pop A Yankee Fan.”

18 Hirshey, “Scott McGregor: West Haven Rich Kid.”

19 Hirshey, “Scott McGregor: West Haven Rich Kid.”

20 “Int. Items,” The Sporting News, June 1, 1974: 38.

21 Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor.”

22 Snyder, “Dad’s Tip Made McGregor Southpaw Whiz for Chiefs.”

23 “McGregor Hot Hitter,” The Sporting News, August 10, 1974: 44.

24 “International League,” The Sporting News, July 27, 1974: 51.

25 John Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards, (Contemporary Books, New York, 2001): 299.

26 “L’il Yanks Win, Too,” Daily News, September 21, 1974: 33.

27 Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor.”

28 Jim Henneman, “Freakish Injury Ends McGregor’s Season,” Baltimore Sun, September 10, 1984: 15.

29 Scott McGregor’s Venezuelan Statistics from, http://www.pelotabinaria.com.ve/beisbol/mostrar.php?ID=mcgrsco001 (last accessed February 24, 2021).

30 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: 299.

31 Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor.”

32 Jim Henneman, “5-for-5 Deal Hardly a 10 Strike for Orioles,” The Sporting News, July 3, 1976: 32.

33 Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor.”

34 “Int. Items,” The Sporting News, September 4, 1976: 30.

35 1977 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 76.

36 1977 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 76.

37 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: 306.

38 1978 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 121.

39 Jim Henneman, “Third Time Around for Elrod With Orioles,” The Sporting News, February 25, 1978: 51.

40 Jim Henneman, “Young Birds Prosper at Foot of Professor Palmer,” The Sporting News, July 8, 1978: 3.

41 Jane Leavy “The Lord and the Locker Room,” Washington Post, July 28, 1988: D1.

42 Leavy “The Lord and the Locker Room.”

43 Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor.”

44 Peter Gammons, “McGregor: He’s an Undersized Overachiever,” Boston Globe, October 8, 1979: 53.

45 Peter Gammons, “Yaz Tearfully Toasts Fenway,” The Sporting News, October 17, 1983: 19.

46 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: 343.

47 Stan Goldberg, “The Oriole Way Grew On McGregor,” Frederick (Maryland) News-Post, April 8, 2003, https://www.fredericknewspost.com/blogs/blogs_collection/weave_to_the_write/the-oriole-way-grew-on-mcgregor/article_831eb152-bdf9-5154-beb8-3f7436a43ce1.html (last accessed February 24, 2021).

48 Lowell Reidenbaugh, “Kiko’s Bat a Lethal Weapon, Stunned Pirates Concede,” The Sporting News, October 27, 1979: 9.

49 Lowell Reidenbaugh, “Stargell’s Bat? Just Plain Poison,” The Sporting News, November 3, 1979: 43.

50 Jack Lang, “Flanagan Landslide Cy Young Winner,” The Sporting News, November 17, 1979: 72.

51 Ken Nigro, “McGregor, Looking Ahead, Tries His Hand at Teaching,” The Sporting News, January 19, 1980: 36.

52 1981 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 131.

53 1982 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 118.

54 Ken Nigro, “Orioles Get All Pumped Up by Scotty’s Show of Heart,” The Sporting News, September 6, 1980: 28.

55 Siegel, “Inside Scott McGregor.”

56 Ken Nigro, “McGregor Is Happy with O’s,” The Sporting News, December 27, 1980: 43.

57 1982 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 118.

58 1981 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 133.

59 “Insiders Say,” The Sporting News, August 1, 1981: 8.

60 1983 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 124.

61 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: 371.

62 Jim Henneman, “The President Took Altobelli’s Seat,” The Sporting News, April 16, 1984: 12.

63 Henneman, “Freakish Injury Ends McGregor’s Season.”

64 Henneman, “McGregor Gets Contract Extension.”

65 Jim Henneman, “McGregor Bothered by Blurred Vision,” The Sporting News, April 29, 1985: 15.

66 After Sidney Ponson (1999) and Jeremy Guthrie (2009) also tied Roberts’ record, Dylan Bundy established a new Orioles record (as of 2021) by allowing 41 home runs in 2018.

67 Goldberg, “The Oriole Way Grew on McGregor.”

68 “A.L. East,” The Sporting News, December 21, 1987: 51.

69 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: 398.

70 Leavy “The Lord and the Locker Room.”

71 1987 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 160.

72 Goldberg, “The Oriole Way Grew on McGregor.”

73 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: 374.