RIP Pat Dobson

Suicide, anyone? Sad timing.

AP

SAN FRANCISCO -- Pat Dobson was part of an illustrious pitching staff in Baltimore and a savvy scouting department with the San Francisco Giants, touching everyone from Earl Weaver to Brian Sabean along the way. Dobson, one of four starters to win 20 games for the Orioles in 1971, died suddenly Wednesday night in the San Diego area, the San Francisco Giants said Thursday. He was 64.

Throwing big curveballs and telling hearty jokes, Dobson made many friends in baseball. This year, his ninth with the Giants, he was a special assistant to Sabean, the team's general manager.

The club didn't immediately release details about the cause of death. But USA Today reported on its Web site that Dobson's wife, Kathe, said he died one day after being diagnosed with leukemia.

 

Dobson was part of an illustrious staff with those '71 Orioles.

Only they and the 1920 White (with two Black) Sox ever had four 20-game winners on a single staff. To wit:


1971 Orioles
Player Ag G ERA W L SV GS GF CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO BFP WP HBP BK IBB ERA+
---+-------------------+--+---+------+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+
[table][tr][td]SP *Mike Cuellar 34 38 3.08 20 9 0 38 0 21 4 292.3 250 111 100 30 78 124 1166 3 1 0 1 109[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SP Pat Dobson 29 38 2.90 20 8 1 37 1 18 4 282.3 248 104 91 24 63 187 1134 6 2 0 2 116[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SP Jim Palmer 25 37 2.68 20 9 0 37 0 20 3 282.0 231 94 84 19 106 184 1165 8 4 2 6 125[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SP *Dave McNally 28 30 2.89 21 5 0 30 0 11 1 224.3 188 75 72 24 58 91 899 5 5 0 2 116[/td][/tr][/table]


1920 White Sox
Player Ag G ERA W L SV GS GF CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO BFP WP HBP BK IBB ERA+
---+-------------------+--+---+------+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+
[table][tr][td]SP Red Faber 31 40 2.99 23 13 1 39 1 28 2 319.0 332 136 106 8 88 108 1349 4 4 0 125[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SP *Lefty Williams 27 39 3.91 22 14 0 38 1 25 0 299.0 302 145 130 15 90 128 1221 4 12 1 96[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SP Eddie Cicotte 36 37 3.26 21 10 2 35 2 28 4 303.3 316 128 110 6 74 87 1236 3 2 0 115[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SP *Dickie Kerr 26 45 3.37 21 9 5 28 13 19 3 253.7 266 116 95 7 72 72 1045 3 4 1 111[/td][/tr][/table]

 

Pitching coach for the '82 Brewers. RIP.

 

In addition to the wins, check those CGs for the Orioles' starters that year. One hell of a rotation, back when pitchers were men.

RIP, Mr. Dobson.

 

Played soccer back in Buffalo with his cousin, also named Pat Dobson....said he was the best...my prayers for the Dobson family...

 

He lived next door to one of my best friends when we were kids, and when he was the pitching coach for the Brewers.

He gave my buddy free pitching lessons each summer he lived there, and was a very nice guy to boot.

RIP.

 

Pat Dobson was one of the few professional sports people I got to know outside of a work relationship. We used to frequent the same restaurant bar after work, me at the paper, him as a pitching coach.

I always figured guys like him would rather talk about something else away from the ballpark, but Pat loved talking about baseball. So I subsequently learned a lot.

He wasn't exactly genteel. In fact, he might have had the dirtiest mouth I have ever heard from anybody, anywhere. But he could be hilarious. And women thought he was a hoot, so he wasn't a bad guy to hang out with.

I haven't seen him in years, but I was saddened by this news because, like I said, I can count the number of professional sports people I actually got to be friends with on one hand. RIP.