Gil Patterson

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1992 Yankees Wiz '70's Gil Patterson

Gilbert Thomas Patterson

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Biographical Information[edit]

"Yastrzemski . . . called him the best young pitcher he'd seen in the AL for a long time". - from an article about Gil Patterson

Gil Patterson was picked in the secondary phase of the 1975 amateur draft by the New York Yankees. He pitched one year with the Yankees in 1977 at age 21 and then was done in the majors due to arm pain. He had eight operations.

He began his career in fine form in the New York-Penn League in 1975, going 8-4 with a 1.95 ERA for the Oneonta Yankees. He was third in the league in wins, fourth in ERA and his 97 strikeouts (in 106 innings) led the NY-PL. In 1976, Gil moved up to the West Haven Yankees. In AA, he was 9-2 with a 2.07 ERA and allowed only 67 hits in 100 innings, throwing the Eastern League's only no-hitter of the season on June 28th against the Williamsport Tomahawks. Had he qualified, he would have been fourth in the league in ERA. Promoted to the Syracuse Chiefs, Patterson was 7-2 with a 2.92 ERA and completed 6 of 10 starts. He was 2-1 with a 4.82 ERA for the Chiefs in 1977 mixed in with his time in the majors.

In the majors, he made his debut with the Yankees on April 19th giving up 4 runs in 3 1/3 innings to the expansion Toronto Blue Jays, being charged with an 8-3 loss. He made two more starts before the end of the month, then was used sparingly in May and June before being sent down to the minors, going 2-1, 4.82 in 7 starts for Syracuse. He came back to New York in August and picked up his only career save on August 14th when he pitched the final three innings of a 15-3 win over the California Angels. In his next outing on August 27th, also in relief against the Texas Rangers, he hurt his arm and did not pitch again that season. Overall, he was 1-2, 5.40 in 10 games, including 6 starts, that making up the sum of his big league career.

He tried to come back in the low minors in the early 1980s, even trying to learn to pitch left-handed. The comeback started on a strong note as he was 5-2 with a 1.58 ERA for the 1980 GCL Yankees, finishing fourth in the Gulf Coast League in ERA. He was 1-4 with a 3.20 ERA for the 1981 Fort Lauderdale Yankees and then 1-1, 1.33 for the 1982 Fresno Giants to complete his comeback bid. He was 33-16 in his minor league career.

He took a job parking cars at a restaurant that George Steinbrenner went to, and Steinbrenner offered him a job as a coach.

He began coaching in 1984 with the Oneonta Yankees, but was fired after the season for refusing to let Al Leiter pitch with a sore arm. He moved in 1991 to the Oakland Athletics organization. He was the pitching coach for the Madison Muskies in 1992-1993 and the West Michigan Whitecaps in 1994. In 1996, he was the roving minor league instructor. He joined the Arizona Diamondbacks organization as minor league pitching coordinator from 1997 to 2000. In 2001, he got a job with the Toronto Blue Jays as the bullpen coach and then as pitching coach from 2002 to 2004. In 2005 he was a coach for the Columbus Clippers and in 2006 with the GCL Yankees. Starting in 2010, he was the minor league pitching coordinator for the A's. In 2017, he was promoted on an interim basis as bullpen coach of the Athletics, after pitching coach Curt Young was fired on June 15th and replaced by bullpen coach Scott Emerson.

His 1977 Topps rookie card (the only Major League card from his playing days) mistakenly pictured minor leaguer Sheldon Gill.

'"He's one of the best pitching coaches anywhere, because he knows how hard pitching is, and he knows what a pitcher goes through to get to the big leagues." - Al Leiter, speaking about Gil Patterson

Sources include 1976-1981 Baseball Guides, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database


Blue Jays Pitching Coaches
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Mark Connor Gil Patterson Brad Arnsberg
2002 to 2004

Related Sites[edit]

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