Montefusco had a great rookie season for the Giants in 1975, going 15-9 with 215 strikeouts and a 2.88 earned run average with four shutouts in his 35 games, all but one of them a start.
He followed up with an excellent sophomore season in 1976, posting a career high 16 wins along with a 2.84 ERA and 172 strikeouts, with a league-leading six shutouts over 37 games and 253.1 innings.
He’d stick around in the big leagues through the 1986 season, but sadly for him never had the success of those first two years, though he did post a 14-4 record in 1983 split between the San Diego Padres and New York Yankees, for whom he’d pitch the final 3 1/2 years of his 13-year career.
All told Montefusco finished with a 90-83 career record, with a 3.54 ERA, 1081 strikeouts and 11 shutouts over 298 appearances, 244 of which were starts.
And of course...a cool nickname!
“The Count”!