Let’s
go and give former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher John “The Candy Man”
Candelaria a card in my long-running “Nicknames of the 1970’s” thread
shall we:
The fellow native New Yorker out of LaSalle Academy had himself an
excellent 19-year career in the Major Leagues, making an impact
immediately as a 22-year old in 1976 for Pittsburgh, going 16-7 in his
first full season, with a 3.15 earned run average over 32 appearances,
with four shutouts.
The following season he had himself the best year of his career, going
20-5 while leading the league in both winning percentage (.800) and
earned run average (2.34) over 33 starts, making his only All-Star game
appearance while finishing fifth in the N.L. Cy Young voting.
By the time he retired as an active player after the 1993 season at the
age of 39, he finished with a record of 177-122, good for a very nice
.592 winning percentage, with 11 shutouts over 600 appearances, 356 of
them starts, with a 3.33 ERA.
I loved his brief time with the New York Yankees in 1988 and 1989, with
his ‘88 season a very good one, going 13-7 over 25 appearances, 24 of
those starts.
“The Candy Man”!