Pete Falcone

Pete Falcone
Pitcher
Born: (1953-10-01) October 1, 1953 Brooklyn, New York
Batted: Left Threw: Left
debut
April 13, 1975, for the San Francisco Giants
Last appearance
September 17, 1984, for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
Win–loss record	70-90
Earned run average	4.07
Strikeouts	865
Teams
San Francisco Giants (1975) St. Louis Cardinals (1976–1978) New York Mets (1979–1982) Atlanta Braves (1983–1984)

Peter Frank Falcone (born October 1, 1953), is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher.

Early years

As a senior at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, New York (the same high school as Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax), Falcone was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the thirteenth round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft, but opted to attend and Kingsborough Community College instead. He was then drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the second round of the January 1973 secondary amateur draft, but declined again. Finally, when drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (3rd overall) of the June 1973 secondary draft, Falcone signed.

Falcone impressed immediately, going 8–1 with a 1.50 earned run average and 102 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched for the Pioneer League's Great Falls Giants in his first professional season. He followed that up with 207 strikeouts in 1974 pitching in the California League and Texas League.

San Francisco Giants

A strange set of circumstances led to Falcone making his major league debut in the second game of a April 13, 1975 doubleheader with the Atlanta Braves. Falcone had been in Spring training with the Giants as a non-roster invitee, but had not made the club. Just as the season was set to begin, Ron Bryant, who was set to be the Giants' fourth starter, unexpectedly retired. He was replaced in the rotation by Falcone. (Bryant would eventually rethink his retirement, but was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 9 without appearing in another game for the Giants)

Fellow rookie John Montefusco was masterful in the first game, pitching a complete game shutout. The second game began with Ralph Garr hitting a triple to left field. Falcone settled down nicely afterwards, however. Aside from a two run home run by catcher Vic Correll, Falcone also held the Braves' batters at bay. With the score tied 2-2 in the eighth, Garry Maddox, Derrel Thomas and Bobby Murcer hit consecutive singles to give the Giants a 4-2 lead. Randy Moffitt pitched the ninth to record the save, and give Falcone the win in his major league debut.

The most memorable start of his rookie season also came in the second game of a doubleheader with the Braves. Falcone held the Braves hitless through seven innings, and struck out Cito Gaston to lead off the eighth. Larvell Blanks followed with a ground out to short to put Falcone four outs away from being the first National League rookie to pitch a no-hitter since Burt Hooton in 1972. The next batter, Vic Correll, drew a walk.

Words were exchanged between Correll and Giants first baseman Willie Montañez at first base, culminating with Correll taking a swing at Montañez. Both benches emptied, and Montañez was ejected from the game. When order was finally restored, Falcone had lost his concentration. The following batter, Rod Gilbreath, singled to center, breaking up the no-hitter.

Falcone seemed to be at his best against the Braves his rookie season. On May 6, he also held the Braves hitless through the first six innings. Overall, he compiled a 12-11 record, 4.17 ERA and 131 strikeouts as a rookie. Seeking to improve their infield defensively, the Giants sent Falcone to the St. Louis Cardinals for Gold Glove third baseman Ken Reitz at the Winter meetings after the season.

St. Louis Cardinals

Falcone suffered through some hard luck his first season in St. Louis. Following a July 27 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in which he allowed just two earned runs in seven plus innings of work, Falcone's record stood at 6-11 despite a relatively mild 3.95 ERA. Eight of his eleven losses came in one run games.

He recorded his first shutout of the season in his next start, also against the Pirates, and drove in one of four Cardinal runs. He followed that up with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, and his second shutout of the season against the Atlanta Braves. He ended the season at 12-16 with a 3.23 ERA. He held batters to a .196 Batting Average with Runners in Scoring Position.

Under new manager Vern Rapp, the Cards improved to 83-79 in 1977 to finish third in the National League East. Falcone, however, suffered through one of his more difficult seasons. His record was 4-6 with a 5.40 ERA when he was demoted to the bullpen in late July. He made just one relief appearance before he was demoted to the triple A New Orleans Pelicans. He went 2-5 with a 4.91 ERA at New Orleans before returning to the Cardinals in September. He went 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA and recorded his first career save over the rest of the season.

Falcone began the 1978 season in the Cardinals' starting rotation, however, after going 0-5 with a 6.46 ERA, was reduced to a reliever and spot starter. After the season, he was dealt to the New York Mets for Tom Grieve and Kim Seaman.

New York Mets

Falcone's hard luck continued in New York, as he lost his first five decisions with the Mets. He seemed in line to pick up his first Mets win on June 2; a Richie Hebner solo home run in the third gave him an early 5-0 lead against Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves. Falcone, however, was unable to hold the lead his club had spotted him, and he departed in the third inning with the score tied at five. He finally recorded his first win on June 25 with a five hit shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Falcone went 6-14 with a 4.16 ERA for the Joe Torre led Mets team that lost 99 games in 1979. The strangest of those six wins came on August 21 against the Houston Astros. With two outs in the ninth, Falcone induced a lazy fly ball off the bat of Jeff Leonard. Mets center fielder Lee Mazzilli caught the ball for the final out of the game. Meanwhile, Mets shortstop Frank Taveras had sought and received time out from third base umpire Doug Harvey. Harvey ordered Leonard back into the batters box, and the Mets back onto the field. Given new life, Leonard slapped a single to center, however, the play was ruled dead for a second time, as New York first baseman Ed Kranepool was not yet in position when the pitch was delivered. Finally, Leonard hit a fly to left field Joel Youngblood caught for the final out of the game.

On May 1, 1980, Falcone tied a Major League record by striking out the first six batters of the game versus the Philadelphia Phillies. The feat had only been accomplished four other times in the majors. Falcone pitched seven innings, giving up two earned runs with eight strikeouts, however, Steve Carlton held the Mets to just one run to hang the L on Falcone. Though used primarily as a starter in 1980, Falcone began seeing more work in relief, and actually pitched better out of the bullpen. Falcone was 6-9 with a 5.25 ERA in his 23 starts. In fourteen relief appearances, Falcone was 1-1 with a 2.02 ERA.

This prompted Torre to use Falcone more in relief in 1981. He made just one start in the first half of the strike shortened season, a loss to the Cardinals. As a reliever, he was 1-2 with one save and a 2.23 ERA. An injury to Randy Jones forced Torre to add Falcone back to the starting rotation in the second half of the season. He responded by going 4-0 with a 2.20 ERA.

He was especially good at not allowing hits when runners were in scoring position, keeping batters in such circumstances to a .210 batting average in 1979, a .220 batting average in 1981, and a .211 batting average in 1982.

Atlanta Braves

In December 1982 he signed a two-year, $650,000 contract as a free agent with the Braves.[1]

He kept batters to a .235 Batting Average with Runners in Scoring Position in 1983, and a .228 batting average in 1984.

Career stats

In September 1984 Falcone, then 30 years old, said he planned to retire after the season. “I’m just tired of baseball,” Falcone said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal. “I’m tired of the life style, and I can’t see any reason to go on doing it. The game is a game, and a certain part of it is enjoyable, but everything else, forget it.” John Mullen, the Braves’ general manager, expressed surprise at Falcone’s statement. “I hate to see a guy that young with that kind of arm retire,” Mullen said.[2]

In his career in 325 games Falcone was 70–90 with 865 strikeouts and a 4.07 ERA. In his career, Falcone kept batters to a .234 Batting Average with Runners in Scoring Position.[3] He was in the top 10 in the NL four times in wild pitches: 1975 9–10th; 1979 10–4th; 1980 9–6th; and 1982 10–8th.

Senior Professional Baseball Association

In 1989, he played for the Orlando Juice of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, and posted a 10–3 record.[4]

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or The Ultimate Mets Database