⚾ #StiebNation, we've made a donation to crohnsandcolitis.ca canada on behalf of @wilnerness.bsky.social and his Uncle who recently left us, and would encourage you to do the same.
(FYIEB, Duane Ward was their Honourary Spokesperson in 1994, and we remember his TV adverts for this back in the day.)
2/2: Stieb had his most successful season (only his 2nd full one, but also shortened by a players' strike) - 1st winning season & lowest ERA by a Jays pitcher - but his agent is failing to get a long-term contract with GM Pat Gillick. Hence, the rumour goes wild...and nowhere.
December 14, 1981 (1/2) - 🚨 Philadelphia attempts to trade *SIX* of their players to the #BlueJays for Dave Stieb. (I.e.b., you know you've made it when.) 💪🏼 Why? How? Read on... 🧵 🚨
2/2: Stieb is five days into his tenure in Chicago; Maldonado two into his. They played together in Toronto in '91-92 and Candy is the victim of the most exhilarating Stieb career strikeout: out number two in the 9th on September 2, 1990. The crowd explodes! Read and watch. 👇🏽
December 13, 1992 (1/2) - 🚨 "Dave Stieb is one of the greatest competitors this game has had." - fellow 1992 #BlueJays World Series Champion, Candy Maldonado.
The new member of the #Cubs speaks about the new member of the #WhiteSox in glowing terms. Read on... 🧵 🚨
December 11, 1981 - 🚨 Dave Stieb and his agent are looking for more than an arbitration biut with the #BlueJays. And why not? He just had the 1st winning season by a pitcher (and a 10th place MVP vote). But it won't go well and be another thorn in the relationship. 🚨
Ahaha! We might need such an alternative if we’re going to honour these guys before they’re a hundred years old.
3/3: ...here the Phillies are in 1981, in Stieb’s 3rd season (although because he debuted in June 1979 & the #MLB strike in 1981, he had had only one 162-game season).
Imagine if then #BlueJays GM, Pat Gillick, had let go of Stieb and Jim Clancy/Alfredo Griffin before 1982? 🤯
2/3: Okay, "The Pope" is what they called the Phillies' GM, Paul Owens, presumably because he was the architect of Philadelphia's first World Series win, in 1980, for the franchise. The Phillies were the franchise throughout the 1980s who chased Stieb the most, and...
December 7, 1981 - 🙏🏼 Even GOD HIMSELF wanted Dave Stieb in trade! 🙏🏼
As the 2025 #MLB Winter Meetings kick off tonight, let's look back at the umpteenth time a rival team tried to pry Stieb away from the #BlueJays. Read on...🧵
2/2: We thank the Blue Jays for their usual service in promoting their greatest players.
Carlos Delgado's inclusion was accomplished with exactly zero effort by the front office and its alumni dept.
(The less said about Dave Stieb the better. As usual!)
TABLE: eligible batters
December 7, 2025 (1/2) - Just a friendly reminder of what's at stake - in our familiar chart form - at 7:30 p.m. EST, as the @baseballhall.org's Era Committee announces its 2026 vote results.
No matter what, there'll be tears 'n' jeers. That's how it works.
TABLE: eligible pitchers
2/2: Stieb's first-ever injury that kept him out for two-thirds of the 1991 season had quite the ripple effect. The #BlueJays unload prospects for Tom Candiotti, it gives Juan Guzman his MLB shot, but Stieb not a sure thing for early 1992 leads to the signing of you-know-who.
December 5, 1991 (1/2) - 🚨 "Dave Stieb could be back on the pitching mound in 3 months."
Dr. Arthur White trims the ruptured disk in Stieb’s back, from that freak collision on May 22. Optimism abounds. Read on... 🧵 🚨
3/3: ...that emanated from Stieb's camp which slipped into public view. Lemanczyk said he could help Stieb and gave him an out if he wasn't going to use him. Stieb didn't, and moved onto agent, Bob LaMonte, who clinched a deal in 1983. And then Comte and Lemanczyk came for Stieb.
2/3: Stieb had been hamstrung with an ineffective agent, Steve Comte, from his MLB debut in 1979 to 1982. *Lots* of bad will from auto-renewals, failed arbitration cases, and no progress on contract extensions (as well as 4 losing seasons), contributed to much of the vitriol...
December 3, 1983 (1/3) - 🚨 Victory! The first of the two agents suing Dave Stieb (🤯?) in the winter of 1983 gets their lawsuit dismissed. And it's former #BlueJays teammate turned agent, Dave Lemanczyk. WTF? Read on... 🧵 🚨
3/3: To the BBWAA's eternal shame, he wouldn't even last more than one ballot.
Even worse, in 2025, the Eras Committee went with a pitcher with 15 points less of bWAR...and it's not like Stieb achieved that 56.4 because he hung around past his prime.
#Retire37, #BlueJays
2/3: Nobody enjoyed the '98 Dave Stieb comeback more than us, after 5 years away, but it had an unintended consequence on his Baseball Hall of Fame chances. Today in '03, the @baseballhall.org ballot is released. Stieb is on it, but as Jon Bois explains, it wouldn't go well...
December 2, 2003 (1/3) - 🚨
The 2025 Eras Committee ignoring of Dave Stieb for the @baseballhall.org of Fame is as bitter a taste as when he hit the writers ballot in '03 (thanks to '98 comeback), only to not make the 5% cut to stay a 2nd year. Jon Bois explains the details in the video below... 🧵 🚨
2/2: Below is Whitaker v. Stieb, and Stieb v. everyone.
Hitters had a .667 OPS season average v. Stieb, with the league's average of .725.
Lou's OPS v. Stieb (min. 60 PAs) was a paltry .483, well below his career .789 OPS. (Fun fact: Lou faced Stieb in his 2nd career start.)
⚾️ #StiebMatchUpMondays winner is...Lou Whitaker!
Lou's time vs. Stieb was not very sweet. Lou had 87 PAs against Stieb and of all the players with 60 or more PAs, Whitaker finished with the 2nd worst OPS. Let's dive into more... 🧵 ⚾️
⚾️ NEW Stieb INTERVIEW!!! - Betway Insider talks to Dave Stieb about radar guns now vs the 1980s, sticky substances, and his love of new analytics. Read the article here ✅️ blog.betway.com/mlb/dave-sti... ⚾️
2/2: Stieb roared back after 2 subpar years in 1986 and 1987. He made the All-Star Game, won 17, had an ERA of 3.04, and finished off 1988 with those back-to-back lost no-hitters with 2 outs in the 9th inning (and a shutout before those two).
November 29, 1988 (1/2) - 🚨 Dave Stieb and Fred McGriff win #BlueJays Pitcher and Player Of The Year; a celebration of Stieb's return to domination. Read on... 🧵 🚨
3/3: ...Damaso Garcia in 1982 (even though Stieb won A.L. Pitcher Of The Year). Stieb wins 1983 Pitcher and then loses in 1984 to Doyle and then laughably finishes FIFTH on the Jays in 1985. Stieb wins for 1988-90 before Roy Halladay wins his 6th in 2008.
2/3: It's Stieb's 5th Pitcher Of The Year Award in his 11th full season. Still, that seems low, so why? Well, the #BlueJays writers (who vote for this award) only separated the award for position player and pitcher in 1983. So, Stieb won overall MVP in 1981 and somehow lost to...
November 27, 1990 (1/3) - 🚨 These happy fellows finish 1-2 in the voting for #BlueJays Pitcher Of The Year. It's Dave Stieb 5th win with David Wells finishing a distant second. Read on... 🧵 🚨
2/2: Stieb's second half - a 7-3, 3.05 split keying the Jays' respectable 21-27 post-strike finish - heralds a five-year stretch in which he's clearly the AL's best pitcher.
Last month, Stieb was the first pitcher to be named #BlueJays MVP by the Toronto media.
November 25, 1981 (1/2) - 🚨 Dave Stieb is the first Blue Jay to get a MVP vote (10th place) finishing in a 27th-place tie with George Brett for 1981 AL MVP. Stieb’s 4.4 WAR (a prorated 6.7) ranks 3rd for AL pitchers in ‘81 and ties for 9th among all players. Read on... 🧵 🚨
