The Royals traded Lou Piniella and Ken Wright to acquire Lindy McDaniel on December 7th, 1973. A former All-Star relief pitcher with the Cardinals, McDaniel threw a curve and fork ball that also made him successful with the Cubs, Giants and Yankees. 6-3 and right handed, Lindy spent two years in KC (1974-1975) and finished with a Royals record of 6-5, 3.75 ERA and 2 saves. For his career, McDaniel pitched 21 years at the MLB level, appearing in 987 games with a 141-119 record, 3.45 ERA and 174 saves. He recently joined Dave O to tell several never before told stories about not playing organized baseball until age 15, being in the Big Leagues by 19, how coming over to the Royals ended up not working out and lots more! (Note: Dave O wishes to thank sabr.org for its help in preparing him for this interview.) (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Another one from, and for the Vault…!
Just Like Gold!!!
What a great interview!! It was very, very candid. Most ball players don’t like to give out this much inside dope. I have met Lindy twice. Super nice man. One thing he didn’t mention. He told me he and Darrell Royal are cousins. As you know Darrell was a great QB at the University of Oklahoma back in the early 50′ and head football coach at Texas in the 60’s and 70’s. Again, that was a great interview.