Tom Underwood

Underwood was also quarterback for Kokomo High School's football team on top of playing baseball. In baseball, his junior and senior years, he went 17-3 with a 0.40 earned run average. Simultaneously, he compiled a 25-1 record playing American Legion Baseball, helping Post 6 win the 1972 Indiana state championship.

He signed a letter of intent to play college baseball at Western Michigan University before being selected in the second round pick of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft by the Philadelphia Phillies.[2]

In his first start as a Cardinal against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was trailing 2-1 when he exited the game in the fourth with the bases loaded. Clay Carroll allowed all three inherited runners to score, giving Underwood five earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched.[11] He ended his time in St. Louis at 6-9 with a 4.95 ERA. After the season, he and minor league pitcher Víctor Cruz were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Pete Vuckovich and a player to be named later.

Underwood experienced some déjà vu in his first start with his new franchise. After being saved by a double play in the first inning, he was unable to record an out in the second. He exited with the bases loaded, and two runs already across. Once again, the reliever allowed all three inherited runners to score.[12]

He pitched well after that, but suffered from a lack of run support. On May 2, he pitched a complete game, but lost 2-1 to the Oakland Athletics.[13] In his next start, he earned his first American League win by shutting out the A's.[14] For the season, he pitched seven complete games, winning only the shutout.

The 1978 Jays went 59-102. Only one pitcher, Jim Clancy, had double digit wins (10). Underwood went 6-14 with a 4.10 ERA and led the staff with 139 strikeouts. Manager Roy Hartsfield made the unusual decision to move the staff's de facto ace, Jesse Jefferson, into the bullpen for 1979. By default, Underwood became the "ace," and was given the opening day assignment against the reigning American League West champion Kansas City Royals.

On November 1, 1979, the New York Yankees traded post season hero Chris Chambliss and young prospects Dámaso García and Paul Mirabella to the Jays for Underwood, catcher Rick Cerone and minor league outfielder Ted Wilborn.[23][24] Underwood was happy to join a contender, and signed a four year deal with his new club upon arrival.

He began his Yankee career in the bullpen, going 1-2 with a save and a 3.10 ERA before becoming one of four left handers in the starting rotation. His pattern of bad first starts in which he can't escape the second inning continued against the Baltimore Orioles on April 30,[25] however, he followed that up with six victories in a row. He lost four of his next five, including the worst start of his career against the Texas Rangers (5 batters faced, no outs recorded, 5 earned runs).[26]

The 1980 Yankees went 103-59 to return to the post season after a one year hiatus. Underwood went 13-9 with a 3.66 ERA, two saves and two shutouts. He returned to the bullpen for the post season.

In game one of the 1980 American League Championship Series against the Royals, Underwood pitched what should have been a 1-2-3 eighth inning. Instead, Yankees first baseman Bob Watson made a two out error. This opened the door to the Royals scoring two more runs in their 7-2 game one victory.[27] Underwood pitched again in game three; the Yankees were down 2-0 in the series, and 4-2 in game three when Underwood was handed the ball. Underwood pitched two scoreless innings, but so did Royals closer Dan Quisenberry, to complete the three game sweep.[28]

Underwood had a 1–4 record with a 4.41 ERA when he was traded along with Jim Spencer from the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Dave Revering, Mike Patterson and minor-league left-handed pitcher Chuck Dougherty on May 20, 1981.[29] He made three starts upon joining his new team (no decisions) before the players strike interrupted the season. When play resumed, manager Billy Martin moved Underwood into the bullpen. He went 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA and a save. He also made two starts down the stretch. One of which was a four hit 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays in which he struck out a career high ten, including the last four batters he faced.[30]

The A's won the first half of the split season format instituted for the 1981 season. Underwood faced just one batter in the 1981 American League Division Series with the Royals, striking out Willie Aikens.[31] The A's swept the Royals in the ALDS to face Underwood's former team, the Yankees, in the 1981 American League Championship Series. The Yankees swept the series, with Underwood pitching in games one and three.

Underwood preferred starting,[32] but was far more successful as a reliever in Oakland. He split the next two seasons pretty evenly between starting and relieving. In 1982, he was 5-3 with a 4.06 ERA in 64.1 innings pitched as a starter. As a reliever, his record was also 5-3, but with a 2.74 ERA and a career best seven saves (second on the A's to Dave Beard) in 88.2 innings pitched.

In 1982 he had a 5.54 ERA in 76.1 innings as a starter, almost double the 2.37 ERA he had as a reliever. The 68.1 innings he pitched out of the bullpen was tied for second on the team, and he had four of the bullpen's 33 saves.

A free agent after going 9–7 with four saves in 1983, Underwood signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles on February 6, 1984. He had also received a three-year offer from the Cleveland Indians but sacrificed security for an opportunity to play with the defending World Series champions.[33] He made one start (May 12, 3 innings against the A's),[34] but was otherwise exclusively a long reliever. He was 1-0 with one save and a 3.52 ERA on the season. The Orioles elected not to renew the option year on his contract on September 28, 1984.[35] He returned to the Yankees in 1985, and went 1-3 with a 5.17 ERA in 28 minor league games before retiring.

Underwood reached the post season three times in his career. All three times, his team was swept in the championship series, and all three times he was his team’s final pitcher, but he was never the losing pitcher. In 1999, the Kokomo Tribune named Underwood Howard County, Indiana’s "Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century."[2] He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

After retiring, Underwood became a financial adviser. He met Christine Morra, an LPGA pro, at a golf tournament. They married, and had two children, a daughter Dani and a son John. Underwood died from pancreatic cancer on November 22, 2010.[36]

His son, known as J.D., was drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.[37]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Tom Underwood at Society for American Baseball Research