How MLB All-Star Game’s other rookie starters fared ahead of Paul Skenes’ debut
Paul Skenes is the fifth rookie pitcher to start an MLB All-Star Game. How did the other four do?
On Tuesday night, Paul Skenes will walk to the pitcher’s mound at Globe Life Field in Arlington in the bottom of the first inning, representing the National League as the starting pitcher in baseball’s All-Star Game.
With that, he will join one of baseball’s smallest clubs.
Skenes will become just the fifth rookie to start in the All-Star Game, joining Dave Stenhouse, Mark Fidrych, Fernando Valenzuela, and Hideo Nomo.
How did the other four fare?
Dave Stenhouse, Washington Senators
1962 All-Star Game (Second Game)
Before we dive into Dave Stenhouse, who became the first rookie starting pitcher in All-Star Game history, we must first dive into a quick baseball history note.
As you can see from the above notation, Stenhouse started the “second game” of the 1962 All-Star Game.
For three years from 1959 until 1962, Major League Baseball put on two All-Star Games. The reason? Well, money. The second game of an All-Star Game doubleheader was put on to raise more money for player pensions.
While that was scrapped following the 1962 season, the presence of two games allowed Stenhouse to start for the American League as a rookie that year. Stenhouse went two innings, giving up three hits and a run along with one strikeout. He gave way to Ray Herbert of the Chicago White Sox, who pitched three scoreless innings to become the game’s winning pitcher, as the American League defeated the National League by a final score of 9-4.
Mark Fidrych, Detroit Tigers
1976 All-Star Game
Of the four other rookie pitchers who started an All-Star Game, Mark “The Bird” Fidrych might be the lone “cautionary tale.” Fidrych exploded on the baseball scene in 1976 with the Detroit Tigers, captivating fans with both his pitching, and his behavior on the mound. Fidrych would talk to the baseball, circle the mound in between outs, groom the mound with his hands and wave off groundskeepers who wanted to tend to the bump between innings.
But thanks to a string of strong outings in the spring of 1976 the 21-year-old parlayed his first 11 starts into not just an All-Star Game nod, but the call as the starting pitcher for the American League.
Despite all the hype Fidrych received, his start did not go that well. Facing a stacked National League lineup, Fidrych gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Pete Rose led off with a single and scored when the next batter, Steve Garvey, tripled. Fidrych got Joe Morgan to fly out, but a grounder from George Forster saw Garvey score on a Fielder’s Choice.
Fidrych pitched a scoreless second inning, but he was credited with the loss as the National League defeated the American League by a final score of 7-1.
Why might this be something of a cautionary tale? Like Fidrych, Skenes has 11 starts to his name.
Fernando Valenzuela, Los Angeles Dodgers
1981 All-Star Game
Something similar to the Fidrych phenomenon took place just five years later.
“Fernandomania.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers called up Fernando Valenzuela in September of the 1980 MLB season, and over ten appearances he pitched almost 18 innings of scoreless relief to help the Dodgers down the stretch as they pushed for a playoff spot. But their season ended in a loss in a one-game playoff for the division title to the Houston Astros.
Next year was a little different for the Dodgers, and Valenzuela.
He was named the team’s opening-day starter after an injury to Jerry Reuss 24 hours ahead of Opening Day sidelined the expected starting pitcher, and fellow Dodgers pitcher Burt Hooton was not ready to go. All Valenzuela did in his first start was pitch a complete game shutout as the Dodgers beat the Astros 2-0, exacting a little revenge and kicking off a worldwide phenomenon in the process.
Valenzuela started the year with eight straight victories, going the distance in every single start, with five of those games shutouts. The Dodgers leaned into the growing phenomenon, playing ABBA’s hit from 1976 “Fernando” during his warmup routine. Valenzuela’s pitching motion — which featured a high leg kick and Valenzuela looking towards the sky at the height of his motion — only added to the story.
Valenzuela was named the National League’s starting pitcher for the 1981 All-Star Game, and keeping with his tremendous rookie campaign he pitched a scoreless first inning. The National League defeated the American League 5-4, and some of Valenzuela’s fellow NL pitchers helped close out the game in the late innings.
Pitchers like Vida Blue, Bruce Sutter, and Nolan Ryan.
Later that year Valenzuela became the first pitcher in MLB history to win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award, as he finished the season 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA and 180 strikeouts, which led the National League.
The Dodgers also won the World Series.
Hideo Nomo
1995 All-Star Game
Hideo Nomo was one of the most successful pitchers in Japanese baseball, as his unique “Tornado” pitching motion baffled hitters and wowed fans. But a contract dispute between Nomo and the Kintetsu Buffaloes led to Nomo’s management team finding a loophole in the Japanese Uniform Players Contract which allowed Nomo to “retire,” and become a free agent.
That allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign him in February of 1995, ahead of the upcoming season.
The pressure on Nomo was incredible, given that he was the first Japanese-born player to relocate permanently to the United States to play in the major league. His rookie campaign started slowly, with Nomo recording five straight no-decisions and a loss to begin his career. But six consecutive wins turned his rookie season around, and Nomo had a 6-1 record when he was named the starting pitcher for the National League in the 1995 All-Star Game.
Nomo pitched two scoreless innings while allowing one hit, and striking out three. He struck out Kenny Lofton, Edgar Martinez, and Albert Belle over those two innings of work.
The NL defeated the AL 3-2 in that game.