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Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men. Benjamin Disraeli |
Scott David Radinsky (born March 3, 1968, in Glendale, California) is the pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians.
He is also a left-handed former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball, who had an 11-year career from – and –. Radinsky is also the lead singer of the punk rock band Pulley and former lead singer of the bands Scared Straight and Ten Foot Pole.
Radinsky finished his career with a 42–25 record, a 3.44 ERA, and 358 strikeouts in 481-2/3 innings pitched. Radinsky also only gave up 33 home runs throughout his career, an average of 1 every 14.5 innings.
He was one of the best Jewish pitchers in major league history through 2010: second in career games pitched (555; behind Scott Schoeneweis), 4th in ERA (3.44; behind Barney Pelty, Sandy Koufax, and Erskine Mayer), and 11th in wins (directly behind Saul Rogovin).
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Radinsky was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the third round in out of Simi Valley High School in Simi Valley, California.
Radinsky pitched in the minor leagues from 1986–, and parts of later years. In 1989, he had 31 saves, a 1.75 ERA, and averaged 5.7 hits allowed and 12.1 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.
He made his major league debut for the White Sox on April 9, 1990. From that point through 1993, he was a fixture in a White Sox bullpen that also included hardthrowing Bobby Thigpen and Roberto Hernández.
In 1990, he posted a record of 6–1 with four saves in his rookie season.
In , Radinsky enjoyed his finest year with the White Sox, going 5–5 with a 2.02 ERA. He was tenth in the league with 67 appearances. He held batters to a .116 batting average with runners in scoring position. In , he was seventh in the AL, pitching in 68 games, and had a 2.73 ERA and a career-high 15 saves. In 1993, he was second in the league, pitching in 73 games, and won a career-high eight games while saving four.
During the 1993– off-season, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. The treatment for the disease forced Radinsky to miss the entire 1994 baseball season. "Oh, it sucks to have a doctor tell you that you have cancer, but in the same breath, he told me that with aggressive treatment they can treat this particular disease," he remembers. "Thank God I didn’t have Internet back then, so I couldn’t get all wrapped up in it. I didn’t have access to see how bad it could be. They told me I had to go through six months of this and five weeks of that, and that’s all I really looked at: the end."
In his 1995 return to the White Sox, his ERA ballooned to 5.45, prompting the White Sox to release him after the season.
His release from the Sox paved the way for his return home to Southern California to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he signed as a free agent in January . He turned down other major league contracts for a minor-league deal with the team he followed throughout his childhood, just a 30-minute drive from his driveway to the stadium. He enjoyed three excellent years (1996–) in Los Angeles, with his ERA never exceeding 2.89. Out of the bullpen, he worked as a set-up pitcher for Todd Worrell and Jeff Shaw, the Dodgers' closers. Radinsky's home-town status, excellent on-the-field performance, blue collar attitude, and at times fiery personality made him an instant fan favorite in Los Angeles.
In , he pitched in a career-high 75 games, 7th in the NL, with a 2.89 ERA.
However, after the 1998 season, the Dodgers and Radinsky decided to cut ties.
He went on to play for the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he signed as a free agent in November 1998.
He then pitched for the Cleveland Indians, with whom he signed as a free agent in January 2001. He injured his pitching elbow in his first game with the Indians, requiring Tommy John surgery. After rehabilitating the elbow, he then returned to make two major league appearances in 2001 before retiring.
He never again experienced the same baseball success that he had enjoyed with the White Sox and Dodgers.
He played his final major league game for the Indians on October 5, 2001.
He was one of the best Jewish pitchers all-time in major league history through 2010: second in career games pitched (555; behind Scott Schoeneweis), 4th in ERA (3.44; behind Barney Pelty, Sandy Koufax, and Erskine Mayer), and 11th in wins (directly behind Saul Rogovin).
Radinsky rejoined the Cleveland Indians organization in as a pitching coach for the South Atlantic League's Lake County Captains. He held the same post in with the Double-A Akron Aeros. In , he was promoted by the Cleveland Indians to serve as the pitching coach for the Buffalo Bisons. in 2009 he was the coach of the Columbus Clippers for the third straight season.
On November 16, 2009, Radinsky was named as bullpen coach for the Cleveland Indians major league club for the 2010 season.
On October 14, 2011, it was announced that Radinsky would become the pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians for the 2012 season to replace Tim Belcher who stepped down at season's end to spend more time with his family.
Besides baseball, Radinsky's other passion is punk rock. A fixture in the 1980s "Nardcore" (Oxnard, California hardcore) scene, he sang for Scared Straight, Which recorded an LP ("You Drink, You Drive, You Die") and several compilation cuts for Mystic Records. The band later changed their name to Ten Foot Pole and subsequently kicked Radinsky out, due to his time-consuming baseball career. He currently sings as the lead vocalist for the punk rock band Pulley, which has toured three continents and opened for bands such as Green Day. As of June 2005, its most recent album had sold nearly 50,000 copies.
Radinsky is also the owner of Skatelab in Simi Valley, California, a skate park with a museum that goes back to the days of metal wheels and two-by-fours.
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