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Clyde Wright (born February 20, 1941), nicknamed " Skeeter", is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels (1966–73), Milwaukee Brewers (1974) and Texas Rangers (1975). He also pitched three seasons in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants (1976–78). He is the father of Jaret Wright. He is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame.
After graduating high school, Wright wanted to obtain a college degree before becoming a professional baseball player, and attended Carson-Newman College, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1965. In September 1965, he was honored by the local Chamber of commerce with a Clyde Wright Night in Jefferson City.
As a freshman, he had an 8–2 won–loss record, with a 0.805 earned run average (ERA). By his sophomore year, he was heavily scouted by major league baseball teams.
Wright was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame on July 3, 1970.
After being promoted to the Angels in 1966, he split time between the Angels and Triple-A Seattle Angels of the Pacific Coast League in 1967. At Seattle, he was 8–4 with a 3.07 ERA, in 13 starts. This would be his last year in the minor leagues.
In 1969, Wright won only one game with eight losses and a 4.10 earned run average; after the season, the Angels waived him. No other team wanted him, and his career seemed to be over. Teammate Jim Fregosi convinced Wright to accompany him to winter ball in Puerto Rico, where Fregosi managed the Ponce team. Fregosi recommended Wright experiment with a screwball (because Wright needed another pitch). Wright also experimented with a changeup. He learned how to throw the screwball, and revived his career.
Wright returned to the Angels in 1970 and had the best season of his career. He won 22 games, losing only 12, with career bests in wins and winning percentage. Wright became only the second 20-game winner in franchise history (Dean Chance had won 20 games in 1964) and established a career-low 2.83 ERA, which earned him the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award. Wright also no-hitter the Oakland Athletics 4-0 at Anaheim Stadium on July 3 of that year, the first no-hitter pitched in that stadium. He threw only 98 pitches in a game that took less than two hours to complete. The day was doubly memorable for Wright: in a pre-game ceremony, he had been inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame.
Wright's no-hitter finished with Sandy Alomar Sr. converting Felipe Alou's ground ball into a double play. Like Wright, Alomar and Alou had sons who would play Major League Baseball (MLB): Alomar is the father of Sandy Jr. and Roberto Alomar, and Alou is the father of Moises. Wright's son Jaret Wright had an 11-year MLB pitching career. Jaret Wright, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Moisés Alou all participated in the 1997 World Series: Alomar Jr. was Jaret Wright's catcher with the Cleveland Indians (the winning battery in Game 4), and Moises Alou was a starting outfielder for the victorious Florida Marlins.
The 22-win season made Clyde Wright, to date, the only Angel left-hander to win 20 games in a season. 22 wins also remains tied as a franchise record, Nolan Ryan having equaled it in 1974.
Wright was selected to the All-Star team in 1970, the only All-Star selection of his career. He was the losing pitcher of the game (which was played at the newly opened Riverfront Stadium eleven days after his no-hitter), giving up the game-winning single to fellow Tennessee native Jim Hickman (his eventual 1970 National League Comeback Player of the Year counterpart) in the 12th inning. Hickman drove in Pete Rose for the winning run, Rose barreling over Cleveland Indian catcher Ray Fosse to score the run in one of the most iconic, or notorious, moments in All-Star game history. The game's winning pitcher was also a native Tennessean – Claude Osteen.
Wright went 16-17 in 1971 with a 2.99 ERA and a career-high 135 strikeouts, and 18-11 in 1972 with a 2.98 ERA, before falling to 11-19 with a 3.68 ERA in 1973. Injuries were a cause for the struggles; Wright had so much back pain in 1973 that he could not even bend over. He was involved in a nine-player transaction when he was sent along with Steve Barber, Ken Berry, Art Kusnyer and cash from the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ellie Rodríguez, Ollie Brown, Joe Lahoud, Skip Lockwood and Gary Ryerson on October 23, 1973.
Wright eventually became popular by throwing baseballs into the stands for young fans. He went 8-7 in that first season with the Giants and won Game 5 of the Japan Series, hitting a home run in that game. However, he lost Game 7 on two late-inning home runs; he had told an interpreter to ask the team to remove him due to fatigue.
Wright feared he was an alcoholic after his Major League Baseball days. He began drinking heavily while in Japan, and over the next few years the problem worsened as he reached the depths of his drinking. In 1996 he told the Los Angeles Times that in 1979, his wife Vicki gave him an ultimatum: stop drinking or she would divorce him. "I went golfing one day and then drinking and when I came home, she was gone. When she came back, Jaret Wright was in the van. I went to open the door and he pushed the lock down. He was 3 years old."Howard, Johnette. "Jaret Wright: The audacious Indians rookie stood firm while veteran pitchers quaked," Sports Illustrated (October 8, 1997). Archived at the Wayback Machine. That was the day he first sought help. Clyde Wright has not had a drink since.
After retiring as a pitcher, Wright opened the Clyde Wright Pitching School at Home Run Park batting cages in Anaheim, California, where he gave pitching lessons for four decades before retiring. Wright also went on to do public relations for the Angels.
He opened Clyde Wright's Tennessee Bar-B-Que at Angel Stadium, where he supervises the cooking and signs autographs.
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