John Wetteland
| John Wetteland | |||
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: August 21, 1966 San Mateo, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| May 31, 1989, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 20, 2000, for the Texas Rangers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 48–45 | ||
| Earned run average | 2.97 | ||
| Strikeouts | 804 | ||
| Saves | 330 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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John Karl Wetteland (born August 21, 1966) is a retired American Major League Baseball pitcher who specialized as a closer. During a 12-year career (from 1989–2000), he pitched for four different teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers. With the Yankees, he won the 1996 World Series over the Atlanta Braves and was named the World Series MVP.
Wetteland was signed by the Dodgers as their second choice in the June 1985 amateur draft (Secondary Phase). He was later claimed by the Detroit Tigers in December 1989 as a Rule 5 draft pick, but was soon returned to the Dodgers. While playing in the Pacific Coast League, he garnered notice by earning 20 saves in 20 chances. He made his major league debut on May 31, 1989. After struggling with his first five starts in 1990, Wetteland asked to be switched to the bullpen, and became a full-time closer in 1992.
After the 1991 season, Wetteland was traded twice; first to the Cincinnati Reds for Eric Davis, and then to the Expos for Dave Martinez. On April 5, 1995 he was traded to the Yankees for Fernando Seguignol.
During the 1996 season, he led the American League in saves, totaling 43, and appeared in the All-Star Game. During the 1996 World Series, Wetteland had 4 saves and the Yankees won the World Series against the Atlanta Braves in 6 games. Wetteland was given the World Series MVP Award that year, recording the maximum four saves possible during the Series, tying the record for the most saves in a single postseason series (Dennis Eckersley first did it in the 1988 ALCS; since then, Greg Holland matched it in the 2014 ALCS), and setting a record for saves in the full postseason, with 7 (since then, Robb Nen, Troy Percival, Brad Lidge, Koji Uehara, and Holland, share this record). He was awarded with the 1996 Rolaids Relief Man Award. The most famous of the four World Series saves was in Game 5, as a result of ex-Reds teammate Paul O'Neill robbing Luis Polonia of a potential extra-base hit to right-center field. That save, and batterymate Jim Leyritz's three-run game-winning home run in Game 4, both in the final two games in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, are the two most remembered moments of that World Series.
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