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on June 20, Piniella seemed to lose faith in
Birtsas. Birtsas saw little work in key situations in the second half of the season, and was optioned down to triple A toward the end of July. He was recalled in September, and was part of the Reds' post-season roster, but did not make an appearance in the
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On August 7, 1989, Birtsas picked up the one and only save of his MLB career. Birtsas pitched the final 4 innings, allowing 2 hits and no runs, closing out a 10-2 Reds win over the Giants. He struck out 3 batters to preserve the win for starter Ron
Robinson.
506:, but was up in the majors by the middle of May. With his record standing at 1–3 with a 4.50 ERA, he was optioned back to triple A at the end of August, but an injury to Rijo helped keep him in the majors through the rest of the season.
650:, and won two games of the championship series, including a shutout in the third and decisive game, leading his team to the league title with a 3–0 sweep. After pitching in Italy, Birtsas retired due to hip problems.
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in just one inning in his first appearance of the season. Knee problems were cited as a potential cause of his ineffectiveness. After one more appearance, he was optioned down to triple A
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520:'s betting fiasco, Birtsas managed to put together a respectable season. He made a career high 42 appearances, and went 2–2 with a 3.75 ERA while earning his only career
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in a real estate developing and investment managing company called RBI Construction
Management. They have also headed restoration projects on historical landmarks in
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On June 4, Birtsas accomplished the rare feat of striking out four batters in one inning. Regardless, following a poor performance against the
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season was delayed by a leg injury in spring training. Once activated, he went 5–1 with a 3.59 ERA in ten starts to help his team win the
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on August 10. From there, Birtsas went 1–4 with a 6.10 ERA in his next eight starts to finish the season at 10–6 with a 4.01 ERA.
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After finishing two more games without allowing any additional runs to score, Birtsas made his first start on May 23, against the
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Sportsmanship Award. He also majored in
Recreation and Youth Leadership with an emphasis on children with special needs at MSU.
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to "get his groove back." He spent the rest of the season at Tacoma, going 3–7 with a 5.07 ERA, used mostly as a
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or World Series against the A's. The Reds were 0–12 in
Birtsas' final twelve regular season appearances.
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season. Shortly after his arrival in Tokyo, Birtsas got into a brawl with
Yoshihisa Komatsuzaki of the
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424:. He allowed two runs in six innings while striking out five to pick up the win. He was added to the
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with the Reds competing for a long reliever/spot starter job. He was reassigned to the triple A
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before receiving a promotion to the big league club. With the A's already losing 10–0 to the
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Birtsas was slated to be one of two left handers out of the
Athletics' bullpen for the
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Spartan Sports
Encyclopedia: A History of the Michigan State Men's Athletic Program
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shortly afterwards, and had a 9–2 record following a victory over the
Mariners in
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when he threw a brush back pitch
Komatsuzaki felt was a little too inside.
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on May 3, and pitched the final two innings without allowing any more
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948:"Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants Box Score, August 7, 1989"
331:, he was a second-team All Big Ten Baseball Team selection in
710:
List of Major League Baseball single-inning strikeout leaders
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Birtsas earned All-County and All-League honors pitching for
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for the entire season. Four of these nine games were won by
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Birtsas appeared in four games as a minor leaguer for the
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August 25, 1991, for the Yakult Swallows
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October 3, 1990, for the Cincinnati Reds
963:"Reds Find Relief With 'Nasty' Bunch On and Off Mound"
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April 10, 1991, for the Yakult Swallows
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championship. After the season, he was packaged with
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May 3, 1985, for the Oakland Athletics
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840:"Winners and Losers at Baseball Winter Meetings"
756:"Henderson Traded to Yankees in Seven-Man Deal"
272:(born September 5, 1960) is an American former
1161:Baseball players from Oakland County, Michigan
1052:Career statistics and player information from
668:Springfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan
1166:American expatriate baseball players in Italy
1116:American expatriate baseball players in Japan
8:
920:"Cincinnati Reds 10, San Francisco Giants 2"
346:did not have a first round selection in the
983:"Giants Get Big Jump, Slow Dow Reds, 10-1"
810:. Baseball-Reference.com. August 10, 1985.
34:
23:
922:. Baseball-Reference.com. August 7, 1989.
824:. Baseball-Reference.com. April 11, 1986.
528:on August 7. He also got his only career
1151:Michigan State Spartans baseball players
1005:. Baseball-Reference.com. June 20, 1990.
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593:1990 National League Championship Series
936:. Baseball-Reference.com. July 2, 1989.
796:. Baseball-Reference.com. May 23, 1985.
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524:, a rare four inning save, against the
482:, this time to the Cincinnati Reds for
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734:. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 595.
509:Despite the turmoil the Reds faced in
1037:"Tim Birtsas Spinal Column Interview"
1018:"Perfect Parks Have Best of Old, New"
1003:"Cincinnati Reds 9, Atlanta Braves 8"
900:"Rijo Placed on 21 Day Disabled List"
822:"California Angels 10, Oakland A's 3"
7:
934:"New York Mets 7, Cincinnati Reds 2"
860:"Reds Reassign 10 Players to Minors"
808:"Oakland A's 11, Seattle Mariners 5"
794:"Oakland A's 4, Baltimore Orioles 2"
474:season between Tacoma and double A
838:Tony DeMarco (December 11, 1987).
776:"Boston Red Sox 10, Oakland A's 0"
478:, Birtsas was again packaged with
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579:with 46 saves, and compiling 385
323:that earned him a scholarship to
1035:Jerry Garland (March 26, 2009).
694:
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642:In 1992 Birtsas pitched for the
348:1982 Major League Baseball draft
1156:People from Clarkston, Michigan
1131:Fort Lauderdale Yankees players
961:Claire Smith (April 23, 1990).
728:Jack Seibold (August 1, 2003).
313:Independence Township, Michigan
1111:Major League Baseball pitchers
1016:Jim Donaghy (April 19, 1991).
1:
353:After going 12–8 with a 2.36
44:
1171:Rimini Baseball Club players
664:Waterford Township, Michigan
624:Nippon Professional Baseball
293:Nippon Professional Baseball
1070:Baseball Reference (Minors)
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494:Birtsas entered his first
417:while striking out three.
389:in a trade to Oakland for
1101:Oakland Athletics players
885:The Daily News (Kentucky)
325:Michigan State University
315:. He also played varsity
291:from 1985 to 1990 and in
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1146:Nashville Sounds players
1141:Huntsville Stars players
607:When the Reds re-signed
439:season. He allowed five
327:. Under legendary coach
16:American baseball player
1126:Oneonta Yankees players
1121:Yakult Swallows players
1106:Cincinnati Reds players
880:"Reds Counting on Rijo"
658:Birtsas partnered with
648:Italian Baseball League
638:Italian Baseball League
359:Fort Lauderdale Yankees
780:Baseball-Reference.com
1136:Tacoma Tigers players
620:Tokyo Yakult Swallows
309:Clarkston High School
281:Major League Baseball
274:professional baseball
905:The Day (New London)
565:National League West
526:San Francisco Giants
470:After splitting the
371:Florida State League
270:Timothy Dean Birtsas
1077:at Baseball Almanac
764:. December 6, 1984.
654:Post playing career
532:in eighteen career
409:, Birtsas made his
1062:Baseball Reference
988:The Union Democrat
908:. August 28, 1988.
888:. August 23, 1988.
597:Pittsburgh Pirates
502:toward the end of
411:major league debut
355:earned run average
196:Earned run average
161:Earned run average
103:Professional debut
868:. March 19, 1988.
555:With new manager
426:starting rotation
422:Baltimore Orioles
335:and received the
285:Oakland Athletics
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227:Oakland Athletics
78:Pontiac, Michigan
72:September 5, 1960
42:Oakland Athletics
40:Birtsas with the
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344:New York Yankees
124:Last appearance
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569:relief pitchers
504:Spring training
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329:Danny Litwhiler
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297:Yakult Swallows
289:Cincinnati Reds
279:. He played in
255:Yakult Swallows
241:Cincinnati Reds
186:Win–loss record
151:Win–loss record
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614:at the 1990
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557:Lou Piniella
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455:) and three
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1091:1960 births
1075:Tim Birtsas
660:Kirk Gibson
484:Dave Parker
441:earned runs
403:Oakland A's
397:Oakland A's
379:Stan Javier
365:, Birtsas'
303:Early years
28:Tim Birtsas
1085:Categories
1068:, or
1064:, or
1060:, or
1056:, or
865:The Ledger
716:References
612:Bill Doran
581:strikeouts
476:Huntsville
449:grand slam
387:Eric Plunk
375:Jay Howell
317:basketball
206:Strikeouts
171:Strikeouts
68:1960-09-05
1066:Fangraphs
595:with the
518:Pete Rose
480:José Rijo
383:José Rijo
357:with the
299:in 1991.
674:See also
626:for the
573:nickname
540:off the
538:home run
321:baseball
295:for the
283:for the
646:in the
534:at-bats
515:manager
465:starter
443:on two
430:Seattle
277:pitcher
88:Batted:
55:Pitcher
738:
496:Spring
461:Tacoma
94:Threw:
80:, U.S.
513:with
457:walks
219:Teams
155:14–14
63:Born:
1058:ESPN
736:ISBN
666:and
628:1991
561:1990
522:save
511:1989
472:1987
445:hits
437:1986
415:runs
385:and
367:1984
363:1983
342:The
333:1982
287:and
259:1991
249:1990
245:1988
235:1986
231:1985
200:5.61
165:4.08
138:NPB:
130:MLB:
117:NPB:
109:MLB:
96:Left
90:Left
47:1986
1054:MLB
622:of
530:hit
451:by
361:in
311:in
190:3–3
175:231
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