Michael Warren Scott (born April 26, 1955) is an American former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets and the Houston Astros….who won the National League Cy Young Award in 1986…..as Scott is part of a select group of pitchers that have thrown a no-hitter and struck out 300 batters in the same season.
The turning point in Scott’s career came in 1985….when he became a student of legendary pitching coach Roger Craig….who taught Scott the split-finger fastball….a pitch he had made famous while coaching the pitchers of the 1984 World Series champion Detroit Tigers…..and seen showcased in this video herewith. Scott became an 18-game winner in 1985….and was rewarded with a three-year deal with the Astros, valued at $2 million….then Scott enjoyed his most successful season in 1986….when he posted an 18-10 record with a 2.22 ERA….while striking out a league-leading 306 batters. In addition, on September 25 of that season….he threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at the Astrodome to clinch the National League West division title for the Astros…..as he led a strong starting rotation consisting of pitchers Bob Knepper, Nolan Ryan, and Jim Deshaies. Scott’s outstanding form continued into the postseason….when Houston faced the Eastern Division champion New York Mets in the 1986 National League Championship Series….an NLCS that we have in it’s entirety here at ImaSportsphile. The Astros lost the series, 4 games to 2, but those two Astros’ victories were courtesy of Scott’s overwhelming starting pitching performances in Games 1 and 4. So dominating was Scott against the Mets’ batting order in those two games that Game 6 was considered something of a “must win” for the Mets’ pennant hopes….as a Game 6 loss to the Astros would have meant that New York would again face an apparently unbeatable Mike Scott in a deciding Game 7 in the Astrodome. The Mets did win that Game 6 in sixteen innings…thus averting another Scott star to win the league pennant. Just FYI to our viewers and readers….this NLCS was seen in it’s entirety by our Bone Daddy….the original Sportsphile…..to which I have written several stories about his incredible trip to Shea Stadium to see games 3,4 and 5….that I will feature in our L E’s Stories section
In recognition of his regular season performance, Scott was awarded the 1986 National League Cy Young Awardas the league’s best pitcher…..while additionally being voted the NL 1986 NLCS MVP….which was at the time the 1st and only time in NLCS history that a member of the losing team was so honored….only to be duplicate a year later when the San Francisco Giants’ Jeffrey Leonard would become the second consecutive NLCS MVP of the losing team.
