On September 17th, 1984, the Phils sent recently acquired Shane Rawley to the hill to take on the most electric rookie in baseball, 19-year old Dwight Gooden. The Doc was as good as advertised, striking out 16 Phillies, but he made a mistake in the 8th that cost the Mets the game. With the score tied at one and one out in the 8th, Rawley got a single, then moved to second on a wild pitch. He moved to third on an infield single, then scored when the young ace got rattled and committed a balk. Rawley went back out to shut down the Mets in the top of the 9th, and the Phils escaped with a 2-1 win.
Rawley became the Phils ace in the mid-1980s, and made the All-Star team in 1986. In 1987, he got off to a sterling start, and was the frontrunner for the Cy Young heading into September. But after starting 17-6, he staggered to an 0-5 finish with a 7.82 ERA in the month of September, and the award went to his teammate Steve Bedrosian. He never regained his All-Star form, and his career was over by 1989. He currently owns a pizza place in Sarasota, Florida called Shaner’s Pizzeria.
RELATED: Here’s the box score of that game.
