Bo Belinsky
Bo Belinsky | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Born: Manhattan, New York City, U.S. | December 7, 1936|
Died: November 23, 2001 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | (aged 64)|
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
MLB debut | |
April 18, 1962, for the Los Angeles Angels | |
Last MLB appearance | |
May 18, 1970, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
MLB statistics | |
Win–loss record | 28–51 |
Earned run average | 4.10 |
Strikeouts | 476 |
Teams | |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
Robert "Bo" Belinsky (December 7, 1936 – November 23, 2001) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1970.
Belinsky became a local celebrity as a rookie with the Angels when he won his first four starts, including a no-hitter. Belinsky is one of only two pitchers in Angels franchise history to start his career with a four-game winning streak or better, the other being Jered Weaver.[1]
Early life
Belinsky was born on the
Baseball career
"If I'd known I was gonna pitch a no-hitter today, I would have gotten a haircut."
— Belinsky, after throwing a no-hitter
Belinsky was already notorious as a minor leaguer for his
Belinsky had a career record of only 28–51, but threw the first
But the no-hitter—his fourth straight win at the start of his rookie season—would immortalize his name and, perhaps, mark the beginning of his long downfall. Belinsky would finish the 1962 season with a 10–11 win–loss record, a 3.56 earned run average, 4th in the league in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (6.966) and the league lead in walks (122).[13] He finished the season second in the American League in home runs allowed per 9 innings pitched (0.577), third in hits per 9 innings pitched (7.158), and sixth in shutouts (3).[13]
After throwing the no-hitter Belinsky also said, "If music be the food of love, by all means let the band play on." The 1962 season was a raucous one for Belinsky in that he became glittering copy for
In addition to pitching the first no-hitter in Angels' history, Belinsky was also on the losing end of the first no-hitter ever pitched against the Angels—Earl Wilson's 2–0 gem at Fenway Park on June 26 of the same 1962 season. The Boston Red Sox pitcher hit a home run in that game, one of four no-hit pitchers ever to do so.
Belinsky fell to 1–7 in 1963, and was sent to the Angels' minor league team in Hawaii, where he pitched his way back and finished the year 2–9 in the Major Leagues.
Belinsky was 9–7 with a career-best 2.86 ERA in August 1964 when came the incident that ended his days with the Angels: a hotel room fight with 64-year-old Los Angeles Times
Later life and death
Belinsky became a kind of protégé to fading but still influential and
"What was clear," Jordan wrote, "was that Belinsky had dissipated a promising career, that people had grown tired of him, and that most of the problem could be traced to his personality. He did not have the knack of such later athletes—the Namaths, Harrelsons and Sandersons—of cultivating his personality precisely up to, but not beyond, that point at which the public became bored with it."[16]
Belinsky married and divorced Playboy Playmate of the Year Jo Collins, then heiress Janie Weyerhaeuser. He eventually overcame alcoholism to become first a counselor and spokesman for the alcohol abuse program he entered in Hawaii, and then an auto agency representative at Saturn of West Sahara in Las Vegas. Clean, sober and a born-again Christian ("Can you imagine," he was quoted as saying, "finding Jesus Christ in Las Vegas?"), Belinsky battled bladder cancer before his death in Las Vegas of an apparent heart attack at age 64.[12] He is interred at Davis Memorial Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Veteran sportswriter Maury Allen wrote a biography of Belinsky, Bo: Pitching and Wooing, "with the uncensored cooperation of Bo Belinsky," in 1973.[17]
I came to the Angels as a kid who thought he had been pushed around by life, by minor league baseball. I was selfish and immature in a lot of ways and I tried to cover that up. I went from a major league ballplayer to hanging onto a brown bag under the bridge, but I had my moments and I have my memories. If I had the attitude about life then that I have now, I'd have done a lot of things differently. But you make your rules and you play by them. I knew the bills would come due eventually, and I knew I wouldn't be able to cover them.
— Bo Belinsky to Ross Newhan, in The Anaheim Angels: A Complete History
Criminal accusation
Gloria Eves, a former nightclub cashier and hatcheck attendant, filed a $150,000 damage suit against Belinsky claiming an assault on June 13, 1962. Eves, a resident of 7130
Eves received six
In popular culture
In the My Favorite Martian episode "Rx for Martin", Martin plans to take a baseball personally autographed by Bo Belinsky (complete with his picture engraved on it) back to Mars.
Belinsky is, along with a random assortment of other figures,[24] name-checked in Allan Sherman's "Oh Boy!" (based on the melody of Las Chiapanecas) on his 1962 debut album My Son, the Folk Singer ("Oh boy! Igor Stravinsky! Oh boy! Bo Belinsky! Oh boy! David Dubinsky and Minsky and Wernher von Braun, oh boy!").[25]
See also
References
- ^ Bolch, Ben (June 14, 2006). "Weaver Gives a Little Bo Peek". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- ^ "Anna Polnoff Belinsky (1914-1984) - Find a Grave". Find a Grave.
- ^ Linda Dougherty (November 25, 2001). "TRENTON'S BELINSKY DEAD AT 64: 'Bo' knew both starlets and baseball glory". trentonian.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "Bo Belinsky," SABR.
- ^ "Fallen Angel". Los Angeles Magazine. July 1, 2005. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ISBN 9781561719730. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ Jonathan Mahler (December 17, 2001). "He Was No Koufax, But…". Observer. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ISBN 9781476617442. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ISBN 9781625840592. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ISBN 9781631358999. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "Bo Belinsky Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
- ^ a b Richard Goldstein (November 27, 2011). "Bo Belinsky, 64, the Playboy Pitcher, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Bo Belinsky Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Reed, William F. (March 28, 1994). "Once He Was an Angel | Vault". Si.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "#24 – May 5, 1962: Bo Belinsky tosses first no-hitter in Angels history | Top-50 Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball". The Sports Daily. March 9, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "He Was Never An Angel". The Sports Daily. May 8, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ "Bo Belinsky – Society for American Baseball Research".
- ^ a b Belinsky, Chance Fined After 5 A.M. Ruckus, Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1962, pg. B1.
- ^ $150,000 Suit Is Filed Against Bo Belinsky, Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1962, pg. D3.
- Los Angeles Magazine, July 2005, pg. 73.
- The Washington Post and Times-Herald, August 16, 1962, pg. D8.
- ^ Woman Sues Bo Belinsky for $150,000, Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1962, pg. 32.
- ^ Fallen Angel, Los Angeles Magazine, July 1962, pg. 72.
- ^ "My Son, The Chairman" (PDF). Television Magazinr). March 1963. p. 136. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ "Oh Boy song lyrics by Allan Sherman (official)". Paroles-musique.com. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Bo Belinsky at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
- Bo Belinsky at Baseball Almanac
- Bo Belinsky at Baseballbiography.com
- Bo Belinsky at Astros Daily
- Bo Belinsky at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)
- Bo Belinsky at Find a Grave