Rick Krivda

Rick Krivda
Rick Krivda
Strikeouts	165
Teams
	Baltimore Orioles (1995–1997); Cleveland Indians (1998); Cincinnati Reds (1998);
Medals
Men’s baseball
Representing United States
Olympic Games

Richard Michael Krivda (born January 19, 1970) is an American former baseball pitcher. Krivda pitched 12 years in professional baseball and won a gold medal in the

2000 Olympics

.

Krivda graduated from McKeesport High School in 1988. He then went on to California University of Pennsylvania. After college, he was picked in the 23rd round of the

1991 amateur draft by the Baltimore Orioles

.

1991–1993: Rushing through the minors

Krivda began his professional career with the

Bluefield Orioles of Bluefield, West Virginia and went 7-1 with a 1.88 ERA. He was fifth in the Appalachian League in ERA and two wins shy of the lead. He saved one game, allowed only 48 hits in 67 innings and fanned 79. In 1992, Krivda emerged as a strong prospect. He went 12-5 with a 3.03 ERA for the Kane County Cougars, striking out a batter per inning, then was 5-1 with a 2.98 ERA in 9 starts after being promoted to the Frederick Keys

. He continued to whiff over a batter per inning. His 188 strikeouts and 17 wins led the Orioles minor leaguers.

Krivda continued his fast rise through the minors in 1993. He was 7-5 with a 3.08 ERA for the

Frank Rodriguez. Krivda got the start for the American League affiliate team for the Double-A All-Star Game and allowed two runs in two innings in a 12-7 loss. Baseball America

rated Krivda as having the best breaking ball in the EL.

1994–1997: Rochester and Baltimore rotation

At age 24, Krivda spent a full year at Triple-A, one of six in which he would perform in Rochester. He had a 9-10, 3.53 record and was ninth in the International League in ERA. In the 1994 Triple-A All-Star Game, he threw a scoreless inning and struck out two. Krivda was 6-5 with a 3.19 ERA for the 1995 Red Wings. He made his major league debut July 7, 1995. He was 2-2 with a 3.24 ERA after his first eight starts, but lost five in a row to finish 2-7 with a 4.54 ERA. His secondary stats were not bad and his ERA+ was 108.

Back in Rochester to begin 1996, Krivda had a 3-1, 4.30 record when Baltimore came calling again. He went 3-5 with a 4.96 ERA in 22 games for the Orioles; the 812⁄3 innings he pitched marked a career high in the majors. His ERA+ remained respectable at 99.

In 1997, Krivda dazzled with Rochester, going 14-2 with a 3.39 ERA, walking only 34 in 146 innings. He finished fifth in the International League in ERA and led the league in both complete games (6) and shutouts (3). He had a chance to lead the league in wins as well but spent the last couple months of the year with Baltimore. He had a 4-2, 6.30 record in 10 starts for the Orioles, a significant decline from his first two cracks at the majors.

1998: Major leagues in Ohio

Krivda was claimed off waivers by the Indians from the Orioles on March 24, 1998.^[1] He was 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in 11 outings for the Indians, but walked 16 in 25 innings. He was then traded in mid-June to the Cincinnati Reds for Eddie Priest and Christian Rojas. Krivda was only 0-2 with an 11.28 ERA for the Reds. His big-league career was over with a total record of 11-16, 5.57. His last major league game was September 8, 1998.

1999–2003: Back on the farm and Olympic Gold

The

Omaha Royals

, getting rapped for 154 hits in 1151⁄3 IP, clearly past his peak.

Krivda returned to his old home of Rochester in

2000 Olympics

. He took the team's lone loss, a 6-1 defeat by Cuba — Krivda allowed five hits, a walk and two runs in two innings. It was his only appearance in the Olympics. The USA still won gold handily.

Krivda was 4-6 with a 4.35 ERA for the Memphis Redbirds in 2001. Not pitching in 2002, Krivda played in independent league ball in 2003 with the Somerset Patriots (3-6, 6.28) and San Angelo Colts (1-1, 2.37) to finish his pro career with a 102-66 record, 91-50 in the minors.

Post-career notes

On December 29, 2006, the city of McKeesport unveiled a monument to Krivda and to women's basketball star Swin Cash, the two Olympic athletes from McKeesport.

References

^ Maske, Mark. "Orioles' Kamieniecki, Webster Are Ailing," The Washington Post, Wednesday, March 25, 1998. Retrieved February 2, 2023.

Sports Reference

1992–2004 Baseball Almanacs, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on McKeesport monument.
This article was imported with minor changes from Baseball-Reference.Com's Bullpen article [1] on February 3, 2007. The Bullpen is a wiki and its content is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
Short biography

[1] Maske, Mark. "Orioles' Kamieniecki, Webster Are Ailing," The Washington Post, Wednesday, March 25, 1998. Retrieved February 2, 2023.

[1]