A look at Dave Duncan's career

Dave Duncan took a leave of absence this Thursday to be with his ailing wife who is battling a brain tumor. Its unfortunate about her health. Derek Lilliquist will serve as pitching coach, and Dyer Miller will be promoted from Triple A to serve as bullpen coach. Duncan has probably been the best pitching coach in my lifetime for sure. The only other pitching coach in his league was Leo Mazzone, and Duncan never had a staff as talented as Mazzone did with the 90s Braves. Tony LaRussa gave Duncan alot of credit for his managerial success, and pretty much let him handle the pitching. Duncan was LaRussa's pitching coach for every postseason team he managed.

Duncan was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, and made his debut in 1964. He was a good defensive catcher, but not much of a hitter. By the time the franchise moved to Oakland, Duncan finally was in the big leagues for good. After struggling in 1968 and 1969 with averages below the Mendoza line, he finally broke through in 1970 with a .259 Avg. He was an All Star in 1970, and was the A's starting catcher for their 1972 World Championship team.

Those A's teams had alot of great pitchers including Hall of Famers Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, 1971 Cy Young Winner Vida Blue, and All Stars Ken Holtzman and Blue Moon Odom. During spring training in 1973 Duncan was traded to the Cleveland Indians. He played two seasons there and then was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. His final season was in 1976. He also was teammates with Hall of Fame pitchers Gaylord Perry and Jim Palmer.

Duncan first became a coach for the Indians in 1978, and was named the Mariners pitching coach in 1982. In 1983 he joined the White Sox, who were managed by a young Tony La Russa. Duncan has always had a throw strikes and trust your defense philosophy as a pitching coach. The Sox won 99 games in 1983 and made their first postseason appearance in 24 years. Richard Dotson and LaMarr Hoyt both won over 20 games, and Hoyt won the AL Cy Young Award. During the 1986 season the White Sox fired La Russa, and he took over as Athletics manager. Duncan followed him after the season.

With the A's, Duncan's biggest reclamation project was Dave Stewart. He turned 30 in 1987 and had bounced around the big leagues without much success until then. Under Duncan's tutelage, Stewart won over 20 games four straight seasons and was one of baseball's best pitchers. Bob Welch enjoyed a renaissance under Duncan and won 27 games in 1990 and the Cy Young Award. Mike Moore also had his best seasons with Duncan as pitching coach. The A's made three straight World Series, winning the 1989 Series.

With the A's is were La Russa and Duncan changed the way teams used the bullpen. They played matchups and the bullpen became more specialized. Before then a closer would pitch multiple innings, but La Russa limited his closer to one inning most of the time. Dennis Eckersley and Rick Honeycutt both were pretty good starters, but were converted to the bullpen when other teams thought they were finished. Eckersley was a dominant closer from 1987 to 1992, and Honeycutt was the primary set up man. Eckersley won the MVP and Cy Young Award in 1992, and in 1990 he actually had a better year. He had a 0.61 ERA and a 0.61 WHIP with 48 saves.

La Russa and Duncan moved on to the Cardinals in 1996, and they made their first postseason appearance in 9 years. Andy Benes and Todd Stottlemyre enjoyed some of their best seasons with Duncan. Kent Bottenfield had a somewhat fluky 18 win season in 1999, and the Cardinals were able to trade him and Adam Kennedy for Jim Edmonds. Daryl Kile always had a great curveball, but lost his confidence in the thin air of Colorado. He revived his career in St. Louis, winning 20 games in 2000.

Guys like Woody Williams, Jeff Suppan, Joel Pineiro, Jeff Weaver, and Kyle Lohse all had success with Duncan. Whether if it was a mechanical adjustment or a mental one, it clicked with them. Ryan Franklin had his best seasons with Duncan, although his 2009 season was obviously a fluke. He posted a 1.92 ERA in 2009, and his career ERA is 4.14. Chris Carpenter wasn't able to harness his talent in Toronto, and the Cardinals took a risk on him despite him being hurt in 2003. It paid off big time, and Carp has been one of the best pitchers to ever wear the Birds on the bat. He made three All Star teams, won the 2005 Cy Young Award, led the NL in ERA for 2009, and was the ace of two World Series champions.

Some people have criticized Duncan for not working well with younger pitchers and being better with veterans. There has been a few younger pitchers who didn't work out like Anthony Reyes, or pitchers who were traded away too soon like Danny Haren. But, there has also been some successful pitchers come up from the minors. Alan Benes finished 7th in the 1996 Rookie of the Year balloting, and sported a 2.89 ERA in 161.2 innings in 1997 before injuries derailed his career. Matt Morris won over 100 games in Cardinal red. Rick Ankiel had a good rookie year in 2000, going 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 175 innings. Unfortunately, he had a meltdown in Game 1 of the NLDS and never recovered. Adam Wainwright was a reliever his rookie year, and took over as closer after Jason Isringhausen's injury in late 2006. Who can forget him striking out Carlos Beltran with a curve or saving Game 5 of the World Series? Wainwright was moved to the rotation in 2007, and became one of baseball's best pitchers. Finally, lefty Jaime Garcia had a fine rookie season in 2010 finishing fourth in the NL in ERA. Garcia was more durable last season pitching 21.1 innings in 2011 than he did the previous season.