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Baltimore Orioles
Cincinnati RedsIn December of 1965 Pappas and another pitcher, Jack Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson, were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for superstar Frank Robinson. Reds president Bill DeWitt believed that Robinson was "an old 30." The outrage from the Cincinnati fans over the deal made it difficult for Pappas to adjust to pitching in Cincinnati. (The trade has been made famous in the 1988 movie Bull Durham, where Susan Sarandon's character says, "Bad trades are a part of baseball, I mean who can forget Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson, for gosh sakes.") He posted a winning record in 1966 (12-11), but his 4.29 ERA was the worst of his career. That same year, Robinson won the American League Triple Crown and Most Valuable Player Award, and led the Orioles to winning the World Series, in which he won that MVP award. In 1967 Pappas won a team- and career-high 16 games, but when he got off to a slow start in 1968, the Reds traded him to the Atlanta Braves in a six-player deal. Two of the three players the Reds got in return were another starting pitcher, Tony Cloninger, and infielder Woody Woodward. Pappas's inconsistency during his stay in Cincinnati was only part of the reason the Reds traded him. After the 1966 season Pappas and veteran pitcher Joe Nuxhall exchanged harsh words through the media. Nuxhall claimed that Pappas was not giving 100 percent and that he had to start in place of Pappas twice during the season because Pappas was suffering from "migraines." The following season, Pappas complained that the Reds were violating the contracts of their players by not allowing them to fly first-class. He was especially upset that Nuxhall, by now a broadcaster, was himself flying first-class while Milt and the other players had to sit in tourist. In 1968, Pappas criticized the club when they refused to cancel a game the day of Senator Robert F. Kennedy's funeral. These controversies, combined with his performance, prompted the Reds to trade Pappas to Atlanta. Atlanta BravesEven in a much smaller ballpark (Fulton County Stadium), Pappas went 10-8 for the Braves with a 2.37 ERA. In 1969 injuries sidelined him for much of the first four months of the season, and he won only 6 games with 10 losses with a 3.62 ERA. Yet Atlanta won the NL West title, and Pappas finally achieved his goal of the post-season (Baltimore had won the 1966 World Series after trading Pappas during the 1965 off-season). In the playoffs against the New York Mets, Pappas made his only post-season appearance, allowing three runs in 3 innings in relief. Chicago Cubs
In 1972 Pappas again won 17 games, but this time against only seven losses—half his loss total of 1971. He also posted a 2.77 ERA, his best since his 2.60 in 1965, his last year in Baltimore. On September 2 of that year, at Wrigley Field, Pappas no-hit the San Diego Padres. He retired the first 26 batters and was one strike away from a perfect game with a 2-2 count on pinch-hitter Larry Stahl, but home-plate umpire Bruce Froemming, a rookie, called the next two pitches—both of which were close—balls. (Television replays show that Stahl may not have eased up on his check-swing on that last pitch, which would have made it a strike.) Some 25 years later, a Chicago radio personality, during an interview with Pappas, got Froemming on the phone and the two argued on the air. Pappas also said in 2006 that he has seen video tape footage of that game on WGN and can see Froemming smirking immediately after the walk was issued. Undeterred, Pappas ended the game by retiring the next batter, ex-Cub Gary Jestadt. The no-hitter remains the last the Cubs have been involved in—either in pitching it or having it pitched against them. (Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965 is, to date, the last no-hitter pitched against the Cubs; Pappas said in that same 2006 interview that even he was surprised by this.) Eleven days after his no-hitter, he recorded his 200th career victory, also at Wrigley Field, defeating the Montreal Expos 6-2. In 1973 he won only 7 game with 12 losses and a 4.28 ERA. He did have one highlight that season, however: he surpassed the 207 career victories of Hal Newhouser, the man who scouted and signed him. Prior to the start of the 1974 season he was released by the Cubs. Pappas's manager on the Cubs, Leo Durocher, prided himself on getting along with the variety of characters that make up a Major League team. But Durocher lost all patience with Pappas, whom he considered an ingrate and a cancer on the team, though he acknowledged his pitching skills. This is well documented in Durocher's memoir "Nice Guys Finish Last." Personal tragedyOn September 11, 1982, Pappas’s wife, Carole, disappeared after leaving the couple’s home in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton. For five years, no sign was found of her car, clothing, or body. In 1987, almost five years to the day Mrs. Pappas disappeared, workers draining a shallow pond only four blocks from the Pappas home discovered the car Mrs. Pappas had been driving. For many years, a group of four men known as "The Chicago Rippers" were believed to have killed her in a satanic ritual. The four men were convicted of various other murders and heinous crimes. However, in August of 1987, there were public records released that indicated that there was no foul play in her death. Giving up Roger Maris' 59th home run in 1961In 1998, as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa surpassed Roger Maris’ single season home run record, Pappas admitted that he threw nothing but fastballs to Maris in giving up Roger’s 59th home run in 1961. Pappas explained that he was upset that commissioner Ford Frick was planning to put an asterisk next to the new home run mark if Maris did not eclipse Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in 1927 on or before the Yankees’ 154th game. Trivia
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