Taking nothing away from the other fine lefty pitchers listed, Frank Tanana truly belongs in a class by himself, above all the rest. He entered the league not only with great stuff but superb control as well. He's about the only left-hander I can remember who would throw breaking balls over the inside part of the plate to right-handed hitters, deliberately, and have it work. Brilliant variety in his pitch selection; it was hard for hitters to sit on anything. We're talking about when he still had his fastball in his arsenal, of course. I don't think I'll ever forgive manager Jim Fregosi for giving in to Nolan Ryan's whining in 1978 to switch to a four-man rotation. It allowed rubber-armed Ryan to get more work, but it basically ruined Tanana's arm. Tanana had such a good head and was so creative, he was able to hang on in the majors for a long time as a sometimes-successful junk pitcher. But make not mistake: he could never again be fully the Tanana that God had given us. I used to know a baseball fan in Southern California who really lived quite a long way from Anaheim Stadium, but he would make the hours-long trip several times each season to watch Tanana pitch.
Taking nothing away from the other fine lefty pitchers listed, Frank Tanana truly belongs in a class by himself, above all the rest. He entered the league not only with great stuff but superb control as well. He's about the only left-hander I can remember who would throw breaking balls over the inside part of the plate to right-handed hitters, deliberately, and have it work. Brilliant variety in his pitch selection; it was hard for hitters to sit on anything. We're talking about when he still had his fastball in his arsenal, of course. I don't think I'll ever forgive manager Jim Fregosi for giving in to Nolan Ryan's whining in 1978 to switch to a four-man rotation. It allowed rubber-armed Ryan to get more work, but it basically ruined Tanana's arm. Tanana had such a good head and was so creative, he was able to hang on in the majors for a long time as a sometimes-successful junk pitcher. But make not mistake: he could never again be fully the Tanana that God had given us. I used to know a baseball fan in Southern California who really lived quite a long way from Anaheim Stadium, but he would make the hours-long trip several times each season to watch Tanana pitch.