1973—when David Clyde went from teenage phenom to big league trouble: Texas high schooler's career was shortened when he went to the majors with no professional experience - Turn Back The Clock

Baseball Digest, August, 2003 by Kyle Ringo

DAVID CLYDE COULD HAVE been a more sympathetic figure. Instead, he became an example of what can happen to the potential of a young baseball player when the men with the money force unrealistic expectations on his arm.

Bob Short owned the Texas Rangers in 1973. The team was a flop in the Lone Star State two years after moving from Washington D.C. The Rangers had failed to attract more than 9,000 to a game all season.

That June, the franchise used its No. 1 overall pick in the amateur draft on Clyde, an 18-year-old Texas phenom with a sizzling fastball and name recognition.

Clyde was given a $125,000 signing bonus, setting a record for the largest bonus given to a draft pick. The money heaped more pressure on the ill-prepared teen.

The vast majority of even the most talented youngsters drafted into the major leagues receives some seasoning in the minor leagues before being called up to fulfill their dreams and the hopes of the organization that selected them.

Clyde was one of a few exceptions.

Before Clyde, there had been some ballplayers who went directly from high school to the major leagues, but few faced the pressure cooker Clyde did.

Short saw an opportunity to stir interest in his foundering franchise by throwing Clyde into the Rangers' starting rotation. It worked perfectly.

The excitement the homegrown prospect generated led to the first sellout ever at Arlington Stadium. Clyde was on the mound in a Rangers uniform June 27, 1973, in front of a crowd of 35,698 only 20 days after pitching Westchester High School to the state finals.

"The correlation I felt was like going from high school to performing open-heart surgery," Clyde once said. "I felt that's how much better I had to be."

Clyde was the only high school pitcher taken No. 1 overall in the first 26 years of the draft. He hailed from Houston, not all that far from the ballpark where he was expected to lift the Rangers out of the division cellar.

In his final high school season, Clyde nearly had been unhittable. He went 18-0, allowing three earned runs in 148 innings. Most people conveniently forgot that those numbers were registered against skinny teen-agers, not seasoned major league hitters. A lot was expected, no matter how unrealistic those expectations were.

Clyde walked the first two Minnesota batters he faced that day before blowing away Bob Darwin, George Mitterwald and Joe Lis on swinging third strikes to end his first inning in the big leagues. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, and he earned the win in five innings of work.

Clyde might have become a legend if his story didn't take a downturn from there. His brightest moment in the major leagues was his first. He completed his rookie season with a 4-8 record and a 5.01 earned-run average.

His professional career lasted nine years, but only five in the big leagues. He compiled an 18-33 record in 84 starts with the Rangers and Cleveland and a 4.63 ERA. When he retired from the Houston Astros' farm system in 1981, he was less than a season of big-league service away from qualifying for a baseball pension.

Toby Harrah, a 17-year major league veteran, played shortstop for the Rangers when Clyde arrived. Harrah believes it wasn't a very smart idea, but Clyde helped direct himself toward failure by hooking up with veterans who liked to party and weren't interested in protecting a kid from himself.

"To be honest with you, I don't think he handled it very well," Harrah said.

"The fact is, he shouldn't have been there, but the Rangers at that time were trying to get people to come to the ballpark. He had a great arm. It was unfortunate that he didn't pitch longer in the big leagues than he did."

Born:
April 22, 1955
In Kansas City, Kan.
HT: 6-1
WT: 185
Bats: Left
Throws: Left

David Clyde's Major League Statistics

Year        Team        W-L     G     GS    CG    ShO     IP       H

1973        Rangers     4-8     18    18     0     0      93.1    106
1974        Rangers     3-9     28    21     4     0     117.0    129
1975        Rangers     0-1      1     1     0     0       7.0      6
1978        Indians     8-11    28    25     5     0     153.1    166
1979        Indians     3-4      9     8     1     0      45.2     50
Totals 5    years      18-33    84    73    10     0     416.1    457

Year        Team        SO    ERA

1973        Rangers     74    5.01
1974        Rangers     52    4.38
1975        Rangers      2    2.57
1978        Indians     83    4.28
1979        Indians     17    5.91
Totals 5    years      228    4.63