Rick Wise

A star high-school athlete in Portland, Oregon, Wise signed a bonus contract with Philadelphia in 1963 and had to be kept on their 1964 major league roster; he went 5-3 as an 18-year-old for Gene Mauch‘s “Great Collapse” Phillies. The hard thrower was sent to the minors to learn how to pitch in 1965, returned in 1966, and had mixed success for several years. In 1971 he went 17-14 and no-hit Cincinnati on June 23, becoming the only pitcher in ML history to hit two home runs in a no-hitter. He was one of the best-hitting pitchers in the National League, with a .195 career average and 15 home runs – 6 in 1971 alone. In the spring of 1972, he was sent to the Cardinals in a controversial trade for Steve Carlton.

Wise won 16 games for St. Louis in both 1972 and 1973 and was the winning pitcher in the ’73 All-Star Game before going to the Red Sox in a deal for Reggie Smith. After overcoming arm trouble, he won a staff-high 19 games for the 1975 AL champion Red Sox. He was the winning pitcher, in relief, in the sixth game of the World Series, won by Carlton Fisk‘s dramatic home run.

With last-place Cleveland in 1978, Wise lost a league-high 19 games. He signed as a free agent with San Diego after the 1979 season and won ten games in two seasons before the Padres released him in April 1982. Wise’s brother, Tom, was an infielder in the Astros organization from 1970 through 1974.