The 6’7″ California native entered his prime years in position to become one of baseball’s great pitchers for the Angels. Behind him was the 13th perfect game in major league history, a 1-0 win September 30, 1984 in Texas; and selection to the 1986 and 1987 All-Star squads.
Using a great curveball and a good fastball, and changing speeds well, Witt climbed among the Angels’ leaders in wins, games pitched, starts, complete games, strikeouts, innings pitched, and shutouts, leading the club in each of those categories (except shutouts) each year from 1984 to 1987. He joined Dean Chance (1962-65) as the only pitcher to lead the Angels in wins four straight seasons and was the Angel MVP in 1986.
Witt suddenly lost his overpowering stuff in the middle of 1987. His strikeout numbers dropped substantially, and he was never again able to reclaim his dominance for the Angels. The New York Yankees felt that a change of scenery would bring about the Witt of old, and traded Dave Winfield to get him on May 11, 1990. Witt never won more than five games for the Yankees during his three-year tenure there.
