Darold Knowles

Darold Duane Knowles (born December 9, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from through , most prominently as a member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974. In the 1973 World Series, Knowles became the first pitcher to appear in all seven games of a World Series. He also played for the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos, and St. Louis Cardinals. He played in the Kansas City area summer collegiate-level Ban Johnson League, and once struck out either 32 or 33 batters in a 13-inning win (1–0) in a league game. In July–September 1960, he led all Ban Johnson Central Missouri Eastern Division pitchers with 83 strikeouts in 55.1 innings pitched, and had a 15–2 won–loss record. His Ban Johnson teams won consecutive state championships.

Knowles attended the University of Missouri, but left school to sign with the Baltimore Orioles in February 1961. He was mostly utilized as a starting pitcher, though he did pitch 47 games in relief. In his five-year minor league career, Knowles had a 56–33 won–loss record, with a 2.77 earned run averaged (ERA), striking out 799 batters in 852 innings pitched. Years later, Weaver told Knowles that Knowles' success under Weaver was one of the reasons Weaver made it to the major leagues.

In between, Knowles played winter ball with the Tiburones de La Guaira club of the Venezuelan League in the 1964–1965 season, where he posted a 13–9 record with a 2.37 ERA and 155 strikeouts to earn Triple Crown honors.

Knowles made his debut with the Orioles on April 18, 1965, before returning to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, where he had an 11–5 record, 2.53 ERA and 155 strikeouts in 174 innings pitched. Upon completion of the International League (IL) season, Knowles received a September call back up to Baltimore. He went 0–1 with a 6.92 ERA in his return.

Philadelphia Phillies Knowles was traded with Jackie Brandt to the Phillies for Jack Baldschun on December 6, 1965. He won the season opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching six innings of one-run ball as a relief pitcher to earn his first career win. His first career save came on May 12 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. For the season, Knowles earned 13 saves. At the end of his only season in Philadelphia, he was traded to the Washington Senators for Don Lock. In an August 9, 1967 game against the Twins, Knowles came in to pitch in the eighth inning of what would become a 20-inning game. He pitched ten innings of shutout baseball through the 17th inning. He allowed only three hits and struck out 10 Twins.

He was used 32 times in , with a 2.18 ERA and four saves, He returned to the Senators in May , and went 4–1 with four saves and a 2.01 ERA to earn his only career All-Star nod.

Despite a 2–14 record in , Knowles enjoyed career highs in saves (27), appearances (71) and innings pitched (119.1), and had a 2.04 ERA. in 1969 and 1970, who thought Knowles was the best relief pitcher in the major leagues. Knowles only allowed four of 35 inherited runners to score, and earned seven saves and five wins out of a bullpen that already included Rollie Fingers and Bob Locker. The A's won the American League West by 16 games over the Kansas City Royals, but were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1971 American League Championship Series. Knowles' only series appearance came in game three.

In , Knowles went 5–1 with a 1.37 ERA and 11 saves, In 1972, the A's won the first of their three consecutive World Series championships (1972–1974).

1973 World Series Knowles made five starts for the world champion A's in , pitching his only complete game shutout against the Boston Red Sox on August 14. He threw 47 games in relief. and seven. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 7, manager Dick Williams brought Knowles in to replace future Hall of Fame relief pitcher Rollie Fingers. Knowles got the final out to seal the A's World Series victory. Knowles considers this the most memorable moment of his career.

In his 1980 autobiography, Athletics manager Alvin Dark recalled that Knowles "was having a bad year" in 1974. In one game where Knowles struggled, Dark came to the mound to remove him from the game. Knowles argued with him on the mound, protesting that he would not get in shape unless he was able to pitch him more often. "Why don't you trade me?" he asked Dark when they got back to the dugout. "Because nobody wants you, that's why!" Dark retorted.

Final years Knowles inherited the closer role in Chicago, saving 15 in and nine in . Shortly before spring training , Knowles was dealt to the Rangers for a player to be named later (Gene Clines) and cash. He went 5–2 with a 3.22 ERA and four saves to help the Rangers to a second-place finish. After the season, he was reunited with his former A's manager Dick Williams when his contract was sold to the Expos. He appeared in 60 games with the Expos, going 3–3 with six saves and a 2.38 ERA.

Knowles did not enjoy playing in Canada, citing taxes, language problems and political unrest in Quebec as the reasons for his displeasure. After just one season in Montreal, the Expos granted him free agency in late 1978, and Knowles signed a two-year deal with his home team Cardinals. The standards for awarding saves became less stringent since Knowles first started pitching. In 1989, Knowles was hired as the Philadelphia Phillies pitching coach by the team's new general manager Lee Thomas, who had been director of the Cardinals' minor league system.

The 1989 Phillies had a record of 67–95–1. Under Knowles, the Phillies' pitching staff had a National League worst 4.04 ERA. The team showed improvement the next year (77–85), though the team ERA was 4.09, still surpassing three other National League teams. After the 1990 season, the Phillies moved Knowles to a minor league pitching coach position with the Clearwater Threshers in the Florida State League, where he served for a decade.

In 2001, Knowles became the pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds, Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and coached on that team until at least 2003. with the Sounds switching their affiliation to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005.

In 2006, Knowles was named as the pitching coach for the Toronto Blue Jays Single-A affiliate Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League, replacing the 2005 coach Rick Langford. Knowles continued coaching with Dunedin for many years, later becoming the Blue Jays rehab pitching coordinator.

Honors Knowles was named to the Florida State League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012 for his coaching at Clearwater and Dunedin.