Rich Hand

Richard Allen Hand (born July 10, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he played for four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and California Angels.

Born in Bellevue, Washington, Hand graduated from Lincoln High School in Seattle and attended the University of Puget Sound. "I wasn't physically prepared to play professional baseball," he recalled.

Hand received a scholarship to play baseball and basketball at the University of Puget Sound. There, he discovered that baseball gave him his better chance of succeeding as a professional. He added to his experience by playing semipro baseball with the Alaska Goldpanners in the summers of 1967 and 1968, aiding the team to a fourth-place tie at the National Baseball Congress in the first of those years.

Cleveland Indians (1970–1971) 1970 Cleveland Stadium was Hand's home ballpark during his two years with the Indians. In 1970, the Indians invited Hand to spring training. Bothered by a sore back in the beginning, he recovered in time to become a surprise choice as the third member of the team's starting rotation. Manager Alvin Dark explained, "I've seen all I need to see. The kid has done everything we could possibly ask him to do and I'm convinced he can help us as a starter or a long reliever. Any experience he needs, he can get up here with us." He was moved to the bullpen in early May but rejoined the rotation on May 18. His first win came on June 7, when he allowed four runs and came within one out of throwing a complete game in a 6–4 victory over the California Angels.

Dark feared that he may have overused Hand during his rookie season. On June 16, Hand had allowed one run in eight innings against the Angels. The manager was planning to replace him after the eighth, but Hand responded, "Aw, c'mon, Skip. Let me finish. I gotta finish a game." Up to that point, he had not thrown a complete game. "And like an idiot I said okay", Dark wrote in his autobiography. "He wound up throwing about 150 pitches that day. The next time he was due to pitch he came to me complaining of a sore elbow... Rich Hand wasn't the same after that."

Still, there were highlights for Hand in the latter part of the year. He threw his first shutout on July 16, holding the Kansas City Royals to four hits in a 6–0 victory. In the second game of a doubleheader against the Angels on August 28, he threw a complete game and allowed just one hit, a home run to Roger Repoz in a 5–1 Cleveland victory. In 35 games (25 starts), he had a 6–13 record, a 3.83 ERA, 110 strikeouts, 69 walks, and 132 hits allowed in innings.

1971 Sam McDowell, Cleveland's best pitcher, said he expected Hand to have a good year in 1971: "Rich Hand will be our third starter and I know he's going to be a lot better. Remember, he was just a rookie last summer." A strained forearm muscle forced Hand to start the season on the disabled list. He missed about a month of the season before returning to action on May 8 and joining the starting rotation on May 21.

Sent to Wichita to pitch more regularly, Hand had more success. In 11 starts, Hand had an 8–2 record, a 1.88 ERA, 50 strikeouts, 40 walks, and 66 hits allowed in 86 innings pitched. He won his first start back with the Indians but lost two others, posting an 8.10 ERA in the season's final month. Merle Hereyford reported that Unser and Hand were the "keys" to the transaction.

The Rangers sent Hand to the Triple-A Denver Bears of the Pacific Coast League to begin the year, much to his frustration. "Nothing in baseball ever has surprised me more", he told reporters. "Bitter? yes, I think that's a fair appraisal. I didn't have a great spring, I know that, but then who did on our staff?" From July 8 through July 23, he had four straight starts in which he allowed one run or fewer, including a shutout against the Indians on July 13. In the only one of those outings he did not win, he held the Orioles to one run through 10 innings before Baltimore ultimately bested the Rangers in the 15th. He was 10–8 with a 2.56 ERA through August 22 before losing 6 of his last 7 starts and posting a 6.42 ERA. Hand walked 103 batters, third in the AL to Nolan Ryan's 157 and Joe Coleman's 110. Hand's 10 wins led Ranger pitchers, and Hand made 15 straight starts in which he allowed three earned runs or fewer, a feat not accomplished by a Ranger again until Nick Martinez did so in 2015.

In 8 games (7 starts) for the Rangers in 1973, Hand had a 2–3 record, a 5.40 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 19 walks, and 49 hits allowed in innings. On May 20, he was dealt along with Mike Epstein and Rick Stelmaszek from the Rangers to the California Angels for Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen. "I couldn't have been happier where I was," said a disappointed Hand. "It's not the greatest team right now, but it's headed in the right direction. I wanted to grow with this team and I hate to leave Arlington. That's a fine place to live." Hand continued to make the area his home even after his career ended. In 16 games (6 starts) for California, he had a 4–3 record, a 3.62 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 21 walks, and 58 hits allowed in innings. Over 24 games (13 starts) combined between Texas and California in 1973, he had a 6–6 record, a 4.39 ERA, 33 strikeouts, 40 walks, and 107 hits allowed in innings.

Description, career statistics and pitching style Hand was listed as tall and . Altogether, he appeared in 104 games (78 starts) in the majors, compiling a 24–39 record and a 4.01 ERA. In 487 innings pitched, he allowed 452 hits and 250 walks, with 278 strikeouts. He threw three complete games and two shutouts; he registered three saves as a relief pitcher.

Personal life Hand continued to take college classes via correspondence courses after his professional career began, and he completed his political science degree in 1970. He married his first wife, Stephanie French, in November 1969, but the couple divorced in 1972. That September, Terrie Molnar became his second wife. She was a teacher from Cleveland. Mike Paul served as Hand's best man at the wedding, and several of Hand's other former Indians teammates attended. Rich and Terrie had a son and a daughter, but they eventually divorced. Hand married his third wife, Susan Hardin, in 1987. He and Susan had four daughters, all athletes. Whitney Hand played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. She was drafted by a team in the Women's National Basketball Association, but knee injuries prompted her to retire instead. Her husband, Landry Jones, was a quarterback for the Oklahoma football team and later for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.

Having moved to Arlington during his time with the Rangers, Hand remained in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex following his career. He worked in business and real estate. Other sources of income for Hand included construction companies which he owned and an asset-managing company he was the assistant manager of. Hand appeared at multiple team functions for the Rangers over the years and was involved with the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.