Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Kevin Wickander

by Kyle Lobner on Jan 4, 2012 6:00 AM CST in History

On this day in 1965, Kevin Wickander was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. After a college career at Grand Canyon University, the Indians selected him with their second round pick (30th overall) in the 1986 draft. After just two full seasons in the minors, the Indians called him up for the first time in 1989, then brought him back for ten appearances in 1990.

During that 1990 season, something strange happened. On April 23, Wickander lost a game for the first time. That loss is notable because it was the only one of his major league career.

Wickander pitched for the Indians again in 1992, the Indians and Reds 1993, the Tigers in 1995 and the Brewers in 1995 and '96 without ever losing another major league game. He made 144 appearances over that stretch, tied for the sixth longest streak in all of recorded baseball history:

Pitcher	Games	Seasons	Team(s)
Trever Miller	240	2006-09	Astros, Rays and Cardinals
Randy Flores	176	2006-09	Cardinals and Rockies
Rich Rodriguez	170	1997-2000	Giants and Mets
Ron Mahay	154	2006-09	Rangers, Braves and Royals
Bobby Seay	149	2001-08	Rays, Rockies and Tigers
Joe Thatcher	144	2008-11	Padres
Kevin Wickander	144	1990-96	Indians, Reds, Tigers and Brewers

Thatcher's streak is still active.

The Brewers were Wickander's last stop in the majors. After appearing in 21 games for them in 1996 he was released and never pitched in affiliated ball again. Unfortunately, Wickander's loss-free streak didn't follow him away from the diamond. Here he is in a 2002 article talking about his meth addiction and resulting prison sentence.

Wickander turns 47 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to 2009 Brewer Jason Bourgeois. He turns 30.

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I seem to remember him pitching more than he did

All pre-1994, though. And apparently Wickander’s managers knew the proper care and feeding of the generic LOOGY, because that amount of non-blown games is kind of amazing.

On the other hand, you may recall what happened with the Cleveland pitching staff in spring training of ‘93, and that’s probably what really screwed up his career. After reading this article I’m so glad that grief is treated differently in today’s MLB. Am also glad Ron Roenicke wouldn’t do what Mike Hargrove did—Roenicke was really helpful in the Angels clubhouse after Nick Adenhart was killed.

by morineko on Jan 4, 2012 8:31 AM CST reply actions

Guess you can't avoid losing forever.

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by tcyoung on Jan 4, 2012 12:31 PM CST reply actions

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