Bret Saberhagen: Two Time Cy Young Award Winner & 1990's Mets Pitcher (1992-1995)

Bret William Saberhagen was born on April 11, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to Reseda, California where he grew up playing baseball & basketball.

The tall six-foot one right hander was drafted out of high school by the Kansas City Royals in the 19th round of the 1982 draft. He was brought up quickly & made his debut in 1984. 

MLB Career: He went 10-11 with a 3.48 ERA in his rookie year, showing great promise for the future on a good Royals team.

In the 1985 season, the Royals won the World Series & Bret Saberhagen was outstanding. He won the A.L. Cy Young Award going 20-6 (second most wins in the AL) with a 2.87 ERA (third in the league) pitching ten complete games (8th in the AL) with one shut out, 158 strikeouts (9th in the AL) & just 38 walks. He had the best walks per nine innings & strike out to walk ratios in the league.

1985 Post Season- ALCS: In the ALCS, he earned two no decisions against the Toronto Blue Jays posting an ERA of 6.14 allowing five runs on twelve hits in seven innings of work.

1985 Post Season- World Series: He then shined in the World Series earning the MVP honors to finish off his fantastic season. He pitched a complete game, one run six hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game #3. He then returned for a complete game five hit shutout in Game #7 at Kansas City in the Royals 11-0 victory.

In the Series he allowed only one run, one walk, on eleven hits, in 18 innings of work with two complete games.

Bret was famous for having a great year followed by an average to poor season following it. In 1986 he fell to 7-12 with a 4.15 ERA almost two runs higher than the previous year. 

But he rebounded in 1987 going 18-10 (4th most wins in the AL) with a 3.37 ERA, striking out 163 batters with 53 walks (a career high) in 257 innings pitched (9th in the AL). He made the All Star team but then suffered a shoulder injury which limited his second half.

In 1988 he had a down year going 14-16 but followed with another Cy Young Award season in 1989. He was 9-5 in July of 1989 but went on to an incredible 14-1 finish. He led the league in wins going 20-6, he led the AL in ERA (2.16) complete games (12) and innings pitched (261) as well.

In 1990 injuries limited him to just twenty games, going only 5-9 but he still made the All Star team. In 1991 he was 13-8 with a 3.07 ERA & seven complete games (6th in the AL). On August 26th he pitched a no hitter at Royals Stadium against the Chicago White Sox, the last Royals no hitter to date.

Blockbuster Trade: In the offseason he came to the New York Mets along with Bill Pecota in a
block buster trade in exchange for Kevin McReynolds, Greg Jefferies &; Keith Miller.

Mets Career: In New York he joined a pitching staff of Dwight Gooden, Sid Fernandez & David Cone. 

The Worst Team Money Could Buy: Unfortunately, they were all toward the end of their career or were at down points of their careers. The Mets also brought in veterans Eddie Murray & Willie Randolph past their prime & a troubled Bobby Bonilla. The 1992 Mets finished in fifth place 72-90 under manager Jeff Torborg & were dubbed the "Worst Team Money Could Buy". 

Saberhagen debuted pitching the second game of the season but was beat up for seven earned runs on nine hits in just 2.1 innings of work in a 9-2 loss at St. Louis. Sabs lost his next start as well in another seven-run debacle in just 4.2 innings pitched. In his first two games his ERA was 18.00.

On April 23rd he pitched nine shut out innings matching zeroes with Donovan Osbourne. He earned no decision as the Mets won it 1-0 in ten innings on when Darryl Boston was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. On April 29th he earned his first Mets win, a three-hit shutout, with nine strike outs in another 1-0 Mets win over, this one over Darryl Kile & the Houston Astros at Shea Stadium.

In May he went 2-0 before suffering an injury on May 15th putting him out for two months. He
made a brief three game comeback before missing another month of action. Overall his first season in New York was a huge disappointment, he was 3-5 with a 3.50 ERA pitching only 17 games.

1993: This year was no better as Sabs pitched in only 19 games going 7-7. On April 7th, he began that season beating the Colorado Rockies in a 6-1 win, pitching eight innings of one run ball allowing just two hits. On April 13th he gave up four runs in Colorado, but the Mets supported him with eight runs led by Todd Hundley's four RBI Day as Sabs got to 2-0. But he then lost three straight games to fall to 2-3.

Three Hit Shut Out: On May 10th he tossed a three hitter against the Florida Marlins, striking out a season high eight batters, walking just one in a 1-0 Mets victory beating Ryan Bowen in the pitcher's duel. 

Sabs allowed just two earned runs in his next two starts but the Mets were beaten both times taking 2-1 losses. After giving up five runs in a no decision at Houston, he had two outing where he gave up just one earned run in 13 innings of work but still got no decisions. The Mets took a 2-1 loss to the Braves then a 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh in those games.

On June 20th he was beaten by the Pirates & then on June 25th the Cardinals scored seven runs off Bret in an 8-5 loss at Shea Stadium for his fourth straight losing decision. On June 30th he allowed just one run to the Marlins in South Florida pitching a complete game matching his season high eight strike outs in a 7-1 victory. He was 4-7 but had a good 3.22 ERA with 79 strike outs in 109 innings.

After missing a start, he earned wins over the Dodgers in New York & in Los Angeles.

Bleach Spraying Drama: Those wacky early nineties Mets were bad on the field & couldn’t win many games. Off the field they also pulled some stupid stunts as well. A few days after Vince Coleman threw a cherry bomb injuring a two-year-old girl in LA, Sabs joined that bandwagon when he sprayed bleach into a crowd of reporters interviewing Dwight Gooden after a game in Florida. Saberhagen apologized for the clubhouse prank to the fans &to the media a few days after his stupid actions. He then donated one day's pay to a charity. In a time without social media or too much overexposure on sports the incident has gotten forgotten in history.

The next night he went out pitching eight innings earning no decision in a Mets 5-4 win over the Marlins. He then bested his record to 7-7 after beating the Expos in Montreal allowing two runs on just three hits over eight innings in a 4-3 win. After that game he went down for the rest of the season with injury. The Mets finished a dismal seventh 59-103 as they fired Jeff Torborg & hired Dallas Green.

1994 Strike Shortened Season: With the bleach incident behind him, as well as two poor seasons in New York, he had something to prove to earn some respect. In 1994 he rebounded to have his best Mets season in the strike shortened 1994 campaign.

He did not get the call till the fifth game of the season; he threw a five hit complete game 8-2 victory over the Astros in Houston. In his next two starts he gave up three runs each time, earning no a decision then his second win of the year.

On May 5th, he tossed a one run five hit, complete game victory in St. Louis striking out eight Cardinals in the 8-1 win. On May 16th he struck out ten Marlins but took a 3-1 loss to the Marlins at Shea stadium. On May 25th he allowed just one run in six innings of work at Pittsburgh to earn his fifth win.

On June 3rd Sabs got his sixth win, striking out nine while beating the Reds in Cincinnati. On June 8th he gave up five runs to the Rockies at Colorado taking the loss. On June 13th he gave up just a run in seven innings to beat the Phillies to get to 7-3. The seven wins matched the most he had in New York any season. 

On June 30th he passed that total with his eighth win of the year, coming on a one run five hit outing over seven innings in San Diego where he fanned nine Padres.

By the end of June he was 8-4 and then was spectacular thru mid-August when the season would end with the Players strike. Sabs won seven straight games, pitching eight innings or better five times. In three of those outing he didn't allow an earned run, he pitched two complete games, with a shutout.

Pitcher of the Month Award: On July 5th he allowed two runs on just two hits to the Giants in
San Francisco as the Mets took a 4-2 win. On July 10th in Los Angeles Sabs gave up one run, unearned pitching eight innings to beat the Dodgers to reach double figures in wins for the first time since his 1989 Cy Young Season.

1994 All Star: At the break he was 10-4 with 3.15 ERA & 104 strikeouts. He made the All Star team as the Mets sole representative. He did not pitch in the NL's 8-7 win at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

On July 15th in the second game of a double header with the Padres, He pitched ten shutout innings matching zeroes with San Diego's Andy Benes & Trevor Hoffman. Sas struck out a season high ten batters in that game walking nobody. The Mets eventually lost the game 2-1.

After not having allowed an earned run in 18 innings he gave up a 1st inning run to the Dodgers on July 20th. But even though Bret gave up four runs, the most in over six weeks he still earned the win as the Mets scored five runs led by Bobby Bonilla's two run HR.

Sabs closed out July pitching back-to-back complete games, first allowing one run (unearned) in a 7-1 victory at St. Louis then a 3-2 no decision Mets loss in Pittsburgh. He now had lowered his ERA to 2.82 & won the NL Pitcher of the Month Award.

On August 5th he earned a win over the Marlins at Shea & then on August 10th beat the Phillies in Philadelphia allowing just a run on six hits in 7.1 innings of work for his 14th win of the year.

He may have gone on to have another Cy Young season at that rate, going 14-4 on the year with
(third most wins in the NL). He was second in the league in ERA (2.74) third in innings pitched (177) & fourth in complete games (4).

That season he became the first pitcher since 1919 to have more wins (14) than walks allowed (13) while pitching in 150 innings or more. His walks per nine innings 0.6 was the best in baseball as were his strike outs to walks ratio (11.00) the third time he had topped the league in that category. 

That year he was third in the NL Cy Young voting & received votes for the MVP Award as well.

1995 Season: In 1995 baseball returned in late April. Sabs got the start in the third game of the Mets season; it was a disaster giving up seven runs on ten hits to the Cardinals in a 10-8 loss. On May 3rd he took a 3-1 loss in Montreal to fall to 0-2. 

In his next three starts he allowed just one run twice & two runs in the other start but took three no decisions. On May 27th he shut out the Giants until the bottom of the 9th inning then gave up a three run HR to Glen Allen-Hill but still earned his first win in 6-3 Mets victory. 

After a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Hideo Nomo & the Dodgers he went on a four-game win streak. Although he allowed three runs in three of those games he earned victories over Florida, Houston at home then in Atlanta & Miami. On June 28th in Miami, he allowed three runs but just one earned in a complete game victory over the Marlins. It was his second complete game in a row.

Sadly it would be his last Mets victory, as Sabs lost his next three decisions through July before getting traded.

On July 29th, in his last outing he pitched eight innings of three hit- shutout baseball against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea Stadium. He earned no decision as Chris Jones won it for New York with a 9th inning walk off HR. 

Saberhagen was 5-5 with a 3.16 ERA, having 71 strike outs with 20 walks in 110 innings of work in 16 games for the 1995 Mets when he was traded to the Colorado Rockies for Juan Acevedo & Arnold Gooch. 

Mets Career Stats: In his four-year Mets career, he was 29-21 with a 3.16 ERA. He had 388 strikeouts with 77 walks in 524 innings of work in 76 appearances allowing 43 HRs.

Post Mets Career: In Colorado he was 2-1 as the Rockies went to the post season that year. 

1995 Post Season- NLDS: In Game #4 of the NLDS Sabs got the start & took the loss to the Atlanta Braves giving up six runs (five earned) highlighted by a Fred McGriff three run HR in the 3rd inning. The Braves clinched the series on their way to a World Series title.

After the season Bret signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.

In 1998 he revived his career winning 15 games (15-8) in Boston as the number three man behind Pedro Martinez (19 wins) & Tim Wakefield (17 wins) on a good Red Sox pitching staff. Sabs posted a 3.96 ERA with 100 strikeouts & 33 walks in 33 games, 175 innings pitched.

1998 Post Season: In the ALDS against the Cleveland Indians, he took the Game #3 loss to Charles Nagy serving up two HRs to Jim Thome as well as a solo shot to Kenny Lofton.

In 1999 he won ten games the next year going 10-6 with a 2.95 ERA in Boston getting to another post season. 

1999 Post Season: In the ALDS he took a Game #2 loss giving up six runs to Cleveland with another HR to Jim Thome as well as to Harold Baines. He returned for Game #5 giving up another HR to Thome, pitching just one inning allowing five runs.

Trivia: In the post season Saberhagen gave up four HRs to Jim Thome.

1999 Post Season ALCS: In Game #4 of the LCS he allowed three runs just one earned in six innings of work in a 9-2 loss to the AL New York team.

2000s: He did not pitch at the big-league level in 2000 but returned to finish his career in three games (2-1) in 2001.

Career Stats: In his 16-year career Sabs was 167-117 with 3.34 ERA & 1715 strikeouts (143rd all time). He walked just 471 batters in 2562.2 innings of work. His 1.654 walks per nine innings pitched is the 35th best all-time ratio of all time. His strike outs to walks ratio of 3.641 is the 18th best of all time.

Bret threw 16 shut outs & 76 complete games in 371 starts in 399 appearances. He earned two Cy Young Awards, made three All Star teams, won a world series & pitched in five post seasons.

Post Season Record: In the post season he was 2-4 with a 4.67 ERA. He struck out 38 walked 11 & gave up 11 HRs in ten games.

Retirement: After his playing days he was a high school baseball coach. He then was a technical director for the Dennis Miller Radio Show in 2007. He produced the sound bites and operated the mixing board there.

At one time he owned Bret Saberhagen’s Hit & Fun sports center in West Babylon, New York out on Long Island. The facility was shaped like Brooklyn's legendary ballpark- Ebbets Field.

Family: Bret married his high school sweetheart Janeane Inglett in 1984. Together they had three children & divorced in 1991.

Thier son Drew played college baseball at Pepperdine University. Their daughter married actor Jacob Zachar.

While in New York, he married Long Island's own Lynne Critelli. In their time together, the couple were famous for turning their big front yard into a Haunted House every Halloween.

Lynne was a singer in the local bands Pajama Party & Full House. Pajama Party had released an album in 1989 called Up All Night. 

Lynne also helped run their Sports complex in West Babylon. While married, Brett had Lynn quit singing with Full House. The two eventually divorced & Lynn took up singing again with the band The Mystic.

Bret married a third time to his Wife Kandace (Stolz-DeAngelo) in 2019. Kandace is the president & CEO if a medical group helping many people & athletes with their conditions. She had two sons from a previous marriage.

SabesWings:  After his wife Kandace had received three breast cancer diagnoses & getting bills of up to $20,000 a month, the two formed the SabesWings Foundation. 

SabesWings is a non-profit org, helping cancer patients & their families with Medical Financial Toxicity. 

MFT is an issue for patients who cannot pay their medical bills. Thru Saberhagen's organization its helps provide funding for treatments that medical insurance will not cover. The charity has raised millions of dollars.

Aiding Former Met Ron Hunt: Through the help of Mets PR man Jay Horowitz, Sabs
organization has helped former Met Ron Hunt & his family with his medical bills after Hunt was suffering from Parkinsons like symptoms. Sabs helped Hunt get holistic treatments in Hollywood, Florida where it was determined his condition may be related more to head trauma from his playing days. 

Although he was known for getting hit by pitches, the main cause may have been when he was hit in the head with a relay throw in a 1969 game where he was hospitalized.