Expert: Tony Hutchens Date: 5/2/2006 Subject: Sammy Stewart mid-late 80's
Question I just read a question from a woman named Judy that went to high school with Sammy Stewart in NC. I too knew Sammy Stewart (briefly), having met him in 1986 shortly after his stint with the Red Sox.
Judy mentioned he left the Orioles in disgrace, which you did not elaborate on. What can you tell me about that? I mean, being so versatile - why then was he released from both the Orioles and Red Sox?
More importantly, I was curious to know what has happened to him since. When I met him he appeared to have many "issues", the end of his career being just one of them. I am sad to say I was not surprised when his MLB career was over just one short year after I met him. Do you know what might have happened to him from 1987 to the present?
Dianne
Answer Hello Dianne,
I'm sorry to disappoint you but I don't know the answers to most of your questions. The reason I didn't elaborate on Sammy leaving the Orioles in disgrace is that I truly don't remember a big controversy around his trade to the Boston Red Sox. It's certainly possible that there were some hard feelings on the part of the Orioles when they dealt him away but if so, I simply can't recall those reasons some 20+ years later.
You asked why did the Orioles release him since he was so versatile? My answer would have to be because even though he was so versatile and a huge asset to the team in his prime, he was obviously past his peak at the time the Orioles traded him and his performance was rapidly deteriorating. In his final year with Baltimore, he posted only his second losing record in his career and his earned run average was his second worst ever. His decline continued as his ERA for Boston in 1986 dropped to a career worst 4.38 and then dropped even more to 5.67 for Cleveland in 1987 before he dropped out of baseball completely. So the way I see it is that the Orioles apparently could see that the end of his career was near and decided to try to get some value out of him by trading him when they did.
Finally, I have no idea what happened to him from 1987 to the present. I tried doing some research on him over the internet but I didn't have any luck. I apologize for not being more helpful.
