Vol. IV, Issue #3 - March 2016

** Interview with Roger Erickson **

(Roger Erickson played for five seasons in the Major Leagues for the Minnesota Twins and the
New York Yankees.  Now he has a school to teach baseball. He has also heard of our game,
Strat-O-Matic Baseball, and knows about his cards issued by the game company.)

(Notes from the Wolfman:  In 2014, when I was trying to locate the Mahler brothers and Tony Brizzolara, members of the Atlanta Braves who actually played Strat-O-Matic Baseball in the minors and continued to play after they were promoted to the majors, Bo Rosny, came to my aid. Bo, who has his own blog to share baseball cards, has done interviews with many ex-baseball players talking to them about the baseball cards (like Topps) they received.

Trying to find ex-Major Leaguers to interview isn't easy, but since Bo helped me before, I contacted him on Twitter.  I asked him if he could help me contact other players he had interviewed, and Mr. Erickson was one of them.  Mr. Erickson answered my Twitter message to him almost immediately as he was very open to be interviewed. He was very friendly towards me during our email communications.  He also promised to share some of his other stories and experiences in the Majors at a later time.  I was also a bit surprised to learn that some of his friends in college played Strat-O-Matic while he was in the Majors and used his SOM card.  Mr. Erickson had less than a year in the minors before he pitched in the big leagues.

Mr. Erickson also told me about an interview he did with Twins Trivia last year, which he thought our members might enjoy. So you can read his interview with us first and then come back to the audio interview below. To view this special interview done by Twins Trivia, go to:

http://twinstrivia.com/interview-archives/roger-erickson-interview/
(Note: This interview is summarized first by the interviewer and then if you wish, you can listen to the full audio interview linked on this page which lasts about an hour-and-a-half.)

Finally, last year on November 7, in Clarkesville, GA, Mr. Erickson completed a second dream by opening the Erickson Baseball School for Major League pitching and hitting instruction. This is where he is teaching young kids how to play baseball. You can read more about his school by visiting:

http://www.ericksonbaseball.com/

I wish to publicly thank Mr. Erickson for taking time to offer for our members another glimpse behind the scenes in the life of a Major League ball player.)
 

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Wolfman:  Hello once again dear members, I have an exciting interview with another ex-Major Leaguer. Roger Erickson was a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins from 1978 to 1982. In 1982, he was traded to the New York Yankees, where he finished his career in 1983.  He had a lifetime record of 35-53 with an ERA of 4.13, and was mostly used as a starter. His first season in the major leagues, in 1978, was his best season; he was 14-13 with a 3.96 ERA for the Twins and he started 37 games with 14 complete games, which is unheard of in today's game.

The photos of Mr. Erickson, above, show when he played in the major leagues for both the Twins and Yankees; notice how young he was when he played.

Mr. Erickson, on behalf of all of our members, may I welcome you to the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter.

Now Mr. Erickson, I understand you grew up in Springfield, Illinois. Is this where you lived when you began to play baseball or did your family move?  I am asking this first question to gauge more, when you were younger, your interest in baseball and which team you rooted for at this early age.

Roger Erickson: Yes, I grew up in Springfield , Illinois, just a few blocks from Abe Lincoln's Tomb. As a kid, my friends and I walked through the cemetery where Lincoln is buried on our way to Lincoln Park to play ball all day.

I grew up a Cardinal fan -- Springfield is half Cub, half Cardinal. I listened to Jack Buck every night. Our neighbor had his radio on so I could listen through my window every night.

My whole family played baseball. My grandfather was offered a pro contract but had three little boys at home. My uncle pitched in the big leagues, my brother played minors with Cardinals, and his two boys played minor league ball.

(Editor's Note, Roger's uncle was Don Erickson, who played for one season for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1958 and was also a pitcher.)

Wolfman:  Will you tell our readers where your baseball career took you? Did you play in college and is this how the Twins drafted you?

Roger Erickson:  I played one year at Springfield Jr. College , all of us included 12 guys on this baseball team. A friend, John Schaive, a former Washington Senator, called Ron Maistre at the University of New Orleans, and Ron gave me a scholarship sight unseen. I was drafted from there in 1977 and sent to double-A, where I led this league in pitching, and was then invited to major league spring training the next year.

Gene Mauch, the manager of the Minnesota Twins, was being pestered about the possibility of having me make his big league team (for 1978, during spring training). Gene said, "no punk fresh out of college and only 2 months of minor league experience can make the bigs." I had a great spring, did not give up any runs, and I hit .600. Afterwards, Gene then said about me, "I can't keep out him of the major leagues, he does everything right!"

Wolfman:  Can you tell us more about what type of pitches you were throwing and a summary of how you did, from your perspective, playing in the big leagues?

Roger Erickson:  I threw mostly fastballs and challenged everyone! I threw 266 innings in 1978, including 14 complete games with 12 pickoffs. Maybe throwing too many innings that year or because they (the Twins) taught me a bad slider led to a disappointing 2nd year and arm surgery. 1980 was a great year however, as I was 6th in the league in ERA, but we were a bad team. 1981 was going very well for me, but it was a strike year and after the strike ended, I caught a line drive off Kirk Gibson's bat, which went into my glove but then hit my thumb on my throwing hand. I pitched 6 more innings with a broken thumb that game, but the next day, they put me in a cast and my season was over.

The 1982 season started out good for me but then I was traded to the "Zoo". Initially the Yankees started me, but then they wanted me to set up Goose (Gossage), which I did for one game, and I did great. I got a save in another game when Goose needed a day off, but then they decided to start me again. I won 4 games straight, but then they (the Yankees) screwed with my delivery and hurt my shoulder, which ruined my career (which is why my career ended in 1983).

Wolfman:  Can you share with our members what some of you most favorite memories are that you cherish from the days you played in Major League Baseball?

Roger Erickson:  I would not trade any of my experiences for the world though, as I had many memorable times. There were three brawls in my 1st year while I helped to protect my fellow players. I had the chance to play with some Hall of Famers and against them. I enjoyed playing for Billy Martin, (the Yankee manager), who called me over while we were at a pub once, after a great game I threw for him with the Yankees, and he introduced me to Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford and told them both that I could have played with them in their era. Billy Martin liked and respected me that much; he always tried to help me because Steinbrenner was mad at me.

I believe I played at a great time. Obviously the money was not like today, but because of us and the strikes we organized and supported, we grew the Players Association to what it is today.

I hope that some of the information and experiences I am sharing is entertaining for your members. I played the game because I grew up playing it for fun, and I always tried to keep it that way. I will recount some other great stories for some future interviews if you wish. (Wolfman: Yes absolutely; I know our members would enjoy this, Roger.) It was pretty cool that I walked out of college and into the big leagues. My friends from college were still in college and playing Strat-O-Matic with my name on the cards. They got a real kick out of that.