Doug Corbett

[William Malone]

Douglass Mitchell Corbett was born on November 4, 1952 in Sarasota, Florida.

The Kansas City Royals signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1974. He was acquired by the Minnesota Twins in the 1979 Rule-5 Draft, and had a dominant rookie campaign out of their bullpen.

Corbett began his career with an 11 inning scoreless streak, which included five shutout innings in relief during his Major League debut on April 10th. He became the Twins closer by early-May, finishing his rookie season with 23 saves and a 1.98 ERA. This helped him finish third place in AL Rookie of the Year voting, trailing Joe Charboneau of the Cleveland Indians and Dave Stapleton of the Boston Red Sox.

He led the American League with 54 relief appearances during the strike shortened 1981 season, and was named an All-Star. Corbett was 2-6 with a 2.57 ERA and 17 saves that year.

Minnesota traded him to the California Angels for outfield prospect Tom Brunansky on May 12, 1982. Corbett was 14-14 with a 3.86 ERA and 22 saves during his five year tenure with the Angels. His final Major League season was in 1987 with the Baltimore Orioles. He was going to cross the picket line and attempt a comeback at age 42 as a replacement player during the 1994-95 strike, but the labor issues were settled just before owners planned to begin the year with the replacement players.

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