2-time World Series champion Bruce Kison dies at 68
Bruce Kison, who won two World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971 and 1979, died Saturday at Tidewell Hospice in Bradenton, Florida. He was 68.
Kison, a spot starter and long reliever best known for pitching six-and-a-third innings of one-hit ball in Game 4 of the 1971 World Series, had a 5-1 record and a 1.98 earned run average in 10 postseason appearances.
Kison’s moment in the spotlight in 1971 was in the literal spotlight; it was the first night game in World Series history.
Pirates team president Frank Coonelly said Kison “will always be remembered as a great part of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization,” according to The Associated Press.
Kison was a 14th-round selection by the Pirates in the 1968 draft, and joined the big club on July 4, 1971. Over a 15-year career, he went 115-88 with a 3.66 ERA, striking out 1,073 batters in 1,809 and two-thirds innings.
Kison left the Pirates after the second championship, playing five seasons with the Angels and one with the Red Sox before calling it a career after the 1985 season.
Kison was also an intimidating mound presence. He was not afraid to use brushback pitches inside to force batters off the plate, and he has the 68 career hit batsmen to prove it. In the days before Barry Bonds showed up to bat wearing armor more suited to the NFL, the prospect of getting drilled was often enough to get a guy to stop crowding the plate.
Kison never threw a no-hitter, but he came as close as you can come without accomplishing that feat twice in his career.
On June 3, 1979, only a double in the eighth inning by Barry Evans of the Padres kept Kison from achieving the feat.
And on April 23, 1980, Kison, still “the new guy” with the Angels, took a no-hitter and a 17-0 lead into the ninth before Ken Landreaux of the Twins spoiled his fun with one out in the final frame.
After retiring from the game as a player, Kison was first a minor league pitching instructor for the Pirates before serving as the Royals’ bench coach in 1992-93, their pitching coach from 1994-98, and finally the pitching coach for the Orioles in 1999.
He then went on to spend the rest of his career as a scout before retiring in December 2017.
Kison did not get to enjoy retirement for long; he was diagnosed with renal cancer on Valentine’s Day 2018 and lived less than four months before the cancer claimed his life.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter honored his friend and colleague in a statement.
“Bruce was pure business,” Showalter said. “It’s really sad. He retired basically at the end of the winter meetings. He was so excited. He was a big fisherman. I’d call him sometimes in the offseason. I’d say, ‘Where have you been?’ I didn’t hear from him. He’d say, ‘I’ve been out two miles off the coast.’ He loved to fish and he was looking forward to it.”
Orioles owner Peter Angelos also had something to add upon the passing of a man who in January was honored as a Legend in Scouting by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation.
“Our entire Orioles family is deeply saddened to learn of Bruce Kison’s passing,” Angelos said in a statement. “For nearly two decades, Bruce played an integral role in all aspects of our organization as a pitching coach, a scout, and a trusted adviser. Bruce will be remembered for his tremendous work ethic, professionalism, and personality, as well as his dedication to the Orioles.”
Kison is survived by his wife of 37 years, Anna Marie. The couple had two children and four grandchildren.
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