All-Time Indians: Don Hood

One of the Indians top left handed relievers ever and a spot starter, Don Hood was originally a first round draft pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 1969. He was used exclusively as a starting pitcher at this point in his career and methodically worked his way through the minor leagues, excelling at each level until he made his MLB debut with the O’s in 1973. Here, he didn’t have quite the success he had as a minor leaguer, but he still put together a solid season as a rookie in eight games (four starts) and an even better campaign in his second more exclusively as a relief pitcher.

In a strange trade, the Orioles then sent the 25 year old Hood to Cleveland along with the powerful Boog Powell, who was at the end of his career, in exchange for another first round pick from 1969, Alvin McGrew and the aging Dave Duncan, who had never shown anything during his two years as an Indians catcher. This turned out to be a fantastic move for the Tribe, a rarity from the late 1950’s on, as Powell had one tremendous year where he knocked in 86 and finished 20th in the MVP voting and Hood would go on to play four full seasons as a solid relief option. McGrew never made it to the Majors and didn’t even spend an entire season with the Orioles AAA team while Duncan played poorly for two years before moving on to the coaching side of baseball where he was much more successful.

Back to Hood and his career in Cleveland, things didn’t start on the best note. In 1975, he began the year in the bullpen, but was moved into the starting rotation by the end of April and he didn’t do much to endear himself there. After a complete game 3-1 win in his first start, he allowed 19 runs in 18.1 innings across his next four, quickly finding a return to the bullpen. After a few solid, lengthy appearances, he went back into a starting role and struggled again, this time with a 4.85 ERA through 11 starts.

Throughout his career, this would be a common theme and Hood was a much better pitcher out of the bullpen (3.45 ERA compared to 4.17 as a starter) where he could match up more easily against left handers. One mark of this was that he intentionally walked 20 more batters out of the pen. Of his 32 total career intentional walks, 31 were against right handed batters.

If Hood’s numbers don’t look spectacular on the layout above, it is largely because mismanagement. Had he played in the modern game from the 1990’s on, managers would have worked harder to take advantage of his extreme splits that included a .223 average allowed to lefties and a .280 to righties as well as a K/9 above five against LHB compared to just over three against RHB.

In his duel role, Hood still managed to throw 135.1 innings in his first season with the Tribe and post a 4.39 ERA. As stated before, he was much better in relief, however, with just a 2.05 ERA in 26.1 innings. Hall of Fame manager, Frank Robinson, did appear to learn from his mistakes, however, using Hood almost exclusively out of the bullpen (allowing for about a month in the rotation from the end of May through June) in 1976. Again he was better against left handers and out of the bullpen, posting a 4.62 relief ERA compared to 5.28 as a starter.

The 1977 season would be Hood’s best with the Indians and one that would end with him heading back into the rotation. He started the year in the bullpen, but by the end of the season, Robinson was gone, replaced by Jeff Torburg and Hood was in the starting five. Unlike previous attempts, he did fairly well in this role, posting a 2.31 ERA with 25 strike outs in five starts to end the year. This was good enough to keep him in the rotation to begin 1978 and raise his value enough that he could eventually be moved for a player of greater value.

Unfortunately, his success wouldn’t follow through the next season and after 20 games (17 starts) he had a 5.09 and a return trip to the back end of ballgames. This time, he had similar numbers in both roles, finishing the season with a 4.48 ERA overall and a short leash for 1979. He would get just 13 games into that season, all in relief, before he was traded to the Yankees for Cliff Johnson, a player of moderate power who would become a solid DH for the 1979 season before being traded himself the next year for Karl Pagel.

This deal was questionable as Johnson would have another good year in 1981 before becoming a free agent while the piece the Indians had left, Karl Pagel, played three insignificant seasons with the team before retiring.

After finishing 1979 with a 3.07 ERA in New York, Hood became a free agent and signed with the Cardinals. He pitched well with a 3.39 ERA in 82.1 innings, both as a starter and reliever, but was released and signed with the cross state rival Royals. Kansas City brought him on for two years, but he spent the first one entirely in AAA Omaha before having another nice season in 1982. Signing for one last year, as a 33 year old, Hood posted a 2.27 ERA in a more specialized role. Hood then went out on a high note, leaving baseball for good.