For a more in-depth feature on Roger Salkeld from July 2011, click here: Roger Salkeld, Through Injury
Roger Salkeld arrived in the Mariners' bullpen in the second inning and Goose Gossage, playing his final games in his Hall of Fame career, wasn't pleased. After getting the go-ahead from the coach, Gossage tried to set the former first-round draft pick straight, according to an account in the Seattle Times.
"Rog, let me ask you a question," Gossage began, the paper wrote. "I've been in the big leagues 25 years. I can't remember which year you won the Cy Young Award."
Salkeld never did win much in the majors, he barely won 10 games. But, however late he got there, he still got there.
Salkeld was drafted third overall by the Mariners in 1989 out of Saugus High, near Los Angeles. He had a fastball that terrorized fellow teenagers. With that fastball, he struck out 406 batters in just 266 innings.
He made steady progress in the minors until 1992, when a sore shoulder kept him off the diamond all year. Surgery that fall was expected to keep him out for 1993, as well. But Salkeld came back by mid-summer and got the call-up to Seattle by September.
He played in three games that year, 13 the next. After no call-ups in 1995, he spent his final year in the majors with the Reds, pitching in 29 games. He played parts of four more seasons in the minors, never getting back.
One Web site, SeattleSportsNet.com, pegged Salkeld Seattle's sixth worst draft bust of all time.
Salkeld accomplished something else by making it to the majors. He became the second Salkeld to play in the big leagues. His grandfather Bill Salkeld, a catcher, played parts of six seasons in the bigs, from 1945 to 1950.
- Los Angeles Times, June 7, 1989: Draft Worth Celebrating for Salkeld Family
- Seattle Times, Jan. 9, 2008: Hall inductee Gossage left mark with M's
Cards Reviewed: 27/880 - 3.1%
Major Leaguers: 13 - 48%
Never Made the Majors: 14 - 52%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 5
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 8
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