Tom Underwood, 56; Was Pitcher with Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Yankees, Athletics, Orioles
Bill Schenley
Former Wildkat pitched 11 seasons in the Major Leagues
1976 Topps (#407) baseball card:
http://tinyurl.com/2f3kmkh
FROM: The Kokomo (IN) Tribune ~
By Tribune Sports Staff
Kokomo
Kokomo has lost one of its favorite sons.
Tom Underwood, who pitched in the major
leagues in 1974-84, died around midnight
on Monday in West Palm Beach, Fla.,
following an 18-month battle with pancreatic
cancer. He was 56.
Underwood's older brother, Mark, said
a memorial service is planned in Florida.
The family is considering plans for a local
service at a later date.
Underwood was the first local player to reach
the majors and with 86 career wins, he set the
standard for those who have followed.
He was selected by the Tribune as Howard
County's greatest athlete of the 20th century.
In a 1999 interview, Underwood said he had
no disappointments about his baseball career.
"For 10 years I saw the entire U.S. for free and
had five months vacation. I just wish I could
have played the game longer," he said.
Underwood noted in the same interview that
he owed, in part, his success to his
neighborhood, family and the city as a whole.
"The competition in Kokomo during that time
was incredible," he said. "Just in our
neighborhood we must have had 20 or 30 kids
to play football, basketball and baseball against
and with an older brother and younger brother
[Pat], we had a wide range of kids. I think
I learned to be competitive at a very early age.
"I had good coaching, too," he added.
"Andy Fernung and Bill Cooper were a big help
at UCT [Little League] and I remember Bob
Dyer helping me work on a pickoff move in
Babe Ruth. Dick Mugg and Carl McNulty
worked with me in high school and of course,
Bob Ronk and Jim Heathcoat were great in
Legion ball. I owe a lot to my dad [John], too.
My brothers and I always had a glove on his
hand to play catch the moment he walked in the
door after work. He never said 'no.' I was very
lucky."
The Underwood family gave Kokomo one of
its proudest sports moments. On May 30,
1979, Pat made his major league debut for the
Detroit Tigers, pitching against Tom and the
Toronto Blue Jays. The southpaws hooked up
in a duel with the Tigers winning 1-0 on an
eighth-inning home run.
Former Tribune sports editor Dave Kitchell
covered the game. He raved about the brothers'
brilliant pitching and wrote that "For the
Kokomoans who were there . they'll remember
two standing ovations and Tom and Pat
embracing on the field after the game while the
organist played "He Ain't Heavy, He's My
Brother."
Underwood first began to turn heads at UCT,
and he went on to great things at Kokomo
High where the three-sport athlete quarterbacked
the football team. In his final two seasons with
the Red and Blue baseball program, he amassed
a 17-3 won-lost record with an ERA of around
0.40.
In addition, Underwood had a 25-1 record over
his final two seasons with Ronk's American
Legion team, helping Post 6 win the 1972 state
championship.
After being drafted by Philadelphia with the
27th overall pick in the 1972 draft, Underwood
spent 1973 and part of '74 in the minor leagues
before receiving word he was going to join the
Phillies. He called that the greatest moment of
his baseball career.
"We were playing in Waterbury [Conn.] and
I remember my manager asking me after the
game if I had a suitcase . he said I was
going to the majors," Underwood said in the
1999 interview. "It was like my feet were off
the ground - it was a feeling that never went
away. My goal had always been to play in the
majors and to know I'd finally gotten there
was just unbelievable."
Underwood pitched for six teams over parts
of 11 seasons, finishing with an 86-87 record.
He had strong seasons in 1976 (10-5 record,
3.52 ERA with the Phillies) and in 1980 (13-9,
3.66 with the Yankees), but his best season
might have come in 1982 when he worked as
a starter and reliever for the Oakland A's,
appearing in 56 games, posting a 10-6 record
with seven saves and finishing with a 3.29
ERA that ranked among the top 10 in the
American League.
Underwood pitched in the postseason in 1976
with the Phillies, in 1980 with the Yankees and
in 1981 with the A's.
---
1981 Fleer (#97) baseball card:
http://tinyurl.com/22ug2tz
MLB Stats:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/underto01.shtml
Thanks to Jack Morris from SABR for this obit.