Chuck Finley

Charles Edward "Chuck" Finley (born November 26, 1962 in Monroe, Louisiana) is a former left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the California Angels (later the Anaheim Angels) from to and the Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals through , compiling a 200-173 record with a 3.85 ERA over 3197-1/3 innings and 2,610 strikeouts.

Finley is best known for his long career with the Angels. After departing the Angels Finley signed with the Indians for the 2000 season. He went 16-11 with a 4.17 ERA and posted an 8-7 record with a 5.54 era with the Indians in . In 2002 he was 4-11 with a 4.44 ERA in 18 games before being traded to the Cardinals for outfielder Coco Crisp.

Finley was selected by the Angels in the 15th round of the amateur draft out of Northeast Louisiana University, but he did not sign. The Angels chose him again in the 1st round of the secondary phase of the amateur draft. He is the only pitcher to strike out four players in one inning more than once, and he accomplished the rare feat three times in the span of one year. These occasions were on May 12, 1999, then later again that season on August 15, both with the Anaheim Angels, and then for a third time on April 16, 2000, with the Cleveland Indians. This oddity can mainly be attributed to the fact that he used an excellent split finger pitch as his strike out weapon; that pitch would often end up in the dirt, eluding both batter and catcher.

Finley was married to actress Tawny Kitaen from 1997 to 2002. He filed for divorce three days after Kitaen was charged with committing domestic violence against him, having beaten him with a stiletto heel. They have two daughters, Wynter and Raine.

As Finley took the mound for an April 2002 game against the Chicago White Sox at then-Comiskey Park II, the stadium's musical director, Joe Stephen, took a subtle dig at Finley's messy divorce, and played "Here I Go Again" by the band Whitesnake, referencing Kitaen's appearance in that band's videos. Stephen was later fired and the White Sox apologized.

Pitching Style

Finley, similarly to Randy Johnson, was a rare left-handed power pitcher and often finished in the top 5 in the league in strikeouts. He complimented his hard fastball with a devastating forkball that would baffle hitters when on target. The best comparison to Finley for pitching style would be right-handed Roger Clemens, though Finley's more frail frame and less consistent control meant he had less success than Clemens.

Cultural References

On the television program Burn Notice, the character Sam Axe often uses the name "Chuck Finley" as an alias.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time

References

External links