Dave Stewart

At 67 years old, Dave Stewart has this physical status:

David Keith Stewart (born February 19, 1957), nicknamed "Smoke," is an American professional baseball executive, pitching coach, sports agent, and retired starting pitcher, as well as the general manager of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. (MLB).

Stewart's MLB career spanned 1978 to 1995, winning three World Series titles and a 168–129 win-lost record, spanning four seasons.

He played for the Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays. Stewart was a member of the Boston All-Star team and was known for his post-season success, winning one World Series Most Valuable Player Award and two League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Awards – as well as pitching down batters when pitching to them.

He spent time as a pitching coach for the San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, and Blue Jays as well as as an assistant GM.

Sandy Alderson, Kevin Towers, Gord Ash, and Dean Taylor are among the many GMs he has worked under.

He was later a San Diego sports agent before the Diamondbacks recruited him as GM at the end of the 2014 season.

Early life

Stewart was born in Oakland, California. David, his father, a longshoreman, and his mother, Nathalie, worked at a cannery. Stewart's father didn't want him to play sports because he felt no one could make a living off a ball, so his older brother showed him how to play. Stewart spent many days at the Oakland Boys Club's East Oakland Branch as an adolescent.

Stewart attended St. Elizabeth High School in Oakland, where he received All-American recognition in both baseball (where he played catcher) and football (where he was a linebacker and tight end). As a small forward on the basketball team, he averaged 16 points per game. He was offered 30 college scholarships to play football but the Los Angeles Dodgers, who picked him in the 16th round of the 1975 Major League Baseball draft, turned them down.

Personal life

Adrian and Alyse are Stewart's two children, as well as Vanessa, Stewart's ex-wife, Vanessa. Lonnie Murray, a sports agent, is now married to him.

Stewart was arrested on suspicion of lewd activity with a prostitute who later revealed to be a transsexual. Stewart's decision was a fine, probation, and a suspended sentence after pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of soliciting a prostitute. Stewart was honoured with the Good Guys award from Dallas-Fort Worth sportswriters two days after his detention. He confessed both his guilt and shame in accepting the award.

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Professional career

Because of Stewart's strong arm, the Dodgers decided to turn him into a pitcher. He made his professional debut with the Bellingham Dodgers of the Northwest League. He had a 0-5 win–loss record in 22 games pitched, five of which were games that were launched, for a Bellingham team that set a record by losing the first 24 games of the season. He was promoted to the Midwest League at the end of the 1976 season and with the 1977 Clinton Dodgers, he had a breakout season, starting with 17-194 games and 3 shutouts, including 15 complete games and 3 shutouts. Despite his stellar season, Paul Molitor was voted Midwest League MVP and Top Prospects, then with the Burlington Bees. Stewart was drafted to the AA San Antonio Dodgers of the Texas League in 1978. In 28 starts for San Antonio, he was 14-12 with a 3.68 ERA.

Stewart started pitching two innings in relief against the San Diego Padres on September 22, 1978, making his major league debut in 1978. Although striking out one batter, he allowed only one hit and no runs. (Jim Beswick) That was his first game with the Dodgers this season. Stewart appeared in AAA for the 1979 and 1980 seasons with the Albuquerque Dukes. Despite an 11-12 record and 5.24 ERA in 28 games for the Dukes in 1979, Stewart thought he pitched well and was dissatisfied when he didn't get a call-up in September. He was 15-ten and a 3.70 ERA for a Dukes team that won the Pacific Coast League (PCL) Championship in 1980. In innings pitched (202) and starts (29) and tied for the league's highest number in wins (15), he led the PCL in innings pitched (202) and starts (29) and tied for the league lead in wins (19).

In 1981, Stewart began to spring training with the Dodgers. Since he was out of options, the Dodgers could not bring him back to the minors without risk of losing him to another team. They had intended to release him, but then decided against him. He made the Dodgers' opening day roster and played in relief last season, appearing in 32 games with a 2.49 ERA and six saves. In relief of Bob Welch, he earned his first Major League victory in his first appearance of the season on April 13. Against the Atlanta Braves on August 16, his first save was recorded. Stewart, along with teammate Bobby Castillo, were hard on money after the baseball players went on strike on June 12, but he continued to work for a Dodger fan that owned a metal fastener company and worked out with a semi-pro team. Stewart got his first glimpse of post-season action against the Houston Astros in the first two games of the Division Series. In game one, he allowed a walk-off homer to Alan Ashby and then allowed the winning runs to reach base. He regained himself by not allowing a run in the two games he appeared for for the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series against the New York Yankees, which the Dodgers won in six games.

In 1982, he spent time as both a starter and a reliever, playing in 45 games (starting 14 of them) and was 9–8 with a 3.81 ERA. Stewart almost traded him to the Texas Rangers after the 1982 season as part of a package for catcher Jim Sundberg, but Sundberg didn't want to waive his no-trade clause and the deal fell apart. He appeared in 46 games for the Dodgers in 1983, all except one as a relief pitcher, with a 5–2 record and a 2.96 ERA. On July 11, he was part of a play that Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda called one of the "most" moments he'd ever seen, as three runs scored on a wild pitch.

The Dodgers cut Stewart with a name (Ricky Wright) to the Rangers for Rick Honeycutt on August 19, 1983. At the time, the trade was turbulent, with some believing that Rangers GM Joe Klein received too little in exchange for his team's top pitcher. Stewart was called into the Rangers' starting lineup. He made eight starts down the stretch, going 5–2 with a 2.14 ERA. Stewart, on the other hand, failed to make a 7–14 record and a 4.73 ERA in 27 starts before losing his rotation job in 1984. Tom House, the team's new pitching coach, joined the organization in January 1985. Stewart decided that he needed a new pitch and started teaching him a split-fingered fastball.

The Rangers used Stewart as a relief pitcher in 1985, but his out of the bullpen were poor. Jorge Orta of the Kansas City Royals gave up a three-run homer on May 22 giving up the lead. The home fans booed him off the field; Stewart called the fans "idiots" and begged them to come on to the field and do their jobs for him after the game; Tom Grieve, the team's current general manager, was fined $500 for his remarks, but Rangers owner Eddie Chiles, who requested that Grieve trade Stewart, was not enough. After finding a weak market for him, the Rangers finally managed to trade Stewart to the Philadelphia Phillies on September 13, 1985, after he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Stewart was 0–6 with a 5.42 ERA in 42 games for the Rangers in 1985.

In the off-season, he worked with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, but the Phillies refused to work on a deal, so he re-signed with the Phillies.

Stewart played in 12 games for the team between 1985 and 1986, averaging 6.00 per cent. Stewart was reported to have been hurt, but the Phillies also released him on May 9, 1986. Stewart later said that the Phillies lie to him, and that if they kept his nose clean, he might get somewhere, but instead he was released.

Stewart had a try-out with the Baltimore Orioles but they told him they didn't have a spot for him in Double-A. On May 23, 1986, he signed a free agent deal with the Oakland Athletics. Stewart was activated on the A's roster after just one game with The Triple-A Tacoma Tigers. During a game on July 1, he punched Pat Corrales, the Cleveland Indians' chief, during a game that sparked a bench-clearing brawl. He was banned from playing four games and fined for his conduct. Stewart also invented a forkball in 1986 to compliment his fastball and slider. In 1986, he appeared in 29 games for the Athletics, with 17 starts. He was 9-5 with a 3.74 ERA.

Prior to the 1987 season, Stewart signed a two-year $500,000 deal with the Athletics. He played 20 games in 1987, while still posting a 3.68 ERA and knocking out 205 batters. Dave Duncan, his pitching coach, praised him for his help in improving his pitches. He won his first eight games and was named Major League Pitcher of the Month in 1988. When he was in charge of the American League (AL) with 14 complete games and 275+2nd3 innings pitched, he was 21-1912, 3.23 ERA. In the 1988 American League Championship Series, Stewart appeared in two games in the A's four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox. Tony La Russa, his company's chairman, said he had "never met a player or someone of a higher standard" after the series. In Game one of the 1988 World Series against the Dodgers, Stewart was the starting pitcher. Steve Sax, the Dodgers' second baseman, warned him before the game that he was going to strike him in the neck during the game. He came close, drilling Sax in the left shoulder and glaring at him. In eight innings, he allowed three runs in eight innings and was in line for the victory until Kirk Gibson's walk-off homer off closer Dennis Eckersley gave the game to the Dodgers. Stewart wasn't as strong in Game four as he did, allowing four runs (only two earned) and leaving the game with one out in the sixth to bring up the loss. With a win in Game five, the Dodgers won their first title.

Stewart was 21-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 36 starts in 1989. Stewart was selected by his manager, La Russa, over fan favorite Nolan Ryan to begin for the AL team at the All-Star Game. In his one-inning of work in the game, he allowed two runs to score. Bret Saberhagen, a Kansas City Royals pitcher, came second in the American League Cy Young Award voting.

Stewart won both of the games he pitched with a 2.81 ERA in the 1989 American League Championship Series. In the first game against the San Francisco Giants, Stewart pitched a complete game shutout. An earthquake that struck the Bay Area right before the game 3 started, and the series was suspended. Stewart started game three for the A's on the ten days later and won his second game of the season as he allowed three runs in seven innings. Stewart was named as the MVP of the series, going 2–0 with a 1.69 ERA, and the A's swept the series in four games. After the season, Stewart signed a new two-year contract extension with the Athletics. This was the longest deal in baseball at the time.

Stewart was 22-11 (1990, his fourth straight 20-win season and tied for second in the majors) with a 2.56 ERA in 36 starts. When being third in ERA and finishing third in the Cy Young voting, he led the league in innings pitched (267), complete games (11) and shutouts (4). At SkyDome on June 29, he no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays, becoming the first no-hitter by an African American since Jim Bibby in 1973. Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals on the same day, the first time in Major League history that no-hitters had been thrown in both leagues on the same day. The A's won their third pennant in a row, defeating the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, and Stewart was named ALCS MVP going 2–0 with a 1.13 ERA. In Game one of the 1990 World Series for the heavily favored A's against the Cincinnati Reds, Stewart got off to a promising start. As the Reds pulled off the surprise, Eric Davis had a two-run home run off his bat in the first inning and only lasted four innings. In game four, he pitched better, allowing only one earned run while pitching a complete game. The Reds won the game and ended off the season in a sweeping sweep of the series. Despite being the losing pitcher in games 1 and 4, Stewart had a 2.77 ERA in the 1990 World Series.

Stewart played for a Japanese all-Star team in Japan for eight games during the 1990 season. In 1991, he went on the disabled list for the first time in his career, leading to his absence from three weeks of the season. When he returned, he was not as dominant as he had been before. His woes were partially due to his inability to throw his forkball for strikes, and as a result, he was pitching with less enthusiasm. Stewart went 11-11 in 35 starts, with a league-high 5.18 ERA in 1991 as the Athletics missed the playoffs for the first time since 1987.

Stewart was bothered by elbow tendinitis for a large portion of the 1992 season, but he had 31 starts (his fewest since 1986) and had a 12–10 record and a 3.66 ERA. In the American League Championship Series, the A's made it to the playoffs, but the Toronto Blue Jays were underdogs this time. In a game that the A's won, Stewart pitched 7.2 innings in the opener of the series while allowing only three runs. The A's lost the next three games and were on the verge of being eliminated, so he called a team meeting in order to give his teammates a pep talk. In game five, he won by pitching a complete game victory, but only gave two runs. It was the first complete game victory in an ALCS game since Bruce Hurst of the Boston Red Sox pitched one against the California Angels in 1986. Nonetheless, the Blue Jays won the next game to break the A's from the regular season.

On December 8, 1992, Stewart signed a two-year, $8.5 million contract with the Blue Jays. He said he was sad to leave the A's, who he had intended on spending the remainder of his career with, but the Blue Jays treated him with more respect with their offer. Sandy Alderson, the A's General Manager, was disrespectful of him and all he had done for Oakland and was accused of dishonesty when he signed with the Blue Jays, according to him.

Stewart made 26 starts and was 8-8) in 1993 as a member of the Blue Jays rotation, finishing with a 4.44 ERA. During the season, he suffered from a number of injuries, but the Blue Jays stayed with him due to his heart and competitiveness, as well as the help he provided to other pitchers on the staff. Stewart received the call in game two, and the Blue Jays made it to the ALCS. He only allowed one run in six innings of play to win by. On Thanksgiving Day in Canada, the day before his next appearance, while the majority of his squad was still in Chicago, he was in Toronto helping the Salvation Army provide food to the homeless. In the clinching game six that brought the Blue Jays back to the World Series, he made it to the game on time and pitched 7.1 innings for his second victory of the season. For the second time in his career, he was named ALCS MVP. Stewart got off to a slow start in game two against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993, allowing five runs in six innings to lose for the first time in the game. Despite this, he was upbeat going into his next game, saying he was pitching for love as well as another championship. He allowed four runs in six innings, but it wasn't enough for the Blue Jays, thanks to a three-run walk-off homer by Joe Carter, who won the game 8–6 and brought the game total number from two games to 2.

Stewart stayed with the Blue Jays for the 1994 season, posting 22 starts for them with a 7–8 record and 5.87 ERA before the 1994–95 Baseball strike wiped out the remainder of the season. He had intended to leave at the end of the season, but the fans were bothered by the player's lack of empathy. After the disaster, he would later say that he never had the same passion for baseball as he did.

He rejoined the Athletics on April 8, 1995, and was their first day starter on April 26, 1995, when the strike came to an end. However, he could not recover his previous form. Stewart was rattled for nine runs and was forced to leave the game with just one out in the second inning, with just one out. He was 3-7 with a 6.89 ERA in 16 starts, causing the manager to announce that Stewart will return to the bullpen for the first time since 1986 and be replaced in the rotation by Todd van Poppel. Rather than resigning to the pen, Stewart decided to relax rather than start to the pen. He made the public announcement on July 24, 1995, citing a low point in his life and that he simply couldn't do it better.

He appeared in 18 games in the postseason, compiling a record of 2.84 ERA and 10–6 as a starter). He was particularly dominant in the LCS, going 8-0.

Post-playing career

In 1996, Stewart served as the assistant to Sandy Alderson, the Athletics' general manager. He resigned in 1997 to serve under Kevin Towers of the San Diego Padres in a similar capacity. Despite some anxiety that it might detract from his aim of becoming a coach and some personal rivalry with team president Larry Lucchino, he agreed to become the Padres' pitching coach in 1998. He turned around a pitching staff that had been mediocre the year before and helped the team enter the World Series. Several of the Padres' pitchers, including Andy Ashby, Sterling Hitchcock, and Joey Hamilton, credited Stewart specifically for the staff's development. During the season, he did some of his front office positions, including heading the Latin America scouting department, and he's often said he'd leave for the right front office position.

Stewart left San Diego at the start of the season and applied for assistant GM jobs with Oakland and the Florida Marlins. He was the finalist to replace Frank Wren in Florida, but he had to decline due to his fear of the high crime rate in South Florida. The main reason he accepted the position under Gord Ash was his acquaintance with the Blue Jays organization. Stewart took over as the Blue Jays fired pitching coach Rick Langford in the middle of the 2000 season. The Blue Jays lost Stewart after the 2001 season, deciding instead on J. P. Ricciardi. Stewart resigned from his dual role as both a pitching coach and assistant general manager. He was outspoken about the fact that minorities were being discriminated against in the front office and that team president Paul Godfrey's decision was racist. "I think the whole process is a waste of time," he said.

Under new manager Davey Lopes, he joined the Milwaukee Brewers as their pitching coach for the 2002 season. Lopes was shot and Stewart was shot as a candidate to replace him after the team began 3–12, but instead it went to bench coach Jerry Royster. He resigned on July 29, 2002, in order to care for his mother and spend more time with his family. After leaving his position as the pitching coach for the United States national baseball team at the Olympic Qualifying tournament, he returned to his career.

Sports Management Partners, Stewart's sports company, was founded. Eric Chavez, the A's and third baseman's first big contract, was a six-year contract extension. Matt Kemp and Chad Billingsley's contracts were also negotiated.

Stewart was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks as their general manager on September 25, 2014, replacing Towers; it was the fourth GM hired by the team since 2010. When he played for Oakland, he was sent by La Russa, his former boss when he was with Oakland as the Diamondbacks' chief baseball officer. When he took the Diamondbacks job, he transferred his management company to former A's teammate Dave Henderson and his partner, Lonnie Murray. The Diamondbacks decided to a six-year deal with free agent pitcher Zack Greinke worth $26.5 million on December 4, 2015. It was also the highest annual average value in MLB at $34.4 million per year at the time, at $34.4 million per year, and it was the highest contract by total value in team history. "If everything goes well," Stewart said about the deal. Shelby Miller and Gabe Speier were traded for Shelby Miller and Gabe Speier by the Atlanta Braves, who traded Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte, and Aaron Blair to the Atlanta Braves five days later.

With Stewart as general manager, the Diamondbacks went 79–83 in 2015 and 69–93 in 2016. The Diamondbacks fired Stewart and boss Chip Hale (hired about the same time as Stewart) on October 3, 2016.

Stewart was supposed to have his #34 jersey retired by the Oakland Athletics in 2020, but the celebration was postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic's absence in 2021; fans and even Stewart himself asked what was going to be announced that Stewart would have his jersey retired by the Athletics by September 11, 2022. Stewart would defyonize A's legacy by re-retirement, as well as not being in the Hall of Fame.

Stewart said in 2021, after the Dodgers' victory in the 2020 World Series, he will not be attending the 40th anniversary of the Trevor Bauer sexual harassment charges by delaying an entire week to put him on administrative leave.

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