Don Stanhouse

Who is Don Stanhouse?

Donald Joseph Stanhouse is a retired baseball pitcher who had a ten-year major league career from 1972 to 1980, 1982. He played for the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles of the American League and the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League.

Shuttled back and forth from the bullpen to the starting rotation with the Rangers and Expos, Stanhouse excelled in 1978 after joining the Baltimore Orioles, where Manager Earl Weaver employed him as a full-time closer. Because of his Harpo Marx hairstyle and pre-game batting practice antics - where his primal scream would entertain early ballpark arrivals - he was quickly labeled Stan the Man Unusual, a pun on the nickname "Stan the Man" for Hall-of-Famer Stan Musial.

Stanhouse finished 3rd in the American League in both 1978 & 1979 in saves, recording 45 over that span, helping the Orioles capture the American League Championship in 1979. He was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1979.

Although an effective closer, Stanhouse had a reputation of walking batters he was not willing to face.