80: Skip Lockwood-MLB

In 1964, Skip Lockwood was being looked at by several Major League Baseball teams. The Kansas City A’s and their general manager Pat Friday offered Lockwood a signing bonus of $35,000. Lockwood wrote a “1” in front of the 35 and convinced Friday and A’s owner Charlie Finley he was worth every penny. Finley agreed and Lockwood’s career was underway. A third baseman, one week out of high school, Lockwood joined the A’s on the road for some batting practice before he was to be assigned to a minor league team. The A’s batting practice pitcher didn’t care too much for Lockwood and beaned him. Quite a rude welcome; and that’s just one of the many stories Lockwood tells us on this edition of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes. Converted to a pitcher after not succeeding as a hitter, Lockwood was the No. 1 man out of the pen for the New York Mets of the mid-1970s closing out games for the likes of Seaver, Koosman and Matlack. He threw in the mid- to upper-90s and stared down some of the game’s best, guys like Aaron, Reggie, Schmidt, Stargell, Parker and more. Lockwood who just released his first book, “Insight Pitch”, shares many stories with us, like the time he was credited with his first stolen base due to a prank made by Max Patkin, the time he walked into the wrong bullpen, and having to travel with his Class A team in a caravan of three station wagons – a whole team in three station wagons! Join Skip Lockwood for these stories and more on this edition of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes.

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