On this date in 1979, Indians DH Cliff Johnson approaches the mound to have "a brief word" with Yankees pitcher Bob Kammeyer. Kammeyer, pitching in only his first MLB game of the season (and just the eighth of his career), has just plunked Johnson; it will later be revealed that Billy Martin offered Kammeyer $100 to do it, in retaliation for Johnson's homer off Paul Mirabella earlier in the game. Having entered the game in relief in the bottom of the 4th, Kammeyer (who somehow narrowly avoided a Heathcliff beatdown) gives up eight runs on seven hits without recording an out, before being pulled for Don Hood — whom Johnson will homer off of in the fifth inning — as the Indians go on to stomp the Yankees 16-3 in Cleveland.
Heathcliff, of course, had begun the season with the Yankees, where he'd served as a platoon DH, backup first baseman, and unenthusiastic third-string catcher for two years. Though he'd given the Bronx Bombers a considerable shot in the arm when he arrived from Houston in June '77 — hitting .296 with a .405 OBP, 8 doubles, 12 homers and 31 RBI in 168 plate appearances, then going 5-for-16 with two doubles and a homer during the '77 ALCS — Johnson's offense tailed off badly in '78. He then made himself completely dispensible in April 1979, when he got into a fight with Goose Gossage, a naked shower contretemps which tore a ligament in the ace reliever's right thumb, and effectively sealed Johnson's fate with George Steinbrenner. On June 15, 1979, two years to the date of his arrival in the Bronx, Johnson was shipped off to Cleveland in exchange for pitcher Don Hood. That's right — the same Don Hood he tagged for home run #2 in this game.
As for Kammeyer, this would be his last-ever appearance in "The Show". Though he would be named International League Pitcher of the Year in 1980, after going 15-7 with a 2.91 ERA for the Columbus Clippers, the Stanford University grad opted to take a gig as a CPA with Peat, Marwick Mitchell & Co, rather than pursue his pitching career any further. Kammeyer, who passed away in 2003, retired from baseball with a 0-0 record and a 9.14 ERA in 21.2 major league innings. But I'm guessing he probably spent that $100 wisely...
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