Phil Regan, who pitched for the infamous 1969 Chicago Cubs before later returning to the organization as its pitching coach, has died at 89.
Regan’s big league career started in 1960 with the Detroit Tigers, and that remained the only club he pitched for longer than Chicago. Between those two stops came a strong stretch with the Dodgers, where the right-hander put together the best years of his career and earned his lone All-Star selection.
His 1966 season stood out above the rest. Regan went 14-1 with a 1.62 ERA, finished seventh in MVP voting, and led the league with 48 games finished and 21 saves.
He also logged 116 2/3 innings without making a single start. The source notes that the last MLB reliever to reach 100 innings was Scott Proctor in 2006.
Known as Phil “The Vulture,” Regan became a trusted late-inning weapon for Cubs manager Leo Durocher after Chicago acquired him from the Dodgers in April 1968. The deal sent Regan and Jim Hickman to the Cubs in exchange for Jim Ellis and Ted Savage. Regan then piled up heavy innings totals in both 1968 and 1969, and he was named Reliever of the Year in the latter season.
He remained with the Cubs through 1972, when the team sold his contract to the White Sox. That ended his playing career, but not his time in baseball. Regan spent much of the next decade coaching at Grand Valley State before working his way back to the majors.
Along with a brief managerial stint with the Orioles in the mid-90s, Regan held several coaching jobs around the game. His time as Cubs pitching coach from 1997-98 came during an era most fans remember for Sammy Sosa, but it also included one of the franchise’s biggest pitching moments: Kerry Wood’s Rookie of the Year season and his 20-strikeout masterpiece against the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field, a game many still consider the best in MLB history.
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