Lerch: God made the biggest save

Randy Lerch played 11 years in the major leagues and won 60 games and lost 64 as a pitcher. Lerch, a standout at Cordova High when he won 13 games and lost none as a senior, was drafted in the eighth round by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1973. He won 32 games and lost 14 in three minor league seasons before making his major league debut against the Cubs on Sept. 14, 1975. "I was sitting in the bullpen and I remember the phone ringing and the coach said to get Lerch up," Lerch, 70, recalled on Thursday during a live podcast at the Fat Elephant Record Store in Rancho Cordova. 'I was like, no, no, no, I just want to sit here and watch,' because I was so nervous as a 21-year-old rookie." As it went, it wasn't a good start to Lerch's career, but luckily the Phillies, behind Hall of Fame starter Steve Carlton, had a big 13-2 lead when Lerch entered the game in the ninth inning. Lerch allowed five runs, including the grand slam, but the Phillies held on to win it, 13-7. Lerch played two more games in 1975 before playing AA ball in 1976 in Reading, before playing in one game as another late season call-up in September. In 1977, he made the Phillies' opening day roster as a 22-year-old rookie. Though his first seven starts, Lerch was 5-2 with a 3.02 earned run average before his career changed forever after a poor decision by a young rookie. As it says in Lerch's book "God in the Bullpen," "The day before the Astros game that I was going to pitch, an accomplished veteran on our team called me to his room. He told me that I would never be a successful major league pitcher unless I took pills like the ones that were in his hand. He gave me some and I took one the night before I pitched in the Dome. I looked up to successful veterans, so I thought this is what I needed to do to be just as good as him. This decision changed my career and my life forever." What his teammate gave him was a "greenie" otherwise known as an amphetamine. Amphetamines are a stimulant drug that makes messages between your brain and body move faster. As a result you are more alert and physically active. "They made me feel like I could just throw the ball by anyone," Lerch said. "What they did was they turned me from being a pitcher to being a thrower, but I loved the way they made me feel. I chose the way they made me feel because I would get so nervous before I was going to pitch. When I took the greenie, all those nerves went away and I was fearless and felt on top of the world, like I could do anything." As fate would have it, after a 5-2 start to his rookie season with a 3.02 earned run average, Lerch, who took the pills for the remainder of his 11-year career, finished the rest of the season with a record 5-4 with a 5.94 earned run average in his 25 appearances, 22 being starts. The highlight of Lerch's career came on Sept. 30, 1978 in Pittsburgh, the day the Phillies clinched the pennant. On this day, Lerch started the game on the mound and pitched five innings and got the win. Lerch also hit two of his four home runs of his career; two solo home runs that helped the Phillies to a 10-8 win. Lerch also played in one of the more historic games in baseball history, as on May 17, 1979, Lerch started the game at Wrigley Field in Chicago that the Phillies ended up winning, 23-22, in 10 innings. The Phillies scored seven runs in the top of the first inning with Lerch accounting for the seventh run with a solo home run. In the bottom of the inning, Lerch only got one out and allowed six runs before he was replaced in what was the second-highest scoring game in baseball history. The low point of his career came a year later when the Phillies won the World Series and he was left off of the team's postseason roster after a 4-14 season. Lerch admitted he didn't deserve to be on the roster, but was still upset that he wasn't on it. Lerch went to the Brewers in 1981, and he was the starting pitcher on Oct. 9, 1981, when the Brewers won their first playoff game in history. Lerch didn't get the decision, but threw six innings and left the game losing 1-0. The Brewers came back to win the game, 5-3. Lerch spent much of the 82 season with the Brewers before being sold to the Montreal Expos, which he played for through much of the 1983 season before being released and then quickly picked up by his boyhood favorite team, the San Francisco Giants. He played with the Giants for the rest of the 83 and the entire 1984 season, his last full season in the big leagues. Lerch returned in 1986 to play six games for the Phillies before throwing the last pitch of his career on June 22, striking out Andy Van Slyke of the St. Louis Cardinals. Lerch spent his career taking greenies and drinking in excess. He would drink when he didn't pitch well to ease the pain, and he would drink in celebration when he did pitch well. Lerch became an alcoholic; which almost killed him nearly a decade ago when doctor diagnosed him with cirrhosis of the liver. The point of his book, God in the Bullpen, is the role God played in his life, for surely Lerch wouldn't be alive today without him. Lerch's message: Live each day like it's your last and be kind to people. Lerch currently lives in Shingle Springs with his wife, Maria.