#45 gerald alfonse witasick | p


2000 highlights:

summary: after being acquired from kansas city in exchange for righthander brian meadows hours before the trading deadline, posted a 3-2 record and a 5.64 era (38 er/60.2 ip) in 11 starts for the padres...walked 35 and struck out 54 as opponents batted .284 (69-for-243)...went 0-1 with a 7.27 era (14 er/17.1 ip) in his first 3 padres starts, then went 3-1 with a 4.98 era (24 er/43.1 ip) in his final 8 starts...combined to go 6-10 with a 5.82 era in a career-high 33 games (25 starts) for the 2 clubs...fanned a career high 121.

bochy\s bunch: with his san diego debut august 4, became the 49th player (11th pitcher) to appear in a game for the 2000 padres, establishing a new single-season franchise mark...the previous high was 48, set by san diego\s 1991 club...at season's end, the padres had used big league record-tying 56 players.

a day to remember: earned his first n,l. win with a 5-4 decision over montreal august 20 at the q...allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 10 hits in 6.1 innings...walked 2 and struck out 7...collected his first m.l. hit with a run-scoring single off felipe lira in the 2nd inning...finished 2-for-3 with 2 rbi...had been hitless in 16 career at-bats going in.

hot and bothered: picked up his 2nd n.l. victory 11-5 over the cubs august 31 at wrigley field...yielded 4 runs on 6 hits in 5.0 innings of work...left the game due to heat exhaustion after completing the 5th inning...was taken to illinois masonic hospital for observation and was released the following morning...came back to tie his career high with 10 strikeouts in his next start, september 5 vs. milwaukee...allowed just one unearned run on 3 hits in 7.2 innings.

strong finish: went 1-1 with a 4.50 era (13 er/26.0 ip) in 5 september starts after posting a 2-1 record with a 6.49 era (25 er/34.2 ip) in 6 starts in august...held opponents to a .253 (25-for-99) september average.

more 2000 highlights: tossed 7.0 scoreless innings august 9 at philadelphia...gave up just 5 hits and 2 walks while fanning...posted three 1-2-3 innings, and allowed only 2 runners past second...left with a 2-0 lead after the top of the 8th, but the phillies rallied for 2 runs off donne wall in the bottom of the 8th to win 3-2.

2000 at kansas city: posted a 3-8 record with 2 complete games and a 5.94 era (59 er/89.1 ip) in 22 games (14 starts) with the royals...split his 2000 stay in kansas city between the rotation and the bullpen...made 14 starts, posting a 3-7 record with 2 complete games and a 6.05 era (50 er/74.1 ip)...appeared in 8 games out of the bullpen, going 0-1 with a 5.40 era (9 er/15.0 ip)...struck out a season-high 7 batters in only 3.2 innings at yankee stadium april 14...pitched back-to-back complete games at anaheim june 22 and vs. cleveland on june 28...lost to the angels, 4-3, after yielding 4 runs and 10 hits over 8.0 innings...in his next start, held the indians to one run and 4 hits in an 8-1 complete game victory...was 0-4 with a 7.34 era (28 er/34.1 ip) through may but went 3-4 with a 5.07 era (31 er/55.0 ip) through the end of july, prior to being traded to san diego.

personal:
gerald alphonse (jay) witasick jr. (wi-tass-ik)...is single and makes his off-season home in bel air, md, outside of baltimore...attended brevard (fl) community college (where padres manager bruce bochy began his collegiate career) and the university of maryland-baltimore county...graduated from milton wright high school in bel air, md...played baseball and football.