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Dave Stewart was one of baseball’s most intimidating hurlers. A 20-game winner each of the four season from 1987-1990, Stew was an imposing figure on the hill. Known for his menacing stare, the man they called “Smoke” recalled how he developed his terrifying persona.

Stewart told NBC Sports Tristi Rodriguez that none other than Sandy Koufax facilitated the transformation.

“Sandy, at one point, came to me and he said, ‘Hey, what I’d like from you to do is lower your cap as low as you can, and that will help you to lower your sight,’” Stewart told Rodriguez. “And so as I kept lowering my cap, he kept asking me, ‘What do you see?’ And I said, ‘At this point, all I can see is below the catcher’s neck and below.’

“And he says ‘OK, I’d like for you to start throwing with your cap like that.’ ”

Stewart did just that. From that point on, he 6’2″ right-hander pushed his cap down until the brim was just above his eyebrows. The lowered cap along with Stewart’s glare made him unlike other hurlers of his day.

Stewart’s time with Koufax’s Dodgers lasted parts of four seasons. His greatest success came with the Oakland Athletics.

Shown here is a 1961 Topps baseball card featuring Koufax and 1955 World Series MVP Johnny Podres. Both men have signed the Topps offering.

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Before Dave Stewart landed in Oakland his record stood at five games below the breakeven mark after 65 decisions. In his first full season on the bright side of the Bay Stewart he became a star.

Four consecutive 20-win seasons and top-4 Cy Young finishes came in as many seasons. In the postseason he was named the World Series MVP in 1989 and the ALCS MVP the following season. He was the undisputed ace of three As’ pennant winners and a World Series champion.

Stewart’s manager in Oakland who oversaw the transformation was Hall of Fame skipper Tony LaRussa.

In the collection is the lineup card from LaRussa’s pocket as manager of the Oakland A’s. The game was played on September 26, 1993, Stewart’s first season in Toronto after 7 seasons in Oakland. After averaging 97 wins per seasons in the previous five campaigns, LaRussa’s A’s tumbled to a 68-94 mark in ’93 without their ace.

In the contest when this lineup card was used, Oakland prevailed 3-2 over the Mariners in the Kingdome. Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley picked up his 36th save of the season.

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When Jim “Mudcat” Grant won a league-leading 21 games in 1965, he became the American League’s first African-American 20-game winner. Later he published his autobiography under the title, The Black Aces: Baseball’s Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners.

The term, “Black Aces” came to represent 20-game winners of African-American descent. The first member of the club was Don Newcombe of the 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers. A Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP, Newk’ had 20 or more wins on three occasions including a league-leading 27 in 1956.

Four years later Sam Jones of the San Francisco Giants posted an NL-best 21 victories to join Newcombe. First AL Black Ace Mudcat Grant earned his 20th win of 1965 on September 25; eight days later the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson became the club’s fourth member. Gibson reached the 20-win plateau again in 1966, ’68, ’69, and ’70.

In 1967 Fergie Jenkins and Earl Wilson gained membership by winning 20 and 22 games respectively. Jenkins proved to be the most prolific of the 20-game winners, reaching the mark in seven seasons.

Vida Blue had the first of his three 20-win seasons in 1971 when he was voted the American League Most Valuable Player. That same year Al Downing captured the NL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award by winning 20 contests.

Flamethrower JR Richard secured his spot with the Black Aces in 1976 with exactly 20 victories while Mike Norris joined him as a 22-game winner in 1980 with the A’s.

Dwight Gooden had perhaps the finest season of any of the aces in 1985. It was a Triple Crown campaign for Doc who led the NL in wins (24), ERA (1.53) and strikeouts (268). That same decade, Dave Stewart dominated AL hitters by winning 20+ in four consecutive seasons started in 1987. He joined Vida as the second Oakland Athletics hurler to reach 20 wins.

Former Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis became the first Black Ace of the 21st century with 22 victories in 2005. Five years later CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees led the league with 21 triumphs to join his mates. The most recent addition to the exclusive club is David Price who won exactly 20 in his Cy Young campaign of 2012.

Shown here is the reverse of a government postcard. The other side with a USPS postmark of August 29, 1973 from Martinez, California can be seen by clicking here. On that day, Blue took the mound in Oakland against the Boston Red Sox.

In his shortest outing of the season, Vida gave up five runs on seven hits before exiting the game with two out in the second inning. Boston cleanup hitter and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski did much of the damage. In two plate appearances, Yaz hit an RBI triple to center and a single to right. He also scored a run.

The ’73 season marked Blue’s second 20-win season in three years and the A’s second consecutive World Series triumph.

 

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Wade Boggs faced 962 different big league pitchers. Not a single one of them yielded more doubles, homers, or RBI to him than Dave Stewart. The Boston third baseman went 26-for-71 (.366) off of Stew with a .483 on-base percentage and a .676 slugging mark.

Stewart was no slouch. As one of his era’s most formidable hurlers, Steward won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons starting in 1987. In each of those campaigns he finished in the top-four in Cy Young balloting.

In the postseason, the man they called Smoke was stellar. Stewart twirled 133 October innings to the tune of a 2.35 earned run average. He earned the MVP in the 1989 World Series and in the ALCS in 1990 and 1992.

And yet, Wade Boggs owned him there too.

The first time the two faced each other in October came in the 1988 ALCS. In two games Stewart had a stingy 1.35 ERA. Boggs hit him hard.

In his first postseason at bat against Stewart, Boggs hit the ball over the centerfielder’s head for a long single. By the time the Series was over Boggs had three hits in six at bats off of the Oakland right-hander.

Their next playoff pairing was two years later in the 1990 ALCS. Stewart won the opener and the clincher, going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA. Writers recognized him as the Most Valuable Player of the ALCS. In Game 1, Stewart allowed one run in an 8-inning effort. Only Boggs’ 4th-inning solo shot – his first longball in the postseason – blemished the performance.

In Game 4 Boggs went 2-for-3 off of Stewart. That brought his overall postseason batting average against the ace to an even .500 (6-for-12). The two never faced each other in October again.

As good as Stewart was, Boggs owned him no matter what month they squared off.

In the collection is a contract signed by Wade Boggs agreeing to have his signature appear on souvenir baseballs with stamped autographs.

The terms of the contract?

Boggs received one cent per ball sold. Interestingly Boggs signed the contract on March 7, 1982 but would not debut in the big leagues until April 10 later that year.

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After earning the 1989 World Series MVP Award, Dave Stewart led his Oakland club back to the postseason in 1990. By the time the ALCS was over, Stewart was the clear choice for the Series MVP.

In Game 1 against Roger Clemens and the Boston Red Sox, Stewart allowed one run in an 8-inning effort. Wade Boggs’ 4th-inning solo shot provided the only Boston run in the A’s 9-1 win. Stewart returned to the hill against Clemens in Game 4. The Rocket’s allowed three runs before leaving the game via ejection in a second-inning meltdown.

Stewart stuck around, scattering four hits in eight innings in the 3-1 A’s win. His two victories over Clemens and his 1.13 ERA earned him the ALCS MVP.

Shown here is the Boston lineup card from Stewart’s Game 1 game gem. It is filled out and signed by Boston skipper Joe Morgan. The game featured Boggs first postseason home run.

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Dave Stewart was a bonafide big-game pitcher. The ace of the three-time pennant-winning Athletics, Stewart earned both the World Series and ALCS MVP with Oakland.

Stewart left the A’s in 1993 to join the defending World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays. He helped them win the American League East and advance to the ALCS.

In Game 2 Stewart allowed one run on four hits in six innings to earn the win. The White Sox won the next two games to tie the Series at two-games-apiece. After Toronto won Game 5 to put the White Sox on the brink of elimination, Stewart returned to the mound.

In 7 1/3 innings Smoke surrendered two runs on four hits to propel the Blue Jays to their second consecutive Fall Classic appearance. Two wins and a 2.03 ERA proved enough to garner Stewart his second ALCS MVP nod. Shown here is a ticket that allowed a lucky fan into Game 2 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Stewart signed the ticket and added the inscription, “93 ALCS MVP”.

The Blue Jays went on to win their second-straight World Series on the strength of Joe Carter’s dramatic walk-off home run in the deciding Game 6 triumph.

In 18 career postseason starts, three-time World Series champion Stewart went 10-6 with a 2.84 earned run average.

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On June 29, 1990 Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela made baseball history by twirling no-hitters on the same day. The last time that happened was the century before on April 22, 1898 whenTed Breitenstein of the Reds no-hit the Pirates and Jim Hughes of the NL Orioles tossed his gem against the Boston Beaneaters.

Stewart walked three and struck out 12 White Sox in his masterpiece. Later that night, Valenzuela whiffed 7 St. Louis batters and put three aboard via base on balls.

Dodger fans remember the call by announcer Vin Scully, “Fernando Valenzuela has pitched a no-hitter at 10:17 in the evening on June 29, 1990. If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!”

Shown here is the 1981 Topps offering, Dodger Rookie Stars. It is signed by all three Los Angeles prospects, Jack Perconte, Mike Scioscia, and the author of the no-hitter Valenzuela.

 

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During their 7 seasons together with the Oakland A’s Dave Stewart and and Dennis Eckersley were a powerful duo on the hill. During that time Stewart won 107 contests while Eck came out of the pen for 236 saves. Forty of Stew’s victories featured an Eckersley save.

All seven seasons saw either a Stewart 20-win season or a 40-save campaign by Eck. The pair combined for eight top-6 Cy Young finishes, with the reliever earning the the award in his ’92 MVP campaign. They propelled Oakland to three pennants and the 1989 World Series title. Fittingly Stewart was named the Series MVP while Eck recorded the final out in the four-game sweep.

Shown here is Eckersley autograph on a 1987 Topps traded card, his first depicted as on Athletics player.

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Roger Clemens was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. Owner of an MLB-record 7 Cy Young Awards, Clemens has 354 victories against 184 losses. The only pitchers with more strikeouts are Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. Roger ranks third in pitcher’s career WAR behind legends Cy Young and Walter Johnson.

Despite Clemens’ dominance, he was continually humbled by Dave Stewart.

After taking the loss in their first meeting, Stewart reeled off 9 consecutive wins – two in the postseason – and had his way with Clemens.

The numbers in those final 9 meetings are astonishing. Stewart gained the victory in all 9 contests while pitching to a stingy 1.77 ERA. Clemens never got his footing against Stew. In his career, Clemens’ ERA+ was 43% better than league-average yet his earned run average while facing the Oakland ace was 5.91.

Perhaps the most embarrassing moment for the Rocket against Stewart came in their penultimate matchup. That came in Game 4 of the 1990 ALCS. Four days earlier Clemens held the A’s scoreless through six innings before leaving the game with a 1-0 lead. Oakland pushed across single runs in the 7th and 8th before exploding for seven runs in the 9th. For his part, Stewart scattered four hits through 8 innings, a Wade Boggs homer the only blemish in the 9-1 victory. The lineup card Boston skipper Joe Morgan carried in his pocket that day is shown earlier on this page.

The two pitchers faced off again in Game 4. The A’s got to Clemens in the second inning. One-out singles by Carney Lansford and Terry Steinbach and a throwing error by left fielder Mike Greenwell put runners on second and third. Mark McGwire grounded into a fielder’s choice to plate Lansford and open the scoring.

The frustrated Clemens then walked Willie Randolph on five pitches, taking exception with home plate umpire Terry Conney’s strike zone. As Mike Gallego approached the batter’s box, Clemens continued chirping at Cooney. Before throwing a pitch to the A’s shortstop, Clemens went too far and was ejected by Conney.

During the heated argument, the pitcher bumped the umpire and threatened to find out where he lives to “get” him.

Some believed Clemens wanted to get ejected. Here’s a video of the incident.

Asked about Clemens’ behavior after that game, Stewart replied, “Clemens said to Cooney, ‘Get your big, fat [bleeping] ass back behind the plate and call the [bleeping] balls and strikes. Cooney said, ‘What did you say?’”

Stewart said Clemens then repeated his words. “If he doesn’t say he said that, he’s a liar because I heard him,” Stewart said.

Despite Clemens futility against Stewart, it’s easy to see his greatness. Shown here is a lineup card from Boston’s Opening Day in 1996. That day the Rocket extended his own still-standing Red Sox franchise record for Opening Day bids. It was his 8th and final season-opener for Boston.

Game-used lineup cards from contests of this historic importance are rarely seen outside of players’ personal collection or at the Hall of Fame.

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In 2018 the Oakland A’s decided to recognize players for the team’s Hall of Fame In a pregame ceremony on September 5th seven men were inducted as part of the inaugural class. Among them, five are now members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Rickey Henderson, Catfish Hunter, and Reggie Jackson. The other two charter members of the Oakland Hall were team owner Charlie Finley and former World Series Most Valuable Player Dave Stewart.

A’s President Dave Kaval told MLB.com at the time, “Our franchise is built on the history of legends. The Athletics Hall of Fame allows us to recognize the individuals who have shaped our identity and brought us success. We are honored to celebrate Eck, Rollie, Rickey, Catfish, Reggie, Stew, and Finley as our inaugural class.”

Stewart will never receive a plaque in Cooperstown but will forever be remembered as one of Oakland’s most influential players.

Shown here is a Yankee payroll check made out to Henderson on the last day of March in 1987. That was Stewart’s first full season with Oakland. In the A’s championship year of 1989 they reacquired Henderson in a June three-for-one deal with the Yankees. After hitting .247 in New York, a re-energized Rickey hit .294 with a .425 on-base percentage the rest of the way in Oakland. Rickey led the league in both steals (77) and walks (126).