Galen Cisco
Quick Facts
Biography
Galen Bernard Cisco (born March 7, 1936) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams between 1961 and 1969. Listed at 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 200 pounds (91 kg), Cisco batted and threw right-handed. He was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1958 out of Ohio State University.
A two-sport star, Cisco earned All-America and All-Big Ten honors and was a captain on the 1957 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, which won the national championship with a 9–1 record, playing both fullback and linebacker. As a pitcher for the Buckeyes, he compiled a career record of 12–2.
A curveball specialist, Cisco entered the Majors in 1961 with the Boston Red Sox, playing a little over a season for before the New York Mets acquired him via waivers on September 6, 1962. The 1962 Mets ended up with a record of 40–120, still the record for most losses by a Major League Baseball team in a single season.
He returned to the Red Sox for part of the 1967 season, then was acquired by the expansion Kansas City Royals, where he finished his active MLB career in 1969. In a seven-season career, he posted a 25–56 record with a 4.56 ERA in 192 appearances, including 78 starts, nine complete games, three shutouts, two saves, and a 1.16 strikeout-to-walk ratio (325-to-281).
Following his playing retirement, Cisco became a pitching coach for the Royals, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies, serving for all or parts of 28 years. He spent six seasons with the Blue Jays (from 1990 to 1995), helping his team to win three consecutive American League East Division titles (1991–93) and two World Series (1992–93). Under his guidance, Paul Byrd, Robert Person and Randy Wolf developed as starters with the Phillies (from 1997 to 2000).
Cisco resides in Celina, Ohio.