Ted Power

Ted Henry Power (born January 31, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and a minor league baseball coach.

Power was born on January 31, 1955, in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and played five sports at Abilene High School in Abilene, Kansas.

He played college baseball at Kansas State University.

Power was a fifth-round selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the June 1976 free agent draft.

Power spent most of his career as a relief pitcher, and he held the closer role for the Reds for a couple of seasons in the mid-1980s.

During a 13-year career in the major leagues, he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981–1982), Cincinnati Reds (1983–1987, 1991), Kansas City Royals (1988), Detroit Tigers (1988), St. Louis Cardinals (1989), Pittsburgh Pirates (1990), Cleveland Indians (1992–93), and the Seattle Mariners (1993).

His best minor league season came in 1981 with the Class AAA Albuquerque Dukes, for whom he won 18 games.

He was a Pacific Coast League All-Star that year.

After a call-up to the Dodgers toward the end of the 1981 season, he became the only pitcher to win 20 professional games that year.

In 1982, Power appeared in eight games for the Dodgers, earning an ERA over 6.00 before he was sent back down to the Albuquerque Dukes.

He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds that year in exchange for an unknown amount of money.

He finished the season with a total of 12 major league games pitched and a 1–1 win–loss record, having given up 38 hits and 27 runs in 33.2 innings.

Returning to the Reds in 1983, he played in 49 games and went 5–6.

He pitched in 111 innings and allowed 62 runs on 120 hits.

In 1984, Power pitched in a league-high 78 games.

He went 9–7 and earned a career-high 11 saves, allowing 37 runs on 93 hits in innings.

In 1985, Power was the Reds' primary closing pitcher.

He finished 50 games; only one NL pitcher finished more.

He ended the season with 27 saves, which was the third-highest total in the league.

After his success in 1985, it looked like Power and the Reds would enter into salary arbitration before the 1986 season, as the parties were failing to successfully negotiate a raise from Power's $255,000 salary from the year before.

In mid-February, Power and the Reds avoided arbitration, agreeing to a $500,000 contract for the coming season.

Power and the left-handed Franco were predicted to share the closer role for the Reds.

Franco pitched well, but Power struggled.

Power's slider, which was a key part of his 1985 success, was ineffective.

He lost his role as the team's right-handed closer that year due to middle reliever Ron Robinson; 46 appearances into the season, he had only earned one save.

On August 22, Power moved from a relief pitching role into the starting rotation because of injuries sustained by pitchers Mario Soto and John Denny.

From 1986 to 1989, he spent significant time in his teams' starting rotations before moving back to the bullpen for the last few years of his career.

He earned 70 career saves.

In his third start on September 1, Power earned his first win as a part of the 1986 rotation, holding the Pittsburgh Pirates hitless until the sixth inning.

Power said that the starting role was fun but he viewed himself as a fill-in in the rotation.

In 1987, the Reds passed on extending Denny's contract, which left a continued hole in the starting rotation for Power to fill.

Power pitched for the Reds in 34 games and went 10–13.

He pitched in 204.0 innings and allowed 115 runs on 215 hits.

Before the 1988 season, Power and Kurt Stillwell were traded to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Danny Jackson and Ángel Salazar.

Power, who was happy to be closer to his hometown and family, said that he would accept a bullpen role with the team but hoped to earn a place on the team's starting rotation.

He started the season in the bullpen, but the team promoted him to the starting rotation in early May when they expanded the rotation from four men to five men.

He pitched in 22 games and went 5–6.

He allowed 54 runs on 98 hits in 80.1 innings.

He suffered a career-ending shoulder injury before the 1994 season and later entered coaching.

He was the pitching coach for the Louisville Bats from 2006 to 2016.