30 Years Later: Remembering Jessie Wright's 30 Win Season

[7teen]

"You have to command the strike zone" a grizzled man barks out to an 18-year old pitcher in a bullpen in Burlington, NC. The bullpen is located down the right field line of an aging ball park where nothing but an old wooden fence separates the pitchers warming up from the spectators who will soon occupy a spot in the ballpark to watch the nightly minor league action. "If you don't control the zone, none of your pitches will work. Command the zone with your fastball and the rest becomes easier" the man finishes before sitting down on a bucket to watch the young hurler zip a few more pitches towards the young catcher at home designated to catch the young prospect.

Jessie Wright spends his summers teaching young Wolves pitching prospects the finer art of how to pitch in hopes they'll one day join the big league team. He spends those summer in Burlington, Vermont with the Wolves Double-A affiliate nicknamed the Big Eyed Fish. A typical Burlington game witnesses roughly 8,000 fans, a far cry from the packed stadiums the Wright used to call home both during his playing and coaching days in Madison. "I miss that place" said Wright when asked about the city of Madison and The Den, the stadium he called home for 10 seasons as a player and 11 seasons as a pitching coach. After 11 seasons as a coach and the team going south during the Fiscus era, Wright was let go by the big league club. "It was a blessing sort of" said Wright. "I went home to Lacey [Washington] and spent some time with my family. Watched my son play some high school ball and graduate and go off to college. But I missed the game too much and had to get back. Luckily for me the organization wanted me back and felt I was a solid fit here in the minors teaching these younger guys how to pitch. I miss the lights and excitement up there. Hopefully I can get back up there with those guys. But for now I'll enjoy the low key atmosphere here in the minors."

The minor leagues are not a place Wright is too familiar with. After being drafted by the Wolves in 1995 by then General Manager Gates Elliott, Wright spent just three seasons in the Wolves farm system before making his debut late in 1997. Those two starts in September of that year did not go so well. "I was scared to death" Wright recalls of those first outings. "I can't remember too much about them other than I didn't last very long, gave up a lot of runs, and got hit a lot. I do know I didn't get a win or loss so that was something positive" chuckled the 59 year old. Regardless of those poor starts, Elliott saw something with the younger and decided he was good enough to be on the roster from that point on.

"You have to snap it off more" Wright interjects mid interview, instructing the pitcher still throwing to put more wrist into his breaking pitch. This after the previous attempt sailed wide, rolling all the way to the game backstop past the home dugout. Wright stands slowly to illustrate exactly what he means to the pitcher.

Wright would have some success in his next few seasons with Madison. In 2000, he'd win 20 games, going 20-6 overall but it would be that 2001 season that would go down in the lore of BBA history and Wright loves to still talk about to this day. "Man that was one hell of a season" Wright opens up when the subject of that year comes up. "We should have won it all that year. Vegas had a good team and all but we were better. We were up 3-2 in the series and had it in our grasp. Damn! We should've won it."

2001 saw the Wolves win 111 games, 10 more than anyone else in the BBA. Wright deserves a huge chunk of the credit for that total. "I was in a groove all season. Hitters couldn't touch me. I don't know any other way to explain in that that. I had a lot of help on the other end of the ball as well" Wright laughs. Jessie made 36 starts in 2001 and ended with 32 decisions in all. He'd win 30 games, breaking Steve Nebraska's 27 year record of 28 set back in 1974. He'd go 30-2 that season with a 2.16 earned run average en route to the first of his two Steve Nebraska Awards. "It's on my mantle back in Lacey" Wright says when speaking of that Nebraska trophy. "Both of them are actually. Other than my two Landis rings, they're my main accomplishments from my playing days. I'll pass them down to my son when I'm done here."

Aside from the record breaking 30 wins that season, Wright had career highs in strikeouts at 302 and innings pitched at 279. "We rode him hard that year" says former Wolves manager Remy Gauthreux. "He was the hot hand and he wanted to ball. I wasn't going to deny him the chance to break the record. Whether it had anything to do with shortening his career. I don't know. Maybe it did. I think we are all to blame if that's the case."

Wright rotates his shoulder when talking of the season. "I used it a lot this season, but I"m just as much to blame as anyone. I demanded the ball and they gave it to me. Yeah, it probably played a role in my career being cut shorter than perhaps it should have been but I'd say I had a short but impactful career with the accomplishments I have under my belt than to say I lived an average big league career. I wouldn't change what I did. None of it."

"He was masterful to watch" says teammate and current Burlington managerJustin Marco. "I had about 44 saves that season and I'm sure some of them were Jessie's starts" comments Marco. "Not many" interjected Wright. "I finished 12 of my starts that season." Both laugh.

"That was a fun year though" Wright comments. "To win 30 games and be a part of that group of guys was something special."

When the topic of the Hall of Fame comes up and his exclusion from it, Wright doesn't hold a grudge. "I'd love to be in the hall of fame. I had a run there where I was definitely in the running if I could have held on for a little longer. Thirty wins in a season is definitely something that gets you noticed as an all-time great, but the voters just fell my entire body of work fell short of being worthy. I'm in the Madison Wolves hall of fame though. In my opinion, those are the fans that cheered me on each and every day and carried me through all of those starts in 2001. That's good enough for me."

Since 2001, no one has really pressured Wright's remarkable 30 win season. The closest was Jimmy McCabe's run in 2013 when he won 26 games with the New Orleans Crawdads. "I don't think it will be broken" said Wright wrapping up the pitching session. The Burlington grounds crew has begun prepping the field for the night contest. "There's a lot of concern over innings pitched and saving arms in today's game. It would take a perfect storm for anyone to do it. I had that in 2001. We had a great team, a lot of offense, and some weak teams in the league. There is a lot of parity today and coaching staffs don't hesitate to go to their bullpen quicker. I think in my time as pitching coach in Madison we saw some relievers win 10 games just because we went to the bullpen quicker. It deprives the starter of a chance to get the win for themselves. Just look at the number of 20 game winners today. I think there were just 11 or 12 20-game winners in the entire decade of the 2020s. In 2001, there were 8 of us alone. It's a different time."

Jessie Wright grabs the bucket he was sitting on, carrying it in his left hand as he walks off the field. A young fan asks for a ball and Wright stops, takes one from the bucket, and tosses it to the kid. Walking down the steps, gingerly, Wright is seen rotating his throwing arm, trying to loosen the old age that has set in and relieve the soreness that still persists in what was once a golden arm.

[bpbrooksy]

Great piece. I love reading about pieces of history like this.

[udlb58]

Jeez. At least 240 innings and 270 Ks five times between 2000-2005. Talk about a different era.

[RonCo]

Great read.

[Ted]

Always fun to find out about the players before my time