68 Facts About Ron Darling

Ron Darling played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1983 to 1995, most notably as a member of the New York Mets team that won the 1986 World Series.

Ron Darling was a 1985 National League All-Star and won the 1989 Gold Glove Award for National League pitchers.

Ron Darling had five pitches in his repertoire: the slider, a curveball, a circle changeup, a splitter, and a four seam fastball.

Ron Darling was considered one of the better fielding pitchers of the time and had one of the best pickoff moves among right-handed pitchers.

Apart from his career with the Mets, Ron Darling played for the Montreal Expos and the Oakland Athletics.

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Ron Darling was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Hawaiian-Chinese mother and a French-Canadian father.

Ron Darling was recruited to play college football as a quarterback at Yale University for the Yale Bulldogs football team.

Ron Darling transitioned to defensive back after finding that Yale had a glut of talent at the quarterback position.

Ron Darling quit the team after his freshman season and focused instead on baseball.

Ron Darling initially played shortstop for the Yale Bulldogs baseball team.

In 1980, Ron Darling played collegiate summer baseball for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League .

Ron Darling was named the league's MVP and outstanding pro prospect, and was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2002.

Ron Darling's performance remains the longest no-hitter in NCAA history, and the game is considered by some to be the best in college baseball history and was the subject of a New Yorker story by Roger Angell, who attended the game.

Ron Darling was set to graduate in December 1982, but he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in June 1981.

Ron Darling went on to play more games in Major League Baseball than any Yale alumnus since 19th-century pitcher Bill Hutchinson.

Ron Darling was the last former Yale Bulldog to reach the Major Leagues until pitcher Craig Breslow made his debut in 2005 .

Ron Darling was selected in the first round of the 1981 MLB draft by the Texas Rangers.

Ron Darling put up mediocre numbers with the AA Tulsa Drillers.

Ron Darling finished his season with a complete game victory and was in the Majors for good.

In 1984, Ron Darling won a spot in the starting rotation and maintained a spot there almost uninterrupted until 1990.

Ron Darling finished the legendary game in which 13 runs were scored in the extra innings alone; during that game, the Mets blew four leads and nearly blew a fifth.

Ron Darling received the only Cy Young Award votes of his career, finishing fifth behind Mike Scott of the Astros.

Ron Darling opened the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Shaky into the fourth inning, Ron Darling was relieved, but the Mets recovered to win their second World Championship.

Ron Darling rebounded to win six consecutive starts after the All-Star break, but a good second half only lowered his ERA to 4.

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Ron Darling missed the last couple weeks of the season and the Mets missed the postseason.

Ron Darling started quickly with two shutouts in his first four games.

Ron Darling finished the season strong, winning his last five decisions.

The Mets coasted into the playoffs, but Ron Darling pitched poorly in the 1988 National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ron Darling gave up six runs and was knocked out in the second inning while Hershiser pitched a five-hit shutout, shocking the Mets and winning the series' Most Valuable Player award.

Ron Darling's 1989 started as poorly as 1988 had ended when he lost his first 3 starts with an ERA of 11.

Ron Darling did become the first Mets pitcher to win the Gold Glove Award.

Ron Darling was the last NL pitcher to win the award before Greg Maddux's remarkable streak of 13 consecutive Gold Gloves.

Ron Darling was sent to the bullpen part-time for the first time in his career.

Ron Darling made two starts to close out his season and won them both, but the Mets could not catch the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In total, 1990 was Ron Darling's first losing season and it was his worst ERA to-date.

Ron Darling was back in the New York Mets' starting rotation in 1991.

Unlike previous seasons, Ron Darling posted poor numbers at Shea Stadium while pitching well on the road.

Ron Darling pitched scoreless two-hit ball over eight innings against the Montreal Expos on the road in his second-last game with the Mets.

Ron Darling's three starts for Montreal were poor, with an ERA of 7.

Inconsistent for most of the season, Ron Darling showed flashes of brilliance, including three complete game two-hit shutouts—the only two-hitters of his career.

Ron Darling was the victim of poor run support including a no-decision seven-inning one-hitter that was nearly a loss, an eight-inning two-hitter that turned into a no-decision after an unearned run, and two other games where he allowed one earned run and took the loss.

Ron Darling finished with the best record on the team percentage-wise.

Ron Darling pitched well but gave up two costly home runs and took the loss.

Ron Darling re-signed with Oakland again after 1992, this time a multi-year deal for over $2 million per season, but he was unable to repeat his 1992 performance.

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Ron Darling stumbled through two starts in August before the 1994 Major League Baseball strike ended the season.

Ron Darling led the American League with 25 games started despite pitching that was average at best.

Ron Darling worked as a broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics, had a Fox show called Baseball Today, and appeared on The Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Ron Darling provided baseball analysis for the YES Network, Fox Sports Net and, in 2004, CSTV.

Ron Darling appeared on the Hall of Fame balloting for 2001, receiving only one vote and thus was removed from further consideration.

In 2005, Ron Darling was involved in banking ventures in Southern California.

Ron Darling was then hired to be the television color commentator for the inaugural season of the Washington Nationals.

Ron Darling worked alongside veteran play-by-play announcer Mel Proctor on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which suffered from low viewership due to legal battles between Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos and Comcast cable television.

In 2006, Ron Darling was hired by SportsNet New York as a color commentator and studio analyst for the New York Mets, joining radio veteran Gary Cohen and former Mets teammate Keith Hernandez.

Ron Darling appears on some of the SNY-produced WPIX broadcasts in the New York Metropolitan Area.

Ron Darling won an Emmy Award as Best Sports Analyst for his work on the Mets broadcasts.

Ron Darling appeared in a Sovereign Bank commercial in 2008, which is frequently shown on SNY and is often joked about among the three Mets broadcasters during games.

Ron Darling threw out the ceremonial first pitch during Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS at Shea Stadium.

In 2007, Ron Darling was a color analyst for TBS's coverage of the 2007 MLB Playoffs.

In 2015, Ron Darling volunteered to provide play-by-play commentary for television broadcasts of Mets spring training games.

Ron Darling is a New York Times best-selling author and has written three books.

In 2019, Ron Darling published his third book - a series of interconnected anecdotes of a variety of baseball players in "108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game".

Ron Darling's had small roles on television and in movies, sometimes using her married name, Toni Darling.

In 2004, Ron Darling married Joanna Last, a makeup artist for Fox Sports.

Ron Darling was the cover model for the August 1986 issue of GQ.

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When it was shown for the first time two weeks later, Ron Darling filmed a special introduction, apologizing on behalf of the Mets for preempting SNL.

In 1988, Ron Darling appeared in an episode of Sesame Street in which he taught Telly Monster about baseball statistics.

Ron Darling had small roles in the films Shallow Hal and The Day After Tomorrow; he played himself in Mr 3000.