Spillner attended Federal Way High School in Federal Way, Washington. He played for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox. His first career win was a 5–4 victory over Cincinnati on May 23, 1974. He threw a three-hit, ten-strikeout complete game shutout against Houston on September 11, 1974. He led the Padres in strikeouts in 1975 (104).
After suffering through three losing seasons as a Padre starter, he was part of the major leagues' busiest bullpen in 1977: He and Dave Tomlin each had 76 appearances; Rollie Fingers, 78. A Cleveland starter in 1980, Spillner was 16–11 despite a 5.29 ERA. He had one fine year as an Indians reliever, going 12–10 (2.49) with 21 saves in 1982.
For his career, he compiled a 75–89 record, with a 4.21 ERA, 878 strikeouts and 50 saves in 556 appearances. Spillner, who relied mostly on a fastball, was prone to giving up home runs.
Baseball author Bill James wrote that Spillner was the worst hitting pitcher of the 1970s
Dan Spillner | |||
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Pitcher | |||
Born: November 27, 1951 Casper, Wyoming | |||
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MLB debut | |||
May 21, 1974, for the San Diego Padres | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
October 5, 1985, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 75–89 | ||
Earned run average | 4.21 | ||
Strikeouts | 878 | ||
Saves | 50 | ||
Teams | |||