Former major league pitcher Daryl Patterson , forever linked with pitcher Pedro Borbón in baseball lore, has passed away. The Detroit Tigers announced his passing on social media. He was 81 years of age.
Daryl Patterson, Forever Linked with Pedro Borbón, Has Died
Patterson, a right-hander, pitched for the Tigers (1968-71), Oakland Athletics (1971), St. Louis Cardinals (1971), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1974). In 142 career games, which included just three starts, Patterson was 11-9 with a 4.09 ERA, 11 saves, 4.32 FIP, and 1.481 WHIP. As a rookie, he hung around the 1968 World Series champion Tigers long enough to pitch in two games in the Series, pitching three scoreless innings in two relief appearances without a decision. That was also his best season, when he recorded a 2.12 ERA to go with seven saves.
The Tigers mourn the passing of former player Daryl Patterson and share our condolences with his loved ones.
Patterson pitched in Detroit for four seasons, helping the Tigers win the World Series in 1968. pic.twitter.com/RDpF9Vcrad
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 28, 2025
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Those 1968 Tigers, led by Denny McLain ’s 31-win season , consider themselves baseball’s last true champions, as that was the final season before divisional play. Patterson followed that season with a 2.82 ERA in 1969. He was never that effective again. In his next three major league seasons, his best ERA was 4.85.
However, Patterson was best known for tangling with Borbón during a skirmish between the Pirates and Cincinnati Reds in the fourth inning of a doubleheader on July 14, 1974, at Three Rivers Stadium. Otherwise, his time with the Pirates as a 30-year-old was unremarkable. He was called up from the Triple-A Charleston Charlies in June and provided an immediate boost with a win and a save in his first two appearances for Pittsburgh. However, he finished the season with a 7.29 ERA, 4.96 FIP, and 2.095 WHIP. In August, he was returned to Charleston to make room for former Pirate Juan Pizarro , of all people, who was pitching in Mexico . Patterson rejoined the Pirates in September when the rosters expanded.
Borbón Bites Patterson
The Pirates of the first half of the 1970s were known for their slow starts and dominance of the National League East Division. The Pirates entered that doubleheader with a disappointing 37-48 record, in fourth place. It was the final day of a five-game series with the Reds, thanks to two earlier-season postponements. The Reds took the first four games. The second game of the Sunday doubleheader represented the Pirates’ only chance to salvage one game from the weekend.
Right-hander Bruce Kison took the mound for the Pirates in Game 2. Never reluctant to pitch inside, Kison came in tight to three Reds batters during the first four innings. Even though Kison didn’t hit a batter, when he came to bat in the bottom of the fourth, Reds pitcher Jack Billingham drilled him in the left shoulder. The dugouts and benches emptied as the teams gathered near the mound. The teams had words. No punches were thrown until Reds manager Sparky Anderson accidentally stepped on Pirates right fielder Ed Kirkpatrick ’s foot. Kirkpatrick reflexively shoved Anderson. Then, Reds reserve Andy Kosco threw a punch at Kirkpatrick. Suddenly, a free-for-all broke out. Wrote Charley Feeney of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “There were many punches thrown. And strange for a baseball fight, many of them landed.”
Patterson told Feeney, “Borbón pulled my hair and bit me. He hit me from the blind side after I let him go after some of his teammates asked me to let him go.” Patterson had a black eye and an open wound of about an inch after the fight.
“He Fights Like a Woman”
“He [Borbón] fights like a woman,” Patterson complained to Bob Smizik of The Pittsburgh Press. Fellow Pirates pitcher Jim Rooker called Borbón a “no good bleep” (per Feeney) and a “bleepity-bleep, bleepity-bleep” (per Smizik). Meanwhile, Borbón bragged about his sucker punch in the Reds clubhouse. “Did you see his eye?” he reportedly asked a teammate. Colorful Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince dubbed Borbón “Dracula.”
The umpires ejected Kirkpatrick, Anderson, and Kosco, but oddly, not Billingham. When the game resumed, it was tied, 1-1, and the Pirates had catcher Chuck Brinkman on second and Kison on first with one out. With the crowd of 27,151 wildly cheering, Richie Hebner rapped a single to right field to score Brinkman. The Pirates won as the 2-1 score held up.
More importantly, the brawl energized the Pirates. They won nine of their next 10 games and 50 of the final 75 games of the season. Pittsburgh won the East Division but was eliminated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.
Meanwhile, later in the season, the Reds were involved in a similar brawl with the New York Mets. When Borbón emerged from the melee, somebody pointed out that he was wearing the cap of the Mets’ Cleon Jones . Borbón took a bite out of the hat before discarding it.
Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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