JOHN E. FARRELL Class of 1980

John received letters for four years in baseball and one year in basketball during his interscholastic career at Shore Regional. Coached by Hall of Fame Inductee Fred Kampf, John earned AII-Shore and AII-State honors as a baseball player. His talents were noticed throughout his career and he was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics out of high school. Upon graduation, John attended Oklahoma State University where he lettered for four years and helped the Cowboys win four Big Eight Championships and four regional titles en route to four College World Series appearances. In his career, he had a career record of 20-6 with 168 strikeouts in 219 innings pitched, and an ERA of 4.51. In 1984, John set an OSU record by throwing five shutouts, including a no-hitter versus Missouri- Southern. He was drafted in 1984 by the Cleveland Indians as their number two selection and the thirty-second overall pick in the amateur draft. John made his Major League debut against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 18, 1987, in which he recorded his first profes- sional win. His first Major League start was four days later, August 21,1987, in which he earned a victory against the Detroit Tigers, 8- 3 hurling a six-hit complete game. In his 13- year career, John has many highlights. He stopped Paul Molitor’s 39-game hitting streak, which was the fourth longest in Major League history. He earned Pitcher-of-the-Month honors in August of 1987 and he combined with pitcher Doug Jones to hurl a one-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. John’s first big league shutout was August 11, 1989 against the Oakland Athletics in a game which he recorded a career high 11 strikeouts. During the 1989 season, he set career bests in ERA (3.63), starts (31 ), complete games (7), and strikeouts (132). After two elbow surgeries in 1990 and 1991, John battled back and pitched six years with the California Angels, Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers before retirement on July 10, 1996. John was inducted into the Oklahoma State Hall of Fame in 1994 and earned a degree in business management from OSU. During his Major league career, John was twice nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award for community and humanitarian efforts. John currently resides in Stillwater, Oklahoma with his wife, Sue, and has three children, Jeremy, Shane, and Luke. He is presently in his second year as a pitching coach at Oklahoma State University.