{"id":106473,"date":"2025-08-28T20:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T00:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=106473"},"modified":"2025-08-28T20:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T00:51:10","slug":"daryl-patterson-passes-away-bitten-by-pedro-borbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/08\/28\/daryl-patterson-passes-away-bitten-by-pedro-borbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Pitcher Daryl Patterson Passes Away, Famously Bitten by Pedro Borb\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former major league pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/patteda02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daryl Patterson<\/a>, forever linked with pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=borbope01,borbope02&amp;search=Pedro+Borb\u00f3n&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pedro Borb\u00f3n<\/a> in baseball lore, has passed away. The Detroit Tigers announced his passing on social media. He was 81 years of age.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_102362\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-102362\" style=\"width: 525px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-102362\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"The Tigers are headed in the wrong direction, losing 10 of their last 11 games\" width=\"525\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_15688551_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-102362\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mar 7, 2021; Lakeland, Florida, USA; A general view of the Detroit Tigers script logo on the building at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium during the spring training game between the Detroit Tigers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Daryl Patterson, Forever Linked with Pedro Borb\u00f3n, Has Died<\/h2>\n<p>Patterson, a right-hander, pitched for the Tigers (1968-71), <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/26\/oakland-athletics-lowlights-stupid-moments\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Oakland Athletics<\/a> (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.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Tigers mourn the passing of former player Daryl Patterson and share our condolences with his loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>Patterson pitched in Detroit for four seasons, helping the Tigers win the World Series in 1968. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RDpF9Vcrad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/RDpF9Vcrad<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Detroit Tigers (@tigers) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tigers\/status\/1961117123981213894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Those 1968 Tigers, led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mclaide01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Denny McLain<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/08\/12\/denny-mclains-unlikely-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">31-win season<\/a>, consider themselves baseball\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>However, Patterson was best known for tangling with Borb\u00f3n 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pizarju01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Juan Pizarro<\/a>, of all people, who was pitching in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.milb.com\/en\/mexican\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mexico<\/a>. Patterson rejoined the Pirates in September when the rosters expanded.<\/p>\n<h3>Borb\u00f3n Bites Patterson<\/h3>\n<p>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\u2019 only chance to salvage one game from the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kisonbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bruce Kison<\/a> 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\u2019t hit a batter, when he came to bat in the bottom of the fourth, Reds pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/billija01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jack Billingham<\/a> 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/andersp01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sparky Anderson<\/a> accidentally stepped on Pirates right fielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kirkped01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ed Kirkpatrick<\/a>\u2019s foot. Kirkpatrick reflexively shoved Anderson. Then, Reds reserve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/koscoan01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Kosco<\/a> threw a punch at Kirkpatrick. Suddenly, a free-for-all broke out. Wrote Charley Feeney of the <em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em>, \u201cThere were many punches thrown. And strange for a baseball fight, many of them landed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patterson told Feeney, \u201cBorb\u00f3n 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.\u201d Patterson had a black eye and an open wound of about an inch after the fight.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cHe Fights Like a Woman\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cHe [Borb\u00f3n] fights like a woman,\u201d Patterson complained to Bob Smizik of <em>The Pittsburgh Press<\/em>. Fellow Pirates pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rookeji01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jim Rooker<\/a> called Borb\u00f3n a \u201cno good bleep\u201d (per Feeney) and a \u201cbleepity-bleep, bleepity-bleep\u201d (per Smizik). Meanwhile, Borb\u00f3n bragged about his sucker punch in the Reds clubhouse. \u201cDid you see his eye?\u201d he reportedly asked a teammate. Colorful Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince dubbed Borb\u00f3n \u201cDracula.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brinkch01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chuck Brinkman<\/a> on second and Kison on first with one out. With the crowd of 27,151 wildly cheering, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hebneri01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Richie Hebner<\/a> rapped a single to right field to score Brinkman. The Pirates won as the 2-1 score held up.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, later in the season, the Reds were involved in a similar brawl with the New York Mets. When Borb\u00f3n emerged from the melee, somebody pointed out that he was wearing the cap of the Mets\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonescl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cleon Jones<\/a>. Borb\u00f3n took a bite out of the hat before discarding it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former major league pitcher Daryl Patterson, forever linked with pitcher Pedro Borb\u00f3n 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 Borb\u00f3n, Has Died Patterson, a right-hander, pitched for the Tigers (1968-71), Oakland Athletics (1971), St. Louis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":103881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,4454,11,1071,35],"tags":[5954,5827,5916,2253],"class_list":["post-106473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-baseball-history","category-tigers","category-mlb","category-news","tag-bruce-kison","tag-cleon-jones","tag-denny-mclain","tag-sparky-anderson"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106473"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106504,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106473\/revisions\/106504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}