Headlines

  • Mariners Place Robbie Ray On 15-Day Injured List
  • Giants Sign Gary Sanchez To Minor League Deal
  • Padres Sign Jake Cronenworth To Seven-Year Extension
  • Brewers To Promote Joey Wiemer
  • Mariners Acquire Nick Solak From Reds
  • Mets Place Justin Verlander On Injured List
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher And Current Scout Tim Fortugno

By Tim Dierkes | February 6, 2023 at 10:00am CDT

Tim Fortugno’s path to a Major League life was an unlikely one.  He’d played in high school, but didn’t seem to have much shot at the Majors.  But as Danny Knobler told it in a Bleacher Report article, Tim threw around a tennis ball during his lunch hour on a construction job as a 20-year-old, which led to him joining the baseball team at Southern California College.

He was drafted multiple times, but didn’t end up signing due to shoulder pain.  After a bout of acupuncture seemed to heal Tim’s shoulder, he landed with the Mariners on a $500 signing bonus.

Fortugno was eventually traded to the Phillies, who went on to sell his contract to the Brewers for $2,500 and 12 dozen baseballs.  The Angels snagged the lefty in the Rule 5 draft, and in 1992 Fortugno made his MLB debut at the age of 30.

In his second big league appearance, Tim pitched the game of his life: a complete game, 12 strikeout, 129 pitch masterpiece against a vaunted Tigers lineup featuring Tony Phillips, Travis Fryman, Cecil Fielder, and Mickey Tettleton.  Toward the end of that season, Tim gave up George Brett’s 3,000th hit – only to pick him off first base.

Tim bounced around after that, eventually finishing his career in Taiwan.  Despite pitching only 110 1/3 innings over three seasons with the Angels, Reds, and White Sox, Fortugno can list Brett, Roberto Alomar, Don Mattingly, and Edgar Martinez among his strikeout victims.

After his pitching career, Fortugno moved into scouting.  He spent seven years with the Rangers and 14 with the Mets, and has worked for the Rays since October 2019.

Tim chatted with MLBTR readers today, providing many interesting answers about a life in scouting.  Click here to read the transcript.

If you’re a current or former MLB player, join us for a one-hour live chat!  It’s easy and fun and you get to choose which questions you publish and answer.  Click here to contact us.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Cincinnati Reds Los Angeles Angels MLBTR Player Chats New York Mets Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers

The Opener: DFA, Extensions, Player Chat
Main
Follow The NBA Trade Deadline At Hoops Rumors
View Comments (15)

Comments

  1. Finatic

    2 months ago

    why?

    Reply
    • elmedius

      2 months ago

      He’s a former major league player with over 20 years of scouting experience and is currently working for one of the most respected front offices in terms of scouting, drafting, and analytics… if you’re a baseball fan AT ALL, this is the kind of guy you want to talk to.

      Reply
    • baseballwarshipper

      2 months ago

      Thanks for the high effort comment, Finatic!

      Reply
    • pt57

      2 months ago

      Maybe because he backstory could be a Disney movie?

      Reply
    • johnrealtime

      2 months ago

      Finatic has outed themselves as a troll

      Reply
  2. agentx

    2 months ago

    Quite a story. Fortugno throwing a tennis ball around at work, getting signed for a $500 bonus, and being traded for “$2,500 and 12 dozen baseballs” made this read more like April Fool’s Day feature than the real life baseball story that it apparently is.

    Reply
  3. duffys cliff

    2 months ago

    Though I think the “quantity” of answers is lower in this chat, the “quality” is some of the best I’ve seen. Thank you for giving so many well thought answers on a variety of topics Tim!

    Reply
  4. MortDingle

    2 months ago

    Never knew Pete Carrol had a brother.

    Reply
  5. Yankee Clipper

    2 months ago

    Man, maybe he can let Frankie Montas know who his acupuncturist is because no doctor can seem to figure out what’s wrong with him.

    Also, is it me or does he look like Richard Gere in the photo?

    Reply
    • HubcapDiamondStarHalo

      2 months ago

      I’m siding with MortDingle and going with Pete Carroll!

      Reply
      • Yankee Clipper

        2 months ago

        Pete Carroll! Dead on, man. Good call. Definitely a Carroll doppelgänger. We must’ve posted at the same time because Mort’s statement wasn’t there when I posted. I like the Carroll comparison better than mine too.

        Reply
  6. mikevm3

    2 months ago

    I’m sure you were very Fortugnate to have him.

    Reply
  7. RobM

    2 months ago

    This guy does have quite the story. Hopefully he gets his memoirs/book published.

    Reply
  8. Rsox

    2 months ago

    I remember getting a ton of duplicates of Fortugno’s ’93 Fleer Baseball card

    Reply
  9. svyatogornyj

    2 months ago

    Pretty fun answers.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Mariners Place Robbie Ray On 15-Day Injured List

    Giants Sign Gary Sanchez To Minor League Deal

    Padres Sign Jake Cronenworth To Seven-Year Extension

    Brewers To Promote Joey Wiemer

    Mariners Acquire Nick Solak From Reds

    Mets Place Justin Verlander On Injured List

    Still No Agreement Between Pirates And Bryan Reynolds Due To Opt-Out Clause

    MLB, MLBPA Reach Tentative Agreement On Minor League CBA

    Cubs Sign Nico Hoerner To Three-Year Extension

    Guardians, Andrés Giménez Finalizing Seven-Year, $106.5MM Extension

    Guardians, Trevor Stephan Agree To Four-Year Extension

    Boone: Yankees Working On “Potential Deal” To Add Pitcher

    Braves To Extend Orlando Arcia

    Athletics Trade Cristian Pache To Phillies

    Pirates, Bryan Reynolds Continue To Discuss Extension; Start Of Regular Season Reportedly Seen As Deadline

    Daniel Murphy Signs With Long Island Ducks

    Brewers Sign Luke Voit To One-Year Deal

    Guardians Discussing Extensions With Multiple Players

    Cristian Pache Will Not Make Athletics’ Roster; A’s Exploring Trade Scenarios

    Triston McKenzie Shut Down For At Least Two Weeks With Teres Major Strain

    Recent

    Mariners Place Robbie Ray On 15-Day Injured List

    Injury Notes: Dickerson, Whitlock, Gonsolin, Haniger, Slater

    Minor MLB Transactions: 4/1/23

    NL East Notes: Verlander, Wright, Keuchel, Plawecki

    Offseason Review Chat Transcript: Toronto Blue Jays

    MLB Investigating Incident Between Fan, Anthony Rendon

    Braves To Place Max Fried On Injured List

    Giants Select Bryce Johnson, Option Brett Wisely

    Giants Sign Gary Sanchez To Minor League Deal

    Padres Sign Jake Cronenworth To Seven-Year Extension

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Offseason Outlook Series
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version