Happy 58th B-Day, Keith Comstock!

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Keith Comstock was a well traveled relief pitcher who spent some time with the Padres in 1987 and 1988. He wasn’t just well traveled because of his two years with the Yomiuri Giants, he also spent time with at least 9 different teams. In fact, a June 1990 article about Keith stated that he “had more cups of coffee than Juan Valdez”. None of this seems to bother Comstock at all. In a 1989 article by Bill Plaschke about his return to the AAA Las Vegas Stars at age 33, Commie’s sense of humor shines through. He talks about his wife not speaking to him anymore due to all of the comeback attempts and his three goals (words in parentheses are from original article):

“First: ‘I want to play baseball in three decades. (He needs to play one more year).’

Second: ‘I want to be released by 10 teams. (He needs to be released once more).’

Third: “I want to get 100 big-league strikeouts. No, I mean 1,000 strikeouts. (He has 70 ).’ ”

Comstock reached the three decade goal. It appears from his B-R page that he may not have reached the second goal. He definitely reached his third goal, well the 100 strikeout part of it, with a final total of 142 K’s.

I’m not sure if another goal of his was to have the most epic baseball card of all time but, he pulled that one off as well.

Keith is currently the Rehab Pitching Coordinator for the Texas Rangers and lives in Arizona. Happy Birthday, Keith Comstock and congratulations on a life well lived!