Melton Andrew Hawkins (born January 21, 1960) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. Hawkins spent most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the San Diego Padres, and also played for the New York Yankees and briefly for the Oakland Athletics. He is currently the assistant pitching coach of the Salt Lake Bees.
Baseball career
San Diego Padres
He is known for being the only San Diego Padres pitcher to win a World Series game. Hawkins earned a victory pitching in relief in Game 2 of the 1984 World Series, which the Padres lost to Detroit in five games, though he was the losing pitcher in the fifth and final game. His best season was 1985, when he threw a career-high 228 innings, compiled an 18–8 record (winning his first 11 starts), and finished with a 3.15 ERA. Hawkins is the first pitcher to win his first ten starts since the advent of divisional play in Major League Baseball which started in 1969. His 18 no decisions in 1986 were the most among MLB starting pitchers for that season.
New York Yankees
After six seasons in San Diego, Hawkins became a free agent after the 1988 season and signed a three-year contract with the New York Yankees in December 1988. This created big expectations for him, heightened when Yankee manager Dallas Green pronounced Hawkins the staff "anchor". Hawkins was the Yankees' most consistent starter in 1989, compiling a 15–15 record, a 4.80 ERA and an American League-leading 111 earned runs surrendered in 208 innings pitched. Tommy John thought Hawkins "would have been much better coming in not as a savior but simply as just another starting pitcher."
Major League Baseball does not consider this effort an official no-hitter, because Hawkins only completed eight innings pitched. On September 4, 1991, the Committee for Statistical Accuracy, appointed by commissioner Fay Vincent, changed the definition of a no-hitter to require that a pitcher must throw or a pitching staff combine for at least nine full innings and a complete game for the no-hitter to be official. Since Hawkins played for the visiting team, the White Sox never batted in the ninth inning, meaning Hawkins lost credit for a no-hitter. The game was also notable for being a double no-hitter into the sixth inning (and a double perfect game into the fifth), as White Sox starter Greg Hibbard retired the first 16 batters he faced before Bob Geren reached base on an infield single in the sixth. Before being promoted as the interim coach, Hawkins was the pitching coach for the Oklahoma RedHawks. At the end of the 2015 season Hawkins left the Rangers. In 2016 Hawkins was hired on as the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals AAA team, the Omaha Storm Chasers. On February 16, 2024, Hawkins was named assistant pitching coach of the Salt Lake Bees which is the Los Angeles Angels' Triple-A team.