Ron Darling

Ronald Maurice Darling, Jr. (born August 19, 1960) is an American former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Oakland Athletics and Montreal Expos. Darling currently works as a color commentator for national baseball coverage on TBS as well as for the Mets on both SNY and WPIX, as well as co-hosting on the MLB Network.

During his 13-year career, Darling amassed a 136–116 won-loss record, with 13 shutouts. He threw 1,590 strikeouts and had a 3.87 ERA. In 1985, he was picked for the All-Star team.

Darling had five pitches in his repertoire: the slider, a curveball, a circle changeup, a splitter, and a four seam fastball. In the beginning of his career, Darling's weak point was control, as he finished seasons in the top four in base on balls three times; as his career progressed his control improved considerably. He was considered one of the better fielding pitchers of the time, and won a Gold Glove Award in 1989. Darling had one of the best pickoff moves among right-handers. An above-average athlete, he was sometimes used as a pinch runner. In 1989, he hit home runs in two consecutive starts.