- Held Northwest single-season strikeout record for 48 years with 97 in 1969
- Also held career strikeout record for 48 years with 223 (despite the squad playing only 93 games from 1966-1969)
- In 1969, Kurtz struck out 97 in only 58 innings pitched (1.67 strikeouts per inning)
When it comes to athletics, we have all heard the saying “records are made to be broken”. Well, for nearly half a century that phrase was not true when discussing Scotty Kurtz and some of his achievements on the Bearcat baseball diamond.
The 5 foot, 11 inch left-hander from Oregon, Missouri held the single season and career strikeout marks for an amazing 48 years. The length of those records are even more staggering when you consider throughout the years the number of games college baseball teams annually play has increased. In fact, today’s pitchers log nearly double the amount of innings pitched as those of the late 1960s.
In his senior season in 1969, his 97 punch-out’s came in a mere 58 innings leading to an impressive 1.67 strikeouts per inning. His career total of 223 “K’s” has only been surpassed in the last two years. Prior to that, the closest a Bearcat pitcher had come to that total was 163 = 60 shy of his mark.
When M-Club Hall of Fame head coach Burton Richey filled out his lineup card during the late 1960s, he knew that most days he just needed to find a run or two offensively for the Bearcats to have a chance to win on days with Kurtz on the mound and fellow starter Don Orlowski on the mound. The wins were plentiful on the way to a MIAA Northern Division Title in 1968.
Following his Northwest career, he was a 20
th round selection of the New York Mets in the 1969 major league baseball draft. After a short stint in minor league ball, he went on to many successful seasons with the Clarinda A’s. He is still a resident of Clarinda today.
