Former Blue Jays reliever Doug Creek passes away at 55

July 31, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

Former Toronto Blue Jays reliever Doug Creek passed away on Sunday morning from pancreatic cancer.

He was 55.

The news of his death was first reported by the Martinsburg (W.Va.) Journal, his hometown paper, on Sunday evening.

Employed primarily as a situational left-hander out of the bullpen, Creek pitched parts of nine big league seasons with seven different teams, including making 21 appearances for the Blue Jays in 2003.

Born on March 1, 1969 in Winchester, Va., Creek starred on the mound at Martinsburg High School. In his senior year, he was voted state Player of the Year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.

But the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Creek attracted little interest from scouts out of high school and headed to Georgia Tech University, where he established the record for most wins (41) in the school’s history.

By his junior collegiate year, Creek had started to attract significant interest from big league scouts. In 1990, the California Angels selected him in the fifth round, but he declined to sign and returned to Georgia Tech for his senior year. Following that campaign, he was chosen by the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh round and signed with the big-league club.

Pro debut in Hamilton

Creek’s first professional stop was in Canada with the Short-Season Class-A Hamilton Redbirds. After some rocky relief outings to start his career, he made his first pro start on July 16, 1991 against the Utica Blue Sox. He gutted out seven innings in which he allowed four runs on eight hits.

“I thought he (Creek) battled,” said Redbirds manager Rick Colbert after the game that his team eventually won 8-6. “He made some adjustments to stay on top of those guys. He really wasn’t getting his breaking pitch over for a strike, which he has to do to win. But he stayed in there and the fielders made plays for him. It was a team effort tonight.”

Ten days later, Creek enjoyed his best start as a Redbird when he tossed eight scoreless innings against the St. Catharines Blue Jays.

“Creek was doing everything great,” said his Redbirds catcher Mike Difelice. “He battled his heart out.”

The young lefty made one more start for Hamilton, permitting just one run in six innings to the Welland Pirates before he was promoted to the class-A Savannah Cardinals.

Big league debut

Creek spent almost five seasons in the minors before making his big league debut with the Cardinals on September 17, 1995 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He struck out the first two big league batters he faced (pitcher Ismael Valdez and outfielder Roger Cedeno) in a scoreless eighth inning.

In total, he made six scoreless appearances, spanning 6 2/3 innings, for the Cardinals, down the stretch in 1995.

That December, he was dealt to the San Francisco Giants as part of the package for shortstop Royce Clayton. With the Giants, he’d post a 6.52 ERA in 63 relief appearances in 1996 before making three starts for the Giants in 1997.

Following the 1997 season, the Giants sold his contract to the Chicago White Sox, who less than a month later flipped it to the Hanshin Tigers of the Japan Central League. He was used as a starter in Japan but he didn’t have much success, going 0-4 with a 5.65 ERA in seven appearances (six starts) before being released.

Creek was then signed by the Chicago Cubs in January 1999, but he’d make just three big league relief appearances that season.

On February 1, 2000, Creek signed with the Tampa Bay Rays, with whom he’d enjoy his longest big league tenure. In 140 relief appearances over parts of three seasons with the Rays, Creek recorded a 4.87 ERA and struck out 176 batters in 160 2/3 innings.

After the Rays designated him for assignment on July 24, 2002, the Seattle Mariners signed him and he posted a 4.91 ERA in 23 games down the stretch.

Signs with the Blue Jays

On October 29, 2002, Creek inked a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Blue Jays. The deal also included an $800,000 option for 2004. Creek was part of a group of low-cost veterans – that also included Cory Lidle, Jeff Tam and Tanyon Sturtze – that was supposed to stabilize the Blue Jays’ young pitching staff.

Creek began 2003 as the Blue Jays’ No. 1 late-inning left-hander, but he struggled, allowing seven of the first 16 runners he inherited to score.

Creek did recover to register two holds with the Blue Jays and he twice pitched two or more innings in relief, including in his final outing with the club in the Blue Jays’ 7-1 win over the Angels on May 16.

Unfortunately by that time, he was experiencing soreness in his throwing elbow and was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

He was moved to the 60-day disabled list on June 1 and never returned to the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays released him on October 8, 2003.

He ended up back in the Cardinals’ organization in 2004, posting a 4.71 ERA in 31 relief appearances for triple-A Memphis.

He returned to the big leagues in 2005 to make his final 20 relief appearances for the Detroit Tigers.

Post-playing career

After he hung up his playing spikes, he became a charter boat captain out of Tampa Bay, Fla. He was also a competitive angler on the Redfish Circuit.

For a stretch, he was also an instructor at Ripken Baseball in Aberdeen, Md.

The Martinsburg Journal reported that Creek had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April.