November 20, 2025
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
Steve Hargan, who made five starts for the Toronto Blue Jays in their inaugural season, passed away on October 30 at the age of 83.
He died in hospice care in Palm Springs, Calif.
No cause of death has been released.
Hargan pitched in parts of 12 major league seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves, recording 87 wins and a 3.92 ERA in 354 appearances (215 starts).
The 6-foot-3 right-hander joined the Blue Jays in 1977 after he was selected from the Rangers in the MLB expansion draft on November 5, 1976.
“Although I really enjoyed my three years in Texas. I’m looking forward to Toronto,” Hargan told the Toronto Star at the time. “Heck, a few years ago no one wanted to buy me. Now Toronto thinks I’m worth $175,000. That’s progress. I must be improving.”
Raised in Indiana
Born on September 8, 1942 in Fort Wayne, Ind., Hargan was a multisport star in high school, excelling at football and basketball. But his school did not have a baseball team.
He began playing Little League when he was nine, however, he didn’t focus on pitching until he was in his teens. His father coached him for much of his youth.
“We put up a tarp with a strike zone that I could throw to. I had an old Little League mound rubber that measured the distance and whole bunch of balls that I’d throw and throw,” Hargan told SABR in a 2011 interview.
By the time he was 15, he was attracting the attention of scouts. Several big league teams expressed interest in him, but it was Cleveland scout Hoot Evers that convinced him to sign.
Started in Selma
He commenced his pro career with Cleveland’s Class-D affiliate in Selma, Ala., in 1961 and posted a 4-2 record and a 2.30 ERA in nine games (four starts).
Two years later, he enjoyed a breakout season with double-A Charleston, going 8-4 with a 1.21 ERA in 14 appearances (11 starts). The following year, he was promoted to the triple-A Portland Beavers, where he pitched in a rotation with future major league All-Stars Luis Tiant, Tommy John and Sam McDowell.
MLB debut
After going 13-5 with a 2.91 ERA in 24 starts with the triple-A Beavers to begin 1965, Hargan was called up by Cleveland, where he’d impress down the stretch, registering a 3.43 ERA in 17 appearances (eight starts).
That set the stage for his outstanding first full big league campaign in 1966 in which he went 13-10 with a 2.48 ERA with three shutouts in 38 appearances (21 starts).
In 1967, he moved into Cleveland’s rotation full-time and completed the season with a 14-13 record and a 2.62 ERA in 30 outings (29 starts). He topped the American League with six shutouts, finished second with 15 complete games and hurled a career-high 223 innings. For his efforts, he was selected to the All-Star Game.
But that 1967 campaign took a toll on his arm. On top of all of the innings he threw, he was working on a curveball between starts which added further wear and tear to his elbow.
Struggled in 1968
Pitching through elbow pain, he slumped to 8-15 with a 4.15 ERA in 32 games (27 starts) in 1968. Following the season, he underwent surgery on the ulnar nerve in his right elbow and his fastball would never be the same.
In 1969, his ERA ballooned to 5.70 in 32 appearances, but he returned to form in 1970, going 11-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 23 games (19 starts).
Unfortunately, after starting on Opening Day for Cleveland in 1971, he fractured his ankle in a play at first base on May 4 and he continued to be hampered by the injury after he returned, finishing 1-13 with a 6.19 ERA in 37 outings.
He pitched just eight games out of the bullpen for Cleveland in 1972 before being sent to the minors where he also spent the 1973 campaign.
Traded to Texas
On December 5, 1973, he was dealt to the Rangers where his career was rejuvenated. In 1974, he went 12-9 with a 3.95 ERA in 37 games and then enjoyed two solid seasons working as a starter and a reliever for the Rangers before he was left exposed in the 1976 MLB expansion draft.
Selected by Blue Jays
Looking for an experienced arm, the Blue Jays chose Hargan with the 39th pick in the draft. The 34-year-old Hargan was surprised; he didn’t even know he was available.
“It’s going to be just great, although for awhile after I heard the news, I had doubts,” Hargan told The Desert Sun, a Palm Spring, Calif., newspaper after the expansion draft. “I’ve had three good years in Texas – very enjoyable years. But the more people to whom I talk, and many of them Canadians, have made me feel there’s a future in Toronto.”
First Blue Jays holdout
Hargan’s versatility appealed to the Blue Jays, but he made it clear he wanted to start. And things got off on the wrong foot between the two sides. The Blue Jays offered him a two-year deal that Hargan felt was below market value and the veteran righty became the club’s first holdout.
Despite his absence from camp, Hargan told The Globe and Mail that he was ready to pitch for the Blue Jays.
“I was throwing four or five times a week back home in Palm Springs. But when I come to camp and put on my uniform, I don’t want to think about anything but pitching,” said Hargan.
On February 27, the two sides agreed on a two-year contract. After arriving in Dunedin, Hargan did not allow a run in his first eight Grapefruit League innings. It was enough to earn him a spot in the Blue Jays’ bullpen to begin the season.
His Blue Jays regular season debut
On April 11, Hargan would toss 2-1/3 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win in the Blue Jays’ 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Four days later, he was moved into the starting rotation and permitted four runs on eight hits in five innings to the Chicago White Sox and got a no-decision.
Unfortunately, in his next start, he was pummeled for five runs in one inning by the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
“I don’t have any excuses,” Hargan told The Globe and Mail after the start. “I don’t have a cold or the flu like some of the other guys. My arm feels good. I’m going to have to work on getting my fastball to move a little more.”
Whatever he worked on between starts was successful.
On April 27, he permitted just one run on four hits in seven innings to Cleveland.
“I felt much better tonight than I have all season,” Hargan told the Toronto Star. “I had good command of my pitches especially the forkball.”
Hargan followed that up by surrendering three runs in five innings to the Milwaukee Brewers on May 2 and then he threw his first – and last – complete game with the Blue Jays on May 7. In that contest, he coughed up three runs in the first inning but then shut down the Twins until they added a run in the ninth in the Twins’ 4-1 win.
Traded back to Rangers
Two days later, he was dealt back to the Rangers, along with infielder Jim Mason and $200,000 for third baseman Roy Howell.
“I’m happy to be going back to Texas,” Hargan told the Toronto Star. “I have many friends there and I hope I can contribute to the team which hopes to win the West Division title.”
Hargan’s return to the Rangers, however, lasted just over a month before he was sold to the Atlanta Braves.
Following that season, he was unable to secure a major league contract and split 1978 between triple-A squads in the Twins’ and Pittsburgh Pirates’ organizations before hanging up his spikes.
Retirement
Hargan retired to his condo in Palm Springs, Calif., that he had owned since 1968. A lifelong bachelor, Hargan was an entrepreneur and businessman. At one point, he owned a company that sold jet hoists.
He told SABR in 2011 that he still watched baseball on TV but didn’t stay in touch with many of his former teammates.
“I always thought I was lucky that I did what I did and had the career I did,” Hargan told SABR. “You always wish you could have done better, but when it’s all said and done, it’s done. You have to accept you weren’t a Hall of Fame pitcher.”
Hargan is the second player from the 1977 Blue Jays to die this year. Right-hander Jim Clancy passed away on July 12.
Overall, Hargan is the eighth player from the 1977 Blue Jays to die. The others are Doug Ault, Steve Staggs, Gary Woods, Ron Fairly, Jesse Jefferson, Jerry Johnson and Chuck Hartenstein.
Thanks for the great write up on Steve.
Thanks for reading this.
This was terrific. I’m sending it along to my father who knew of him as a high school-aged pitcher back in Indiana.
Thank you, Doug. I appreciate your kind words and support.
Thanks Kevin for writing about Steve. Nice story
Thanks for reading this, Scott.