Amateur Hough was drafted out of
Hialeah High School in the 8th round of the
1966 Major League Baseball draft by the
Los Angeles Dodgers. While in high school, he had spent the summer of 1964 pitching against collegiate competition for the
Chatham A's of the
Cape Cod Baseball League where he was named a league all-star.
Minor leagues After pitching in the low minor leagues from 1967 to 1969 with the
Ogden Dodgers,
Santa Barbara Dodgers and
Albuquerque Dodgers with limited success, Hough's career and fortunes changed dramatically when he learned how to throw a knuckleball in spring training in 1970, leading to a successful season with the
Spokane Indians in AAA, where he led the
Pacific Coast League in saves and posted a 1.95 ERA.
Los Angeles Dodgers He made his major league debut against the
Pittsburgh Pirates in 1970 but did not join the Dodgers bullpen full-time until the 1973 season. He became a top reliever for the Dodgers from 1973 until he was sold to the
Texas Rangers in 1980. With the Dodgers, he was one of the pitchers who served up one of the three home runs that
New York Yankees slugger
Reggie Jackson hit on three straight pitches in Game 6 of the
1977 World Series.
Texas Rangers He was converted into a starting pitcher in Texas, where he pitched from 1980 to 1990, making his only All-Star team in 1986. He left Texas as the franchise leader in wins (139), strikeouts (1,452), innings pitched (2,308), complete games (98), and losses (123), which all still stand as club records as of . He was famous for his "dancing knuckleball" pitch that he threw around 80% of the time. Hough complemented his knuckleball with a
fastball and
slider. Hough was well known for throwing a large number of complete games each season and led the league in 1984 with 17. In his last complete game of the season, the opposing pitcher,
Mike Witt of the
California Angels, hurled a
perfect game. In 1987, Hough, in battery with
Geno Petralli, put Petralli in the record books as Petralli committed four
passed balls in one inning to tie the major league record of
Ray Katt, catching
knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm in 1954. The record was tied by
Ryan Lavarnway of the
Boston Red Sox in 2013, catching knuckleballer
Steven Wright in his first major league start.
Chicago White Sox He pitched for the
Chicago White Sox from 1991 to 1992, where, at 43 years old, he was a teammate of 43-year-old
Carlton Fisk.
Florida Marlins He joined the expansion
Florida Marlins for the 1993 season and started the first regular season game in team history, on April 5, pitching six innings for the win as the Marlins defeated the Dodgers 6–3. He retired at age 46 after the 1994 season. He was the last active player who was born in the 1940s.
Career totals During a 25-season career, Hough compiled 216 wins, 216 losses, 2,362
strikeouts and a 3.75
earned run average. His 216 wins rank 86th all-time on the
all-time win list, tied with
Wilbur Cooper and
Curt Schilling. However, Hough also recorded 216 losses, making him the winningest pitcher in history to have lost as many games as he won. ==Coaching career==