Catching up with Tommy Greene

Former Phillies pitcher Tommy Greene baseball career began in his hometown of Whiteville, a small community that is a center for farming in North Carolina. Greene's athletic career at the town’s high school is legendary.

His stats were simply mind-boggling. During his sophomore season, he fashioned a 10-0 record. His senior season was off the charts. He hit .490 and struck out an incredible 270 batters in 124 innings. More than two per inning! He also pitched an unbelievable nine no-hitters in his high school career. All of this was good enough for the Atlanta Braves to select Greene in the first round in the 1985 MLB Draft.

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He advanced through the Braves' system and made his Major League debut with Atlanta in 1989. In 1990, he was the centerpiece of a trade to the Phillies, along with legendary outfielder Dale Murphy. The Braves obtained reliever Jeff Parrett and two players to be named later.

Less than a year later on May 23, 1991, making a spot start for the injured Danny Cox, Greene cemented himself into Phillies history. On a weekday afternoon at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, Greene no-hit the Expos before a small getaway day crowd of just 8,833, becoming the first visiting pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Montreal.

Following the game, his teammates mobbed him in the visitors' clubhouse. In the ensuing celebration, Greene received a congratulatory phone call from whom he was told was Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. However, the call was really a prank from one of his teammates.

“Roger McDowell was the mastermind, and he really pulled one over on me and I totally bought it,” said Greene.

McDowell, ever the prankster, had enlisted in the help of one of the French-Canadian speaking clubhouse attendants for the ruse. Those that were in on it watched as Greene respectfully answered the questions from the “Prime Minister” who was actually calling from the back room of the clubhouse!

Later during the flight to Pittsburgh, Greene’s teammates gave him a champagne toast to commemorate his feat on the mound that day.

Five days later against the same Expos lineup, this time in Philadelphia, he twirled a three-hit shutout to further validate his dominance of Montreal.

The following season, Greene suffered arm issues that kept him out much of the year.

However, he rebounded very nicely in that magical season of 1993. He went 16-4 and helped lead the Phillies to the World Series. His 16 wins matched Curt Schilling for the most on the pennant-winning staff.

“I’d have to say my two biggest memories from that season were clinching the NL East title in Pittsburgh and beating my old team the Braves in the NLCS," Greene said. "Pitching in that clinching game was a special moment for me personally."

In 1994 and '95, arm troubles again plagued Greene, and his Phillies career came to an end. He was never really the same after that, but he signed and pitched with the Houston Astros in 1997, making his final big league appearance in July of that year.

In 2010, he sadly lost his wife, Lorie, to cancer after a long battle. Following her death, Greene and his only son, Seth, were living in Richmond, Va. One day, former teammate Darren Daulton ran into a woman named Wendy Darling at a function in the Philadelphia area. She did something that most women never did when they talked to Daulton. She asked about another player. It’s highly likely the handsome Daulton didn’t encounter that very often. As it turned out, she had met Tommy once before many years earlier. Knowing that Tommy was now alone, Daulton made the connection and Tommy and Wendy became immediate friends. Later, they were engaged and then married, as they remain today.

Tommy and Wendy now live in the Philadelphia area. He is active in community events, has worked pre- and postgame on Phillies telecasts and also does sports talk radio.

Nowadays, he is a fixture at countless area golf outings, and the strong country boy nicknamed Jethro often takes home the long drive prizes.

It’s been great catching up with Tommy Greene, No. 49.