Baseball Hall of Fame

Mike Dunne, a former Limestone High School and Bradley University standout athlete, authored a two-way road into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.

First, he is a former Olympian, pitching for the United States in the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles. Second, he is the seventh former major league baseball player, and the third pitcher, to be inducted.

A fine pitcher for Dewey Kalmer's Bradley Braves during his first two seasons, Dunne became a hot big league prospect in 1984 when he went 8-2 for Bradley, gave up just 62 hits in 85 innings, fanned 77 hitters and had a 2.44 earned run average.

In his three-year BU career, he was 13-8 and whiffed 117 hitters in 167 innings. "He always pitched against the better teams," said Kalmer. "I've only had three pitchers who walked in and pitched the big games for me. Mike was one of those. He became a great pitcher when he learned to throw the slider."

Joining the U.S. Olympic team in the summer following his junior year, he pitched against Italy in a winning game, but the U.S. eventually lost the gold medal game to Japan.

Signing with the St. Louis Cardinals, he was traded to Pittsburgh along with outfielder Andy Van Slyke and catcher Mike LaValliere for catcher Tony Pena on April 1, 1987, before he could pitch in a big league game for the Redbirds.

He had a fine rookie season with the Pirates, going 13-6 with a 3.03 ERA and giving just 143 hits in 164 innings.

Injuries then hampered much of the rest of his career and he was dealt to Seattle and later pitched for both the San Diego Padres and the Chicago White Sox. His last big league game was in 1992 for the White Sox.

His big league career covered five years and he finished with a 25-30 record and a 4.08 ERA. He pitched in 85 games, 76 of them as a starter, gave up 471 hits in 474 innings, fanned 205 and walked 225.