Mike Cuellar

Miguel Ángel Cuellar Santana (KWAY-ar; May 8, 1937 – April 2, 2010) was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher in 1959 and from 1964 through 1977, most prominently as a member of the Baltimore Orioles who won the American League (AL) pennant in each of Cuellar's first three seasons with the team. During that time, Cuellar and the Orioles won the 1970 World Series. Cuellar also played for the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros and California Angels.

Cuellar and Denny McLain each won the AL Cy Young Award in 1969, due to a tie in the voting. For the Orioles, Cuellar won 20-or-more games in a season four times from 1969 through 1974. Along with Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, and Pat Dobson, he was one of four Oriole starters to win at least 20 games in 1971. Cuellar, nicknamed Crazy Horse because of his superstitious nature, ranks among Baltimore's top five career leaders in wins (143), strikeouts (1,011), shutouts (30) and innings pitched (2,028). In 1982, Cuellar was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.

## Life and career

### Early life and first stints in the majors

Miguel Angel Cuellar Santana was born in Santa Clara, Cuba, on May 8, 1937. One of four brothers, Cuellar's family made their living working in Cuban sugar mills. Not interested in pursuing that as a career, Cuellar joined the Cuban Army, which allowed him to play baseball on weekends. He threw a no-hitter for an army team in 1955, drawing attention from scouts. Following his army service, he pitched for a Nicaraguan independent team in 1956, then joined the Almendares winter league team over the offseason.

In the 1950s, the Cincinnati Reds executed a working agreement with the Havana Sugar Kings of the Triple-A International League (IL), helping them acquire many Cuban players, including Cuellar. Cuellar struck out seven Montreal Royals in just over two innings of work in his first game with Havana in 1957. Used as a starting pitcher and as a relief pitcher (44 games, 16 starts), he posted an 8–7 record and led the IL in earned run average (ERA) with a 2.44 mark. The next season, he had a 2.77 ERA and a 13–12 record, pitching 220 innings.

Entering the 1959 season, Cuellar was featured on a baseball card in a Topps set for the very first time, though the company misspelled his name as "Cueller." Part of Cincinnati's roster to begin the season, Cuellar made his major league debut with Cincinnati against the Philadelphia Phillies at Crosley Field on April 18, 1959. He entered the contest in relief of Don Newcombe in the second inning with the Reds losing 4–2. In his two innings of work, Cuellar surrendered a grand slam to Gene Freese in the third and a two-run double to Al Schroll in the fourth. The Reds went on to lose 14–9. His only other appearance with the Reds came three days later against the Milwaukee Braves. Again he pitched two innings in relief, giving up two runs as the Reds lost 7–4. After that, he was returned to Havana; it would be several years before he pitched in the major leagues again.

For the rest of 1959, Cuellar had a 10–11 record and 111 strikeouts. Though his 11 losses were tied with four others for eighth in the league, he ranked eighth with a 2.80 ERA and fifth with 220 innings pitched. Havana won the IL championship and defeated the Minneapolis Millers in the Junior World Series.

The Sugar Kings moved to Jersey City, New Jersey, in the middle of the 1960 season in response to Fidel Castro's nationalization of American businesses in Cuba. In 33 games (21 starts) for the franchise, Cuellar had a 6–9 record, a 3.53 ERA, and 74 strikeouts in 148 innings pitched. He split the 1961 season between three Triple-A teams: Jersey City of the IL and the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association (both Reds affiliates) and the Syracuse Chiefs of the IL (an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins). Exact statistics for this year are unknown.

Cuellar spent the 1962 season with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Triple-A Mexican League, appearing in 37 games. He split the 1963 minor league season between affiliates of the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians. For the Knoxville Smokies (Detroit) of the Double-A South Atlantic League, he had a 1–1 record, a 2.54 ERA, and 39 strikeouts. With the IL's Jacksonville Suns (Cleveland), he had a 6–7 record, a 3.79 ERA, and 85 strikeouts in 24 games (16 starts).

After being stuck in the minors for five years, Cuellar experienced improvement in 1964. During the offseason, while he had been playing winter ball, teammate Ruben Gomez had suggested he start throwing a screwball. Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964, Cuellar used the pitch about 30 percent of the time while pitching for Jacksonville, now an affiliate of the Cardinals. He made 10 starts for Jacksonville, posting a 1.78 ERA while winning six of seven decisions. Seeing his success, the Cardinals decided to promote him in mid-June.

Cuellar was used primarily as a relief pitcher for the rest of the year, though he also made seven starts. One of these came in the second game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates; Cuellar allowed five runs in 7+1⁄3 innings but earned the win (his first) in a 12–5 Cardinal victory. Cuellar also beat the Pirates on August 26, this time allowing just two runs in a complete game, 4–2 victory. Freese, who had hit a grand slam off of Cuellar five years earlier, made the last out. The hitter said that "he's a lot faster and has come with quite a scroogie". In 32 games (seven starts), Cuellar had a 5–5 record, a 4.50 ERA, 56 strikeouts, 33 walks, and 80 hits allowed in 72 innings pitched. The Cardinals made a late-season surge as the Phillies collapsed in September. This took the Cardinals and Cuellar to the 1964 World Series. Though Cuellar did not pitch in any of the games, he became a World Series champion for the first time as the Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees in seven games.

In 1965, Cuellar failed to make the Cardinals roster and was assigned to Jacksonville to begin the year. With the Suns, he posted a 2.51 ERA and a 9–1 record. At the June 15 trade deadline, Cuellar and Ron Taylor were traded to the Houston Astros for Hal Woodeshick and Chuck Taylor.

### Houston Astros (1965–68)

Cuellar spent the rest of 1965 in the major leagues with the Astros, mainly as a relief pitcher, though he also made four starts. He posted a 5.81 ERA in his first 15 games, then posted an 0.72 ERA in his last 10. Twice in September, he had relief outings in which he pitched more than five scoreless innings. His record for the season was 1–4, and he struck out 46 batters in 56 innings, posting a 3.54 ERA.

After beginning the 1966 season as a relief pitcher, Cuellar was added to the starting rotation on April 25. Facing the Reds, Cuellar held his old team to five hits and one unearned run in a 2–1 victory. After Cuellar posted a 1.29 ERA in his first four starts, manager Grady Hatton said: "I've created a monster". Hatton explained: "For a while, all Cuellar wanted to do was throw screwballs. But this year, he's mixing 'em up with fast balls and curves, and making the batters hit the ball. He's got good control and a good fast ball, and he's finally making use of them." Cuellar had learned the curveball from Astro pitching coach Gordon Jones, and he was also throwing his screwball on 50-60 percent of his pitches. He strained a muscle in his side and had to leave a game on May 21 but was back to action by June 2. Cuellar ultimately won his first six decisions, the last a 3–2 complete game over the Cardinals at the Astrodome on June 25, in which he recorded a career-high 15 strikeouts. He suffered two close losses during the campaign. On August 12, he held the San Francisco Giants to four hits and one run in eight innings, but Gaylord Perry of the Giants threw a 92-pitch shutout. On September 10, he and Don Drysdale of the Dodgers held each other's teams scoreless through nine innings; Cuellar took the loss when he gave up a run in the 10th. Cuellar threw his first major league shutout on August 29, defeating the Pirates by a score of 2–0. In Cuellar's final start of the campaign, a 4–3 road win over Cincinnati in the second match of a September 28 twi-night doubleheader, he hit his first major-league home run, off Sammy Ellis, to lead off the top of the fifth. Cuellar finished with a 12–10 record, 175 strikeouts, and a 2.22 ERA, (second in the National League (NL) to Sandy Koufax' 1.73).

Following a loss on May 17, 1967, Cuellar won six straight games, posting a 1.18 ERA over the span. The first of these was a 2–0 shutout of the Giants on May 21. He made the first of four All-Star Game appearances at Anaheim Stadium on July 11. He came into the contest in relief of Chris Short in the 11th. Of the seven batters he faced, the only baserunner he allowed in the two shutout innings he pitched was Carl Yastrzemski, who recorded a 12th-inning single. The NL eventually won 2–1 in 15 innings. On July 24, Cuellar had held the Phillies to one hit and no runs through eight innings, as Houston led 1–0. During the ninth, Philadelphia manager Gene Mauch called him a name from the dugout, hoping to start a fight and get both players ejected. Eddie Mathews of Houston acted as a peacemaker, but Cuellar would allow an unearned run in the inning (due to a Mathews error). However, he finished the game, allowing only two hits total as Houston prevailed 2–1 in 11 innings. He threw back-to-back shutouts on September 22 and 27 against the New York Mets and Philadelphia; the latter of these was an 11-inning game in which he struck out 12. Five times Cuellar struck out 10 or more batters in a game in 1967, the most coming on June 6, when he struck out 13 in a 3–2 win over the Cardinals. Cuellar improved his record to 16–11 in 1967, with a 3.03 ERA. He tied with four other pitchers for fifth in the NL in wins and ranked fifth in strikeouts (203, the most he would ever record in a season).

After the major league seasons, Cuellar had typically played winter baseball in Latin America over the offseasons. However, the Astros asked him not to do so in the 1967-68 offseason because they thought he was pitching too much. When he returned to the team in 1968, he complained of arm soreness. He pitched only once in April and did not make a start until May 19. Cuellar won his first three starts. On May 30, he threw a seven-hit shutout against the Braves in an 11–0 victory. He struck out a season-high 12 on June 21 and held the Phillies to one unearned run in a complete game, 2–1 victory. With a four-hit shutout of the Dodgers on July 29, Cuellar's record improved to 6–5. However, he lost five straight decisions, not winning again until September 17. In 28 games (24 starts), he had an 8–11 record, though his ERA was 2.74. He struck out 133 batters in 170+2⁄3 innings. On December 4, the Astros traded Cuellar, Enzo Hernández, and Tom Johnson to the Baltimore Orioles for Curt Blefary and John Mason.

### Baltimore Orioles (1969–76)

#### 1969–71

With Baltimore, Cuellar "blossomed into a star," according to reporter Matt Schudel. As the pitcher joined fellow starters Jim Palmer and Dave McNally, and sluggers Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell, the Orioles began a three-year run atop the American League (AL) in 1969. In his Baltimore debut on April 10, he pitched 10 innings and allowed just one unearned run against the Boston Red Sox. Though he did not get a decision, the Orioles prevailed 2–1 in 13 innings. He threw 10 innings in another game on April 23 (this one a 3–2 win over the Tigers), then threw a shutout against the Yankees four days later. Facing the Kansas City Royals on May 10, he threw a two-hit shutout in a 5–0 victory. On June 17 and 21, Cuellar pitched a pair of complete-game four-hit, one-run victories, striking out 12 and nine batters respectively. He held the Red Sox to three hits on July 12 in a 4–0 shutout. In August, Cuellar retired 35 batters in a row. The streak was ended on August 10 by César Tovar of the Minnesota Twins, as Cuellar was three outs away from recording his first career no-hitter; Tovar's hit, which came in the top of ninth inning, was the only one the Twins would manage against Cuellar in his complete-game shutout (a 2–0 victory). He won seven straight games from July 24 through August 19 (the last of which was a shutout of the California Angels), then won six straight from August 27 to September 18.

During the 1969 season, Cuellar achieved a win–loss record of 23–11, struck out 182 batters, and recorded a 2.38 ERA, as Baltimore won a club-record 109 games and the very first AL East Division title. Cuellar's 23 wins ranked second in the AL to Denny McLain's 24, his 2.38 ERA ranked third (behind Dick Bosman's 2.19 and Palmer's 2.34), and his 182 strikeouts tied Joe Coleman for fifth. His five shutouts were third behind McLain's nine and Palmer's six. For his outstanding year, Cuellar tied McLain for the AL Cy Young Award. Cuellar became the first pitcher born in Latin America to win the Cy Young Award. He also finished eighth in AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting.

The Orioles faced the Minnesota Twins in the American League Championship Series. In Game 1, Cuellar allowed three runs (two earned) in eight innings, leaving with his team trailing 3–2. Baltimore tied it in the ninth on a Boog Powell home run, then scored the winning run in the 12th on a Paul Blair RBI single to win the game 4–3. The Orioles went on to sweep the Twins three games to none en route to winning the American League Pennant and earning a berth in the World Series against the New York Mets. Cuellar again got the start in Game 1, allowing one run over four innings and outpitching Tom Seaver in a 4–1 victory. The two faced off again in Game 4; Cuellar pitched seven innings, allowing just a home run to Donn Clendenon, but the Orioles were losing 1–0 when Cuellar exited the game. Brooks Robinson tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the ninth, taking Cuellar off the hook for the loss, but the Orioles lost the game 2–1 in 10 innings. In the next game, the Mets completed one of the biggest World Series upsets ever, winning the 1969 Series four games to one against the heavily favored Orioles. Cuellar's triumph in Game One wound up being the only Baltimore victory.

On May 29, 1970, Cuellar struck out 10 batters, including four in the same inning, as he threw a four-hit shutout against the Angels. Twice in the first half of the season, he allowed only two hits in a game, on May 24 and June 11 (both Oriole wins). He threw a four-hit shutout against the Tigers on July 3, then pitched all 10 innings of a 6–2 victory over the Yankees four days later. Cuellar made the All-Star team for the second time, picked by Weaver, who was managing the team. Through June, his ERA was 4.34 (though his record was 8–5), but Cuellar only lost three times for the rest of the season while winning 16 more games and posting a 2.78 ERA. On August 11, he threw a four-hit shutout against the Angels for the second time that season. On August 27, Cuellar became the second pitcher in the AL (after teammate McNally) to win 20 games, allowing 10 hits but earning the win in a 6–4 victory over the Athletics. He threw his fourth shutout of the season on September 9, necessary for Baltimore's 1–0 victory over the Yankees. Cuellar's win–loss record was 24–8 in 1970; he recorded a 3.48 ERA and 190 strikeouts. Cuellar's 24 wins tied with McNally and Jim Perry for the major league lead. He led the AL in games started (40, tied with four others), and complete games (21), also ranking among the AL leaders in strikeouts (fifth), shutouts (four, tied with two others for third), and innings pitched (297+2⁄3, third, behind Palmer and Sam McDowell's 305). However, Cuellar finished in fourth place in the voting for the American League Cy Young Award. "He should have won the Cy that year, but not doing so never affected his performance," teammate Palmer opined. In the AL MVP voting, Cuellar finished 11th. Cuellar, Palmer, and McNally combined for 68 wins, the most for a starting trio since three Detroit Tigers did so in 1944.

The Orioles faced the Twins again in the ALCS, and Cuellar started Game 1. Struggling on the mound in the cold weather at Metropolitan Stadium, he surrendered six runs in 4+1⁄3 innings. However, he contributed offensively in the fourth inning, when he hit a pitch from Jim Perry that barely stayed fair as it passed over the right field fence for a grand slam. The Orioles won 10–6, then went on to sweep the Twins for the second year in a row.

Cuellar had a rocky start in Game 2 of the 1970 World Series against the Reds, lasting only 2+1⁄3 innings and giving up four runs (though only one was earned). However, Baltimore rallied to win the game 6–5. In Game 5, Cuellar was hit hard early, giving up three runs to the Reds in the first inning. It was then that his pitching coach, George Bamberger, advised Cuellar to stop throwing his screwball for the rest of the game. Cuellar settled himself down and followed Bamberger's advice by relying on his fastball, curveball, and changeup, to shut out the Reds for the next eight innings for an impressive 9-3 complete game victory that clinched the World Series title for the Orioles. Forty years later, reporter Mike Klingaman wrote, "Of his 185 big league victories, none meant more than that World Series win to Cuellar."

Facing the Indians in his second start of the year on April 14, 1971, Cuellar only struck out two batters but only allowed four hits in a 3–0 shutout win. He took pleasure in a complete game, 3–2 win over the Indians on May 26. Earlier in the year, Cleveland manager Alvin Dark had said that Cuellar's fastball "couldn't blacken an eye." He won 11 decisions in a row from May 12 through July 8, posting a 2.17 ERA in that span. The first of these was a 6–0 shutout of the Kansas City Royals on May 12 in which Jerry May had the only hit off of him, a third-inning single. He shut out the Milwaukee Brewers on June 4, then held the Minnesota Twins to one run in a complete game, 2–1 victory five days later. Teammate Pat Dobson was so impressed with Cuellar's success, he started wearing his socks for good luck. With a 13–1 record and a 2.88 ERA in the first half, Cuellar was selected to his third All-Star Game. In the second half, he was only 7–8, but his ERA was 3.34. Against the Twins on August 10, he gave up Harmon Killebrew's 500th home run. He held the White Sox to four hits on August 24 in a 1–0 shutout. In 1971, Cuellar's regular-season win–loss record was 20–9, and he had a 3.08 ERA and 124 strikeouts. His 20 wins tied with four others for sixth in the AL, his four shutouts were tied with 10 others for seventh, his 292+1⁄3 innings pitched were fourth in the AL (behind Mickey Lolich's 376, Wilbur Wood's 334, and Vida Blue's 312), and his 21 complete games were also fourth (behind Lolich's 29, Blue's 24, and Wood's 22). Palmer and McNally each won 20 games again, and newcomer Dobson did so as well, making the Orioles the first team to have four twenty-game winners since the 1921 Chicago White Sox. Though Cuellar did not get any Cy Young votes, he finished 24th in AL MVP voting.

This year in the ALCS, the Orioles faced the Athletics instead of the Twins. Cuellar started Game 2, allowing just one run and six hits in a complete game, 5–1 victory. The Orioles swept the ALCS for the third year in a row and earned a berth in the World Series against the Pirates. In Game 3, Cuellar allowed five runs (four earned) in six innings, suffering the defeat in the 5–1 loss. He allowed just two runs over eight innings in Game 7, but Steve Blass of the Pirates allowed only one run, and Pittsburgh won the series as Cuellar suffered a difficult loss.

#### 1972–76

On May 26, 1972, Cuellar threw a four-hit shutout in a 2–0 victory over the Indians. He won only two of his first nine games in 1972, though his ERA was 3.50. After June 4, he posted a 16–7 record for the rest of the year, with a 2.36 ERA. Though striking out only two Yankees on June 28, he allowed five hits and no runs in a 4–0 shutout. A little over a month later, he allowed just three hits in a 5–0 shutout of the Yankees on July 30. On August 11, he struck out a season-high 13 batters in a 2–1 win over Boston. From August 25 through September 16, he won five straight decisions for the Orioles. Nine shutout innings on September 3 were not enough for a win as the Angels scored a run against Eddie Watt in the 10th to win 1–0, but Cuellar threw nine more shutout innings four days later, getting credit for the win this time in a 9–0 victory over the Tigers. In 35 starts, he had an 18–12 record, a 2.57 ERA, and 132 strikeouts in 248+1⁄3 innings pitched. His 18 wins were tied with Clyde Wright for 10th in the AL.

Cuellar got off to a 2–6 start in 1973, posting a 5.00 ERA through June 9. Afterwards, he went 16–7, posting a 2.56 ERA. He held the Texas Rangers to three hits on June 15 in a 1–0 shutout. Ten days later, he pitched all 12 innings of a 4–3 win over the Brewers. On July 19, he struck out 12 batters and pitched all 11 innings of a 3–1 victory over the Angels. He threw a five-hit shutout against the White Sox on August 18 in a 3–0 victory. From August 9 through September 1, he won six starts in a row; after losing on September 5, he won his last four decisions of the year. On September 17, he allowed four runs (two earned) and struck out nine as he pitched all 10 innings of a 5–4 win over the Yankees. In 38 starts, he had an 18–13 record, a 3.27 ERA, and 140 strikeouts in 267 innings. After a one-year absence from the playoffs, the Orioles won the AL East again, facing the defending World Series Champion Athletics in the ALCS. The starter for Game 3, Cuellar pitched every inning of an 11-inning game, matching pace with Ken Holtzman of the Athletics for 10 innings before finally giving up a game-ending home run to Bert Campaneris in a 2–1 loss. The Athletics won the series in five games.

During 1974 spring training, Cuellar began parking in a special spot in the reporters-only parking lot, perhaps thinking that The Cuban Star referred to him. "Who else is Cuban star on this club?" he asked. Despite a broken toe, he was ready for the start of the season. After losing all three of his April decisions, he won nine straight decisions before finally suffering another loss on June 21. Included in that streak were two shutouts: a rain-shortened seven-inning game against Boston on May 17 and a 1–0 victory over the Twins on June 17. Against the Yankees on June 30, Cuellar struck out only one batter but threw a six-hit shutout in a June 30. He was selected to the All-Star Game for the fourth time in his career. On August 15, he struck out a season-high 10 batters and held the White Sox to six hits and one run in a complete game, 2–1 victory. After a loss on August 24, Cuellar won seven of his last nine games, and the two he did not get the decision in were also Oriole victories. In early September, Cuellar, Palmer, McNally, and Ross Grimsley set an AL record with five consecutive shutouts. Cuellar threw two in the streak, both 1–0 victories. Cuellar had a great season in 1974, finishing with a win–loss record of 22–10, a 3.11 ERA, and 106 strikeouts. He led the AL in winning percentage with a .688 mark, and his 22 wins were third in the league behind Hunter's and Fergie Jenkins's 25. Cuellar pitched 20 complete games (tied with Steve Busby for eighth), including five shutouts (tied with Jim Bibby for fourth), as he earned a sixth-place finish in the Cy Young Award voting. From 1969 through 1974, Cuellar's .665 winning percentage was the best in the major leagues.

Again, the Orioles won the Eastern Division and faced the Athletics in the ALCS. In Game 1, Cuellar gave up three runs over eight innings, pitching craftily and earning the victory as the Orioles won 6–3. He allowed just one hit in Game 4, but his control was not good; he walked nine hitters and was lifted in the fifth inning after walking in a run. The Athletics only scored one more all game, but that was enough for a series-clinching, 2–1 win. It would be Cuellar's final postseason start; in playoff games, he had gone 4–4 and posted a 2.85 ERA.

In Cuellar's second start of 1975 on April 16, he allowed just three hits in a 2–0 shutout of the Brewers. On May 31, a third-inning single by Bruce Bochte was the only hit Cuellar allowed in a 1–0, shutout victory over the Angels. He gave up six hits in a shutout of the Red Sox on June 22, a 6–0 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. After the Tigers knocked Cuellar out in the second inning of a game on June 26, 1975, he returned three days later and held Detroit to five hits and one run in a complete game, 2–1 victory. On July 26, he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Brewers and finished with one hit allowed (a single to George Scott) and 10 strikeouts in a 4–0 victory over the Brewers. He allowed just two hits on August 11 in a 4–0 shutout of the Royals. On September 2, in the first game of a doubleheader against Cleveland, he pitched all 10 innings, allowing 11 hits but just two runs as the Orioles won 3–2. Cuellar's ERA in 1975 was 3.66, the highest it had been since 1964-though his five shutouts tied his career high, his pitching was not as consistent as usual. He had a 14–12 record and struck out 105 batters in 256 innings. The five shutouts tied with three others for third in the AL, behind Palmer's 10 and Hunter's seven.

By 1976, Cuellar was 39 years old, and his age negatively impacted his performance. He did shut out the Rangers on June 20, limiting Texas to three hits in a 2–0 victory. After posting a 4–12 record and a 5.14 ERA through the end of July, he was moved to the bullpen. He made five relief appearances for the Orioles in August, then did not pitch at all once the Orioles made their September call-ups. In 26 games (19 starts), he had a 4–13 record, a 4.96 ERA, and 32 strikeouts in 107 innings pitched. He was released on December 21, ending his eight-year tenure with the Orioles. With the Orioles, Cuellar would enjoy three consecutive 20-win seasons.

### California Angels (1977), later career

On January 25, 1977, Cuellar was signed by the California Angels. Harry Dalton, their general manager (GM), was friends with Cuellar from his time as the Orioles' GM previously. However, Cuellar struggled in spring training and did not even appear in a regular season game until April 26, California's 19th game of the season. In a start against the Yankees on May 3, Cuellar allowed seven hits and six runs in 3+1⁄3 innings, taking the loss in an 8–1 defeat. He was released on May 16, having only appeared in two games. That would be the end of his major league career.

In 1979, Cuellar joined the San Juan Boricuas of the newly created independent Inter-American League. He suffered a pulled hamstring in his third start but continued to appear in games despite the injury. Plagued by financial troubles and visa issues, the league folded on June 30. Cuellar continued to play in Puerto Rican winter leagues and the Mexican League through 1983 before retiring for good. While in Puerto Rico in 1983, he taught Willie Hernández how to throw a screwball. Hernández would win the AL Cy Young and MVP Awards in 1984.

During his 15-season career, Cuellar had a win–loss record of 185–130 with a 3.14 ERA, 1,632 strikeouts, 172 complete games, 36 shutouts, and 11 saves in 453 games and 2,808 innings pitched. In five American League Championship Series and three World Series appearances, Cuellar pitched in 12 games, winning four games and losing four with a 2.85 ERA while recording 56 strikeouts.

## Pitching style

Cuellar was a "junkball" pitcher, relying heavily on his excellent screwball and change-up rather than a hard fastball, according to Baltimore Sun reporter Mike Klingaman. Klingaman observed that by cleverly selecting which pitches to throw, Cuellar set up hitters for strikeouts. Fellow Oriole pitcher Dick Hall recalled: "To watch him pitch was amazing. It seemed like every time hitters took a pitch, it was right at the knees for a strike, and if they swung, it wasn't." Sports Illustrated said he had "the trickiest screwball since Carl Hubbell." In 2016, they said he had the fifth-best screwball of all time. Ken McMullen of the Angels said: "Cuellar's screwball is a pitch nobody else in baseball throws, and he can change speeds on it". "Miguel was a magician out there," said Oriole first baseman Boog Powell. "He made hitters look comical, like they could have swung three times before the ball got there. A couple of times, I almost had to call time-out because I was laughing my head off." He tended to struggle early in a season, then pitch better as the weather got warmer. "Cold weather no good for baseball or me," he said. Usually he displayed a quiet personality and worked quickly on the mound, but struggles could occasionally cause him to lose his temper.

## Personal life

When Cuellar joined the Orioles, he was in the process of breaking up with his wife, and he was struggling with debt. He divorced soon after he joined the team, leaving his wife and 2 children, and the Orioles helped rectify his financial issues. Shortly after joining Baltimore, he married Myriam, who would be his wife for the rest of his life. He had two additional children: Lydia and Mike, Jr. The Toronto Blue Jays signed Mike Jr. his first son, as a minor league pitcher in 1978, and he spent five years in their organization, advancing as far as Double-A with the Knoxville Blue Jays.

After his baseball career ended, Cuellar resided in the Orlando, Florida, metropolitan area. He worked at a golf course, also helping out during Orioles' spring training each year. For a while, he was a pitching coach in Puerto Rico, and he served as an instructor for the Orioles in the latter years of his life. He also was a frequent attendee when the Orioles had team reunions.

On April 2, 2010, Cuellar died of stomach cancer at the Orlando Regional Medical Center. He was the third of the Orioles' four 20-game winners in 1971 to perish, following Dave McNally in 2002 and Pat Dobson in 2006. Only Jim Palmer survives them.

## Legacy

Along with Palmer and McNally, Cuellar gave the Orioles one of the best starting rotations in history during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Blair recalled that "With Cuellar, McNally, and Palmer, you could almost ring up 60 wins for us when the season started because each of them was going to win 20. And with Cuellar and McNally, you never knew they were winning 10-0 or losing 0-10. They were the same guys. They were two really great left-handers, and the reason they were so great was they didn't have the talent Palmer had. They didn't have the 95-mile-per-hour fastball Palmer had. They had to learn to pitch, know the hitters, hit corners, and they did it. And they never complained. Those kind of guys, you just die for. You break your neck to go out there and win for them.” Palmer remembered him as "like an artist. He could paint a different picture every time he went out there. He could finesse you. He could curveball you to death or screwball you to death. From 1969 to ’74, he was probably the best left-hander in the American League.”

Cuellar ranks among Baltimore's top five career leaders in wins (143, fourth behind Palmer's 268, McNally's 181, and Mike Mussina's 147), strikeouts (1,011, fifth), shutouts (30, third behind Palmer's 53 and McNally's 33) and innings pitched (fifth, 2,028). He trails only Dave McNally among left-handers in wins and shutouts. He is among the Orioles' single-season records in other categories, as well. His 24 wins in 1970 are tied for second-most behind Steve Stone's 25 in 1981, and Cuellar holds two of the other top 10 win seasons as well (his 23 in 1969 are tied for sixth, and his 22 in 1974 are tied for ninth). He is one of four Orioles to make 40 starts in a season.

"Crazy Horse" was a nickname given Cuellar by his Oriole teammates because of his superstitious nature. Each game, he would sit in the same place on the team bench. He stayed in the dugout until his catcher put his gear on, refused to step on the foul line, and refrained from signing autographs on days he was pitching. In 1969, early success in games in which coach Jim Frey caught his pregame warmup pitches caused Cuellar to insist that Frey catch his pregame warmups for the rest of the year. During a game against the Indians on May 26, 1972, Cuellar twice refused to catch a baseball thrown to him. When Boog Powell finally got him to catch it on a third try, Cuellar asked for a new ball, which he also refused to catch until Bobby Grich finally rolled it to the mound. When he forgot his lucky cap on a road trip to Milwaukee, the Orioles had it airmailed to him before Cuellar's start.

In 1982, Cuellar was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame. Columnist Harry Stein, in a 1976 Esquire magazine article, published an "All-Time All-Star Argument Starter" consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Cuellar was the left-handed pitcher on Stein's Latino team.

## See also

- List of Houston Astros team records
- List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders
- List of Major League Baseball single-inning strikeout leaders

Cuban baseball player (1937–2010)

Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States


Timothée Chalamet

Timothée Hal Chalamet (English: /ˈtɪməθi ˈʃæləmeɪ/ TIM-əth-ee SHAL-ə-may; born December 27, 1995) is an American–French actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and three BAFTA Film Awards.

Chalamet began his career as a teenager in television, appearing in the drama series Homeland in 2012. In 2014, he made his film debut in the comedy-drama Men, Women & Children and appeared in Christopher Nolan's science fiction film Interstellar. Chalamet came to international attention with the lead role of a lovestruck teenager in Luca Guadagnino's coming-of-age film Call Me by Your Name (2017), earning him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Alongside supporting roles in Greta Gerwig's films Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019), he took on starring roles as drug addict Nic Sheff in the biopic Beautiful Boy (2018) and a young cannibal in Guadagnino's romantic horror film Bones and All (2022), which he also produced. Chalamet also began leading big-budget films, portraying Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve's science fiction film Dune (2021).

On stage, Chalamet starred in John Patrick Shanley's autobiographical play Prodigal Son in 2016, for which he won a Lucille Lortel Award and gained a nomination for a Drama League Award. Off-screen, he has been labeled as a sex symbol and a fashion icon.

## Early life and education

Timothée Hal Chalamet was born on December 27, 1995, in New York City, and grew up in the federally subsidized artists' building Manhattan Plaza in Hell's Kitchen. He has an older sister, Pauline Chalamet, who is an actress. His mother, Nicole Flender, is a third-generation New Yorker, of half Russian Jewish and half Austrian Jewish descent. She is a real estate broker at The Corcoran Group, and a former Broadway dancer; Flender earned her bachelor's degree in French from Yale University, and has been a language and dance teacher. His French father, Marc Chalamet, is an editor for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and former New York correspondent for Le Parisien. Marc is from Nîmes and is of Protestant background. Timothée's paternal grandmother, who had moved to France, was originally Canadian. On his mother's side, he is a nephew of husband-and-wife filmmakers and producers Rodman Flender and Amy Lippman.

Chalamet is bilingual in English and French, and holds dual United States and French citizenship due to his French father. Growing up, Chalamet spent summers in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small French village two hours away from Lyon, at the home of his paternal grandparents. He stated that his time in France led to cross-cultural identity issues. Chalamet attended PS 87 William T. Sherman School for elementary school, and later the selective Delta program at MS 54 Booker T. Washington Middle School, which he described as miserable due to the lack of a creative outlet within the school's academically rigorous environment. Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) inspired him to pursue a career in acting. He applied to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. His acceptance into the school was a turning point in his appreciation for acting. His sophomore-year drama teacher at LaGuardia was so impressed by his audition that he insisted on Chalamet's acceptance into the school even though he had been rejected in the interview (due to his middle school record), saying "I gave him the highest score I've ever given a kid auditioning." During high school, Chalamet dated Madonna's daughter Lola Leon, a fellow student, for a year. He starred in school musicals as Emcee in Cabaret and Oscar Lindquist in Sweet Charity, graduating in 2013. He is also a YoungArts alumnus.

After high school, Chalamet, then 17, attended Columbia University for one year, majoring in cultural anthropology, and was a resident of Hartley Hall. He later transferred to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study to pursue his acting career more freely, having found it difficult to assimilate to Columbia directly after filming Interstellar. Upon leaving Columbia, Chalamet moved to Concourse, Bronx.

## Career

### 2008–2016: Early roles

As a child, Chalamet appeared in several commercials and acted in two horror short films called Sweet Tooth and Clown before making his television debut on an episode of the long-running police procedural series Law & Order (2009), playing a murder victim. He followed this with a minor role in the television film Loving Leah (2009). In 2011, he made his stage debut in the Off-Broadway play The Talls, a coming-of-age comedy set in the 1970s, in which he played a sexually curious 12-year-old. The chief theatre critic of New York Daily News wrote, "Chalamet hilariously captures a tween's awakening curiosities about sex." In 2012, he had recurring roles in the drama series Royal Pains and the thriller series Homeland, in which he played Finn Walden, the rebellious son of the Vice President. Along with the rest of the cast, Chalamet was nominated for a SAG Award for Best Ensemble.

In 2014, Chalamet made his feature film debut in a minor role in Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children. In the same year, he played the role of Tom Cooper, the son of Matthew McConaughey's character, in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. The film received positive reviews, with critics praising the cast's performances, and grossed over \$700 million worldwide. Also in 2014, Chalamet had a supporting role in Worst Friends, a comedy which had a limited theatrical release and received positive reviews. In the next year, Chalamet co-starred in Andrew Droz Palermo's fantasy thriller One & Two, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received mixed reviews, before its limited theatrical release. His next role was playing the teenage version of James Franco's character, Stephen Elliott, in Pamela Romanowsky's The Adderall Diaries. In his final role of 2015, Chalamet played Charlie Cooper, the sullen grandson of Diane Keaton and John Goodman's characters in the Christmas comedy Love the Coopers, which received negative reviews.

In 2016, Chalamet starred as Jim Quinn in the autobiographical play Prodigal Son at Manhattan Theatre Club. Handpicked by its playwright and director John Patrick Shanley and producer Scott Rudin, Chalamet portrayed a younger Shanley, a misfit Bronx kid in a prestigious New Hampshire prep school set in 1963. His performance was praised and won him the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, in addition to a nomination for the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. Chalamet also co-starred opposite Lily Rabe in Julia Hart's Miss Stevens as the troubled student Billy Mitman. Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter described Chalamet's act as "compelling" and "startling", with his character's speech from Death of a Salesman as among the best he has ever seen. Stephen Holden of The New York Times compared him to James Dean.

### 2017–2020: Breakthrough and rise to prominence

After being attached to the project for three years, Chalamet starred in Luca Guadagnino's Call Me by Your Name, based on the novel of the same name, by André Aciman. The story revolves around Elio Perlman, a young man living in Italy during the 1980s, who falls in love with Oliver (Armie Hammer), a university student who has come to stay with his family. In preparation, Chalamet learned to speak Italian, as well as to play the piano and guitar. Call Me by Your Name premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim; critics particularly highlighted Chalamet's performance. Olly Richards of Empire wrote, "In a film in which every performance is terrific, Chalamet makes the rest look like they're acting. He alone would make the film worth watching". Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter stated that no performance during the year "felt as emotionally, physically and intellectually alive" and included Chalamet in the magazine's list of the best performances of the year. Time and The New York Times also featured him in such lists. He won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, and received nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and Academy Award, all for Best Actor. He is the third-youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the youngest since 19-year-old Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms in 1939.

In his second film of 2017, Chalamet played Daniel, a gawky teenager who gets swept up in the drug-dealing business over the course of a summer, in Elijah Bynum's directorial debut, Hot Summer Nights. It received a limited theatrical release in 2018 and generated mixed reviews from critics, though Chalamet received praise from K. Austin Collins of Vanity Fair, who called the "sensitivity" in his performance "something special". Later that year, he played Kyle Scheible, a rich hipster in a band and a love interest of Saoirse Ronan's character in Lady Bird, the solo directorial debut of Greta Gerwig. Critics praised the ensemble cast, with Ty Burr of The Boston Globe taking particular note of Chalamet's "hilarious" performance. In his final film of 2017, Scott Cooper's western Hostiles, Chalamet played a young soldier named Philippe DeJardin, alongside Christian Bale.

In 2018, Chalamet joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Later that year, Chalamet portrayed Nic Sheff, a teenager addicted to methamphetamine who shares a strained relationship with his father, the journalist David Sheff (portrayed by Steve Carell), in the drama Beautiful Boy. Directed by Felix Van Groeningen, the film is based on a pair of memoirs—the elder Sheff's memoir of the same name and Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff. Owen Glieberman of Variety drew comparisons with Chalamet's performance in Call Me by Your Name, stating that "Nic, in his muffled millennial James Dean way, [as] skittery and self-involved" is a transformation from the "marvelous directness" he displayed in the role of Elio Perlman. He received nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA award ceremonies.

The following year, Chalamet starred in Woody Allen's romantic comedy A Rainy Day in New York. The Me Too movement prompted a resurgence of the 1992 sexual abuse allegation against Allen. Chalamet said he was unable to answer questions about working with Allen due to his contractual obligations; the Huffington Post obtained a copy of Chalamet's contract which disputed this. Chalamet donated his salary to the charities Time's Up, LGBT Center of New York, and RAINN, and did not promote the film. Allen claimed in his 2020 memoir Apropos of Nothing that Chalamet told Allen's sister Letty Aronson that he only denounced him in an attempt to improve his chances of winning an Academy Award for Call Me by Your Name.

Chalamet next portrayed Henry V of England, a prince who, as a young man, becomes King of England, in David Michôd's Netflix period drama The King, based on several plays from Shakespeare's Henriad. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote, "Chalamet does robust work, straightening his lanky posture as he goes, rising up into the role like a man ascendant". In his third film release of 2019, Chalamet portrayed Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, a lovestruck teenager, in Little Women, an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel of the same name. Marking his second collaboration with Gerwig and Ronan, the film was acclaimed by critics, two of whom—Peter Travers of Rolling Stone and Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post—also praised Chalamet's performance; with Travers noting that the actor portrays the role with "innate charm and poignant vulnerability", while Hornaday highlighted his "languidly graceful" performance and its "playful physicality". Chalamet hosted an episode of the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live in 2020.

### 2021–present: Established actor

In 2021, Chalamet portrayed a student revolutionary in Wes Anderson's ensemble comedy-drama The French Dispatch. The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it generated positive reviews. Anderson wrote the role with Chalamet in mind. Brianna Zigler of Paste Magazine found him to be "perfectly attuned to Anderson's highly specified wavelength". Chalamet starred as the main character Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation of the science fiction novel Dune, which premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. Villeneuve stated that Chalamet was his only choice to play the role: "I needed that for the audience to believe this young man will be able to lead a whole planet." Dune received positive reviews with The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney praising his "magnetic pensiveness [that] gives the coming-of-age element some heart" and Lewis Knight of Daily Mirror writing that "Timothée Chalamet completes his ascension to Hollywood leading man status". Dune earned over \$400 million worldwide to emerge as his highest-grossing release. In his final role of the year, Chalamet played a skater punk in Adam McKay's Netflix ensemble comedy film Don't Look Up. It received mixed reviews from critics. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times found Chalamet "sweetly sincere" in his small part. The ensemble cast of the film was nominated for a SAG Award.

Chalamet reunited with Guadagnino in the road film Bones and All (2022), in which he starred alongside Taylor Russell as cannibal drifters. The project marked his first production venture, and he credited Guadagnino for mentoring him through the process. Bones and All premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. Leila Latif of IndieWire praised the chemistry between Chalamet and Russell and took note of his "near-peerless ability to gently weep", and Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter added that "Chalamet reminded us why he's the best actor of his generation". That same year, he lent his voice to the Netflix adult animated musical special Entergalactic.

Chalamet will next reprise the role of Paul Atreides in the sequel to Dune, titled Dune: Part Two, and play Willy Wonka in the musical film Wonka, directed by Paul King. He has also committed to portray Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold.

## Public image and fashion

Several media publications consider Chalamet to be among the most talented actors of his generation. Remarking upon his performance in Beautiful Boy, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "he might be the male actor of his generation". In 2018, he appeared in Forbes's 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list.

Chalamet has been described by the media as a sex symbol and a fashion icon, with his hair, jawline, and androgynous looks highlighted as his trademarks. Vogue named him the most influential man in fashion in 2019, and credits him for continuing "to ply the boundary between traditional masculinity and femininity", writing "those fashion choices are all the more impressive considering that Chalamet styles himself". In 2020, GQ ranked him as the best-dressed man in the world.

Chalamet served as one of the co-chairs of the 2021 Met Gala alongside singer Billie Eilish, professional tennis player Naomi Osaka, and poet Amanda Gorman. The event was part of the Costume Institute's exhibit In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. That same year, Chalamet became a brand ambassador for Cartier. He also collaborated with Haider Ackermann to design a hoodie with 100% of the proceeds going to French organization Afghanistan Libre, which is centered around preserving the rights of women in Afghanistan.

At the 94th Academy Awards, Chalamet wore a sequined Louis Vuitton jacket from Nicolas Ghesquière's womenswear collection without a shirt; W declared that he had "rewritten the gentleman's Oscar dress code for good", highlighting the boundary-pushing outfit that "blurred the lines of fashion's traditional gender divide". He subsequently appeared on the cover of the October 2022 print edition of British Vogue, becoming the first solo male to do so in the magazine's history.

In 2023, Chalamet became the face of Chanel's men's fragrance Bleu de Chanel, taking over from late French actor Gaspard Ulliel. The advertising campaign starring Chalamet and shot by photographer Mario Sorrenti was released in June, with a campaign film directed by Martin Scorsese coming in the fall.

## Personal life

Chalamet splits his time between New York and California. Despite significant media attention and public interest, he rarely discusses the romantic aspects of his personal life.

Chalamet is an avid sports fan; in his youth, he aspired to be a professional soccer player. He is a lifelong supporter of the New York Knicks and the French football team AS Saint-Étienne. He enjoys hip-hop music and considers rapper Kid Cudi to be his biggest career inspiration.

## Filmography

### Film

## Awards and nominations

Chalamet was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Call Me by Your Name. He was also nominated for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, all for Best Actor. During the same awards season, Chalamet gained recognition for his supporting role in Lady Bird, receiving nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture along with the rest of the cast. For his work in Beautiful Boy, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics' Choice Award, all for Best Supporting Actor.

American–French actor (born 1995)

American people of Austrian-Jewish descent

American people of Russian-Jewish descent

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni

French people of Austrian-Jewish descent

Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead winners

New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study alumni


Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol is a 2010 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Sega. The player assumes control of agent Michael Thorton, a new recruit at a clandestine United States agency called Alpha Protocol, which is given unlimited resources to conduct covert operations on behalf of the government. Thorton becomes a rogue agent and must unravel an international conspiracy to stop a war. Throughout the game, players must make many choices that affect the narrative. Played from a third-person perspective, players can confront enemies using firearms, gadgets, martial arts and stealth. The game features extensive customization and a dialogue stance system that allows players to select dialogues based on three different tones.

The game's development began in March 2006 after publisher Sega approached Obsidian for a new intellectual property role-playing game. While Obsidian co-founders Feargus Urquhart and Chris Jones came up with the concept of an "espionage RPG", no one was assigned to lead the project until early 2008. The project was mostly inspired by iconic spy characters such as Jason Bourne, James Bond and Jack Bauer, and by films including Syriana, Ronin and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Sega also participated in the game's development, supporting the plot rewrite by Chris Avellone, and sending quality assurance and cohesion strike teams to ensure there were no plot holes.

Alpha Protocol was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in May 2010. The game received polarized reviews upon release. Critics praised the game's setting, customization and reactivity, but criticized its gameplay, story, graphics and presentation; it was generally considered to be ambitious but executed many concepts poorly. Retrospectively, the game's reputation improved and it gained a cult following. Despite Obsidian's desire to develop a sequel, intellectual property owner Sega was not satisfied with the game's financial performance and no sequel is planned. All sales of Alpha Protocol were halted in June 2019 due to expired music licenses.

## Gameplay

Alpha Protocol is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective. Players assume control of Michael Thorton, a secret agent who must travel around the world as he unravels a conspiracy that threatens his safety. At the start of the game, players can choose Thorton's agent history; options include Soldiers—which focuses on using heavy firearms, Tech Specialists—which have an arsenal of gadgets to use, and Field Agents—which encourages the use of stealth. There are also Freelancer, Recruit, and Veteran options, in which players custom-build their own class. Players can customize elements of Thorton's appearance, including his hair, eye color, costumes, and accessories including hats and glasses.

Missions typically start at a safe house, which serves as a hub for players. In the hub, players can select missions, access the black market to buy weapons and intelligence, and use the weapon locker. Weapons can be extensively customized; options include the addition of a scope to improve shooting accuracy and the use of phosphorus ammunition to burn enemies. In missions, players can approach their objectives in a variety of ways; they can directly confront enemies using the four weapon classes—submachine guns, pistols, assault rifles, and shotguns—and use gadgets such as grenades, flashbangs, and detonated mines. Players can buy armor that boosts Thorton's endurance during missions. Non-lethal means can also be used; Thorton can use martial arts or tranquilizing guns to knock out enemies, and stealth to evade enemies and security measures such as cameras. Levels are intricate, with multiple paths for players to use and explore. Players can collect money bags and open safes in mission areas, and use the money to buy weapons, gadgetry, and intelligence after returning to the hub. Players can hide behind a cover to evade enemy fire and prevent themselves being noticed. To open locked doors and encrypted computers, and disable alarms, players must hack them by completing mini-games. A mission summary screen, which lists the number of completed objectives and individual players killed or knocked out, appears after the completion of missions.

By choosing the correct dialogue options and completing certain gameplay challenges, players can earn small combat enhancements called Perks. Thorton's skills can be extensively customized. Players earn experience points while completing certain actions. Skills points are earned when players level-up after earning sufficient experience points, which can be used to upgrade nine aspects of Thorton's skills; namely Stealth, Pistols, Submachine Guns, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Sabotage, Technical Aptitude, Toughness and Martial Arts. Spending points on these aspects unlock new skills that can be activated to enhance Thorton's combat efficiency. For instance, a skill known as Chain Shot slows the passage of time and allows players to kill enemies in rapid succession. Players can specialize in three skills, which further raises the level cap.

Alpha Protocol features numerous non-playable characters (NPC) with whom to interact. Conversations occur in real-time, giving the player a limited amount of time to respond to key decision points. The dialogue system in the game, known as the Dialogue Stance System (DSS), allows the player to choose one of three attitudes, or "stances", when speaking to an NPC. In dialogue sequences, the player can choose from three main options; "professional", "suave", and "aggressive". Sometimes, a fourth, "special" dialogue choice is also available. Dossiers enable players to gain early understanding of NPCs before approaching them; new dialogue options may appear if the dossiers are nearly completed after players collect sufficient intelligence. Each NPC will react differently to these choices; they change their perception of Thorton, affecting his reputation. It will also change NPCs' actions during the game, benefiting or undermining Thorton's operation. While dialogue choices will have some immediately noticeable consequences, many may not become apparent until much later in the game. Players can also make numerous important decisions that affects the game's story, including the fate of some in-game characters. These decisions change the state of the game's world and lead to 32 possible endings.

## Synopsis

### Characters

The main and playable character of Alpha Protocol is Michael Thorton (Josh Gilman), a highly skilled secret agent newly recruited into a clandestine United States agency called Alpha Protocol, which has unlimited resources to conduct covert operations on behalf of the government. Thorton's colleagues are his handler Mina Tang (Adrienne Wilkinson), superior Yancy Westridge (Gary Anthony Williams), and veteran Alpha Protocol advisors Alan Parker (Michael Bell) and Sean Darcy (Andre Sogliuzzo).

### Plot

Alpha Protocol is a highly classified black ops agency whose existence remains unknown to many—even those in the highest echelons of the United States government—as a means to operate outside of the confines of government oversight. Recent inductee Agent Michael Thorton is given his first assignment; the assassination of Sheikh Ali Shaheed, the leader of the Saudi Arabia-based terrorist group Al-Samad, which used American-made missiles to shoot down a civilian airliner. When confronted, Shaheed claims Halbech, an American defense contractor, provided him with the weapons and target. Thorton neutralizes Shaheed and recovers his intel, but his position is struck by missiles and Thorton is presumed dead. Thorton survives with the aid of his handler Mina Tang, who warns him of the attack and that the agency has been infiltrated by Halbech operatives.

Shaheed's intel reveals three key locations tied to the conspiracy; Rome, where an Al-Samad cell has been activated; Moscow, through which the missiles were routed; and Taipei, where Taiwanese President Ronald Sung is under threat of assassination. The locations can be visited in any order and events that take place may influence interactions that occur in other locations. Thorton deduces that Halbech's plan is to raise global tensions and cause a new cold war, turning the world into its private marketplace.

In Rome, Thorton meets Madison Saint James, with whose help he discovers the private security firm Veteran Combat Initiative (VCI), which is run by Halbech's former security chief Conrad Marburg, who is planning a false flag operation to blow up a museum to influence harsher anti-terrorism legislation in Europe using Al-Samad as a scapegoat. Marburg kidnaps Madison; Thorton must choose between saving her or preventing the museum's destruction and innocent deaths. Afterward, Marburg escapes unless Thorton can persuade him to finish their fight to the death. If Thorton chooses to save Madison over the civilians, she leaves out of guilt.

In Moscow, Thorton tracks weapon shipments to Konstantin Brayko, a Russian Mafia underboss with apparent ties to Halbech. During his investigation, Thorton can encounter German VCI-affiliate mercenary SIE, and Sis, a mute in-service to Albatross, the leader of the G22 paramilitary group. Thorton, aided by either G22 or the VCI, infiltrates the American embassy to contact Russian Mafia boss Sergei Surkov. After discussing the arms deal with Surkov, Thorton confronts Brayko in his mansion. After defeating Brayko, Thorton can learn that Surkov worked with Halbech and framed Brayko. If he learns the truth, Thorton confronts Surkov, whom he can either work with, arrest or kill.

In Taipei, Thorton uncovers a plot by Omen Deng of the Chinese Secret Police to assassinate Ronald Sung and incite riots at a political rally to provoke a conflict between China and the U.S. With aid from Triad leader Hong Shi, and/or G22, and Steven Heck—a psychotic man claiming to work for the CIA—Thorton counters an assassination attempt by Deng and obtains a disk containing the plot. When the disk is analyzed, a security protocol starts to erase data, forcing the player to choose to save files detailing either the assassination or the riot instigation. Eventually, Deng and Thorton duel on a building overlooking the podium, after which Thorton can either kill or spare Deng. If Deng is spared, it is revealed that both he and Thorton were tricked into thinking the other was the assassin, allowing the real assassin to shoot Sung. If the assassination data is saved, Thorton persuades Sung to wear body armor and survive, but hundreds are killed in the riots.

Along the way, Thorton encounters Scarlet Lake, a photojournalist with many contacts. After completing the three operations and optionally contacting some affiliates, Thorton — needing to expose Halbech's activities before World War III starts — surrenders to Alpha Protocol and is brought to Henry Leland, CEO of Halbech and acting commander of Alpha Protocol. Leland and Thorton discuss his activities; if the player has a high reputation, Leland subsequently attempts to recruit Thorton. If Thorton refuses, he escapes the Alpha Protocol holding facility and with the aid of his prior contacts — if any — fights or sneaks through the Alpha Protocol facility. After confronting Leland himself, Thorton may either execute or capture him, but Leland is killed if caught.

If Thorton agrees to work with Leland, or if he spared Shaheed and obtained the information against Alpha Protocol from him in the endgame, he also escapes the Alpha Protocol facility and eventually confronts his former superior Yancy Westridge. Shortly after executing or sparing Westridge, Thorton can choose to partner with Leland or betray him. If the player confronted Westridge using Shaheed's information instead, Thorton will have the option of executing or sparing Leland as well. Additionally, Thorton can learn that the real assassin in Taipei was Scarlet Lake, who is in Leland's employ, and he may choose to either execute her for justice, let her go, or invite her to team up with him.

Escaping into a bay on a motor yacht (potentially with a number of allies), Thorton considers his next move and wonders whether his life will continue to be exciting.

## Development

The development of Alpha Protocol began around March 2006. In late 2005, developer Obsidian Entertainment was finishing work on their video game Neverwinter Nights 2, during which the studio received a call from publisher Sega about making a new role-playing game for them. Around this time, Obsidian was busy with other projects and had no employees to spare for another game. Obsidian agreed with Sega's request for them to originate a new concept and to begin work on it when possible. Obsidian co-founders Feargus Urquhart and Chris Jones originated the concept of a "spy RPG"; Sega was pleased with the idea and its originality. After the cancellation of Dwarfs, Obsidian's role-playing game prequel to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves it was developing for Disney, the staff from that game began work on Alpha Protocol. While layoffs at Obsidian were avoided, the cancellation of Dwarfs forced the studio to give Sega the intellectual property rights to Alpha Protocol. As the game's development progressed, the team's size grew from two people to over sixty.

During the early stages of its development, no personnel were assigned to lead roles on Alpha Protocol. The development team did not have much direction for the game, and they did not know its target audience. Neither did they prepare any documents laying out guidelines for the game's design and development. The team also struggled with designing stealth for the game due to their lack of experience and technical difficulties caused by the Unreal Engine 3. At that time, Obsidian was working on another project for Sega named Aliens: Crucible, which Sega later canceled. The Alpha Protocol team realized the game's slow progress and development could not continue. Around two years into development, Obsidian's co-owner Chris Parker became the game's project director, and the studio's creative director Chris Avellone volunteered to become its lead designer.

Avellone and Parker organized a meeting to set a firm direction for the game and settled on its features. They decided not to include parkour, chase scenes with a motorcycle and yacht, and environmental interaction. A female character known as Uli Booi was scrapped after the meeting. The game structure was modified and safe houses were introduced to make the game less linear. The mini-games were also changed significantly; the team initially wanted to remove them completely but Sega objected and the team modified them and made them faster. With all these changes, both Sega's confidence in the game and the team's morale were restored. While the team had settled on the game's design, more features were cut or downgraded due to time constraints. The artificial intelligence originally designed for the game drained the game's technical performance and they made it less complex so the game could run better. A planned female version of Micheal Thorton was canceled in order to save money; the team would have needed to change dialogue and create new animations for the character. The mission debrief showing up after the player completed a mission was initially a bug discovered by one of the game's testers; the team redeveloped this to become an official feature. Obsidian also added and refined most of the role-playing elements in early-to-mid-2009 at Sega's request.

The development team were inspired by pop culture spy icons such as Jack Bauer and James Bond; the game was a "Jason Bourne adventure" with some over-the top-characters similar to those in Kill Bill. They also took inspiration from other games, including Deus Ex, System Shock 2 and Fallout, TV series like Burn Notice, as well as films such as Syriana, Ronin, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The game is a spy-adventure; player's in-game choices affect the world's state. The morality in the game was designed to be ambiguous, reflecting its real-world setting. Players can choose to spare or kill all the enemies without knowing who their allies and enemies truly are. Thorton's responses to other non-playable characters also have consequences and affect their perception of Thorton. The team ensured that no matter which moral paths players take, they will be rewarded; the team did not want to punish players for playing the game in a certain way. Michael Thorton was designed to be an everyman, allowing players to choose their playstyle freely without having to conform to a particular style of play. To complement the spy theme of the game, the team added a timer to the dialogue system to further immerse players into the game and make intrinsic decisions. The dialogue stance system meant voice actors had to record the same lines using several different tones. The game's location was set across the globe; the team wanted players to feel Thorton is an "international superspy".

Brian Mitsoda drafted the initial story for Alpha Protocol; he decided which locations would appear in the game and with Annie Carlson created all of the characters, while artist Brian Menze handled the characters' visual designs. The narrative in the released game was primarily written by Avellone, who took over the main creative role two years after development began. This resulted in a substantial rewriting and repurposing of the plot; player choice was given more importance, intertwining of gameplay and reactivity became a forefront design philosophy, and the core and motivations of several narrative threads were changed. The new narrative team, which consisted of Avellone, Travis Stout, and Matt MacLean, wrote new dialogue for the characters created by Mitsoda and Carlson, and they also wrote a new story and script using the locations decided upon by Mitsoda. Each writer was given a set amount of work; MacLean wrote most of the in-game emails and Stout was the lead writer for the Taipei hub, writing for characters including Steven Heck, Omen Deng, and Hong Shi. Stout also wrote several secondary characters in the Rome hub, while Avellone designed most of the other characters.

Sega was supportive of the team's rewriting of the plot, sending quality assurance and cohesion strike teams to avoid problems with the in-game reactivity or plot holes; Sega, however, had little involvement with the narrative aspects and mainly focused on the game and combat design. Urquhart said the game's development problems were partly due to Sega's indecision, particularly in budgeting; one long segment of the game cost around US\$500,000 to produce, which was eventually cut because Sega thought it was not a good fit for the game.

The game was officially announced by Sega and Obsidian Entertainment in March 2008. Alpha Protocol was originally due to be released in October 2009, but Sega later announced its release would be delayed until early 2010 after the game missed its projected release date. Producer Matt Hickman said the publisher delayed the game so the team could further polish it, introducing improvements to the lighting system. He later stated the delay was intended to reposition the game in a less crowded release window to avoid competition with other blockbuster titles. The game was officially released in Australia on May 27, 2010; in Europe on May 28; and in North America on June 1. Players who preordered the game via GameStop and Best Buy received the "Exclusive Assault Pack" and the "Stealth Weapons Pack", respectively. Both packs give players additional weapons to use in the game. In June 2019, Sega halted the sale of Alpha Protocol across all digital outlets, including Steam and the Humble Store, due to the licenses of several music tracks used in the game having expired.

## Reception

### Critical reception

Alpha Protocol received divided reviews from critics; while Obsidian expected the game to score around 80 marks out of 100, review aggregator Metacritic recorded lower average scores.

The gameplay received negative reviews. The gunplay was criticized for lacking polish and being unrefined, and the artificial intelligence was found to be subpar by most critics. Rich McCormick from PC Gamer called the combat "simplistic" and the gunplay "floaty", but he was impressed by the weapon customization system's complexity and extensiveness. Charles Onyett from IGN had a less-enthusiastic view of the customization system and considered it only serviceable. He also criticized other gameplay faults, such as the unreliable cover system, repetitive combat encounters, and sub-par boss fights. Christian Donlan enjoyed the boss fights for their changing of the game's pace. Kevin VanOrd from GameSpot criticized the game's camera for being unreliable and the cover for being inconsistent. He also noted that poor AI hindered the stealth sections and that combat scenarios may not match the players' customization, leading to players' frustration. Nicholas Tan of Game Revolution noted issues with the clumsiness of using special abilities, and poor gunplay, especially in the earlier levels of the game. He enjoyed the mini-games, which he described as "challenging". However, Onyett and VanOrd noted these mini-games were not designed for PC players. Justin McElroy from Joystiq criticized the gunplay, in which weapon accuracy is based on its statistics instead of aiming. Jim Sterling from Destructoid and Joe Juba from Game Informer were very critical of the gameplay systems, which Sterling called "abominable" and "ruined"; and Juba said many of the game's systems are "archaic and unaccommodating".

The game's role-playing nature received critical acclaim. Both McCarmick and Tan liked the Dialogue Stance System's timer; they said it provides a tense experience for the players because it forces them to choose quickly. McCormick said the description for the dialogue choices is not sufficient. He liked the game's respect of players' choices and their effect on certain dialogue outcomes, concluding that these choices make the story more personal for the player. Tan praised the game's script and voice-acting, which he said was well-written and excellent. Onyett said the game was unsure of its direction, calling the game boring when it tries to be serious and childish when it tries to be humorous. He praised the game's sense of progression, noting players' freedom when interacting with in-game characters, though he was disappointed some characters were not fleshed out enough and most are "flat stereotypes". VanOrd also appreciated the game for respecting players' choices and their consequences on the game's world, and the plot's flexible nature. However, he was disappointed by the narrative, criticizing it for lacking "soul and character". Similarly, McElroy said the choice system was dragged down by the game's boring and flat story. Juba was disappointed by the lead character Michael Thorton, who he felt lacks a personality, and that the dialogue stance system is only capable of providing clichéd choices.

The game's presentation received generally negative reviews. Its visuals were considered disappointing, with critics calling its graphics "bland", "artistically uninspired", and "dated". Tan noted the game's technical shortcomings, criticizing its textures and animation. Onyett shared similar concerns, calling the game's scenery and models unremarkable and dull. He also noted the number of glitches and frame rate issues in the game. VanOrd criticized the texture pop-ins and the long loading times for the textures to load. McElroy and Juba also said the game's loading time was very long. Sterling greatly disliked the game's graphics, saying it matches "the atrocious quality of the gameplay" and that it feels like a "bad budget game that isn't even worth \$20".

Critics have mixed opinions on the game overall. McCormick said while the gameplay is subpar, Alpha Protocol is a captivating "spy simulation" that has a compelling and personal story. Tan called it a strange hybrid with disappointing and average gameplay, and provocative RPG systems, and described the game as a divisive title. Many critics said the game needs a sequel to improve its shortcomings. Onyett said it had the foundation to be entertaining but the numerous gameplay faults undermined its potential. VanOrd described the game as a "5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle with 500 pieces missing", and said that while it was ambitious, it was incomplete and the gameplay faults were too significant to be ignored. Sterling noted the game's ambition but said its execution problems and severe fundamental faults tarnish the experience. Donlan said the game can steadily win players over, despite the fact it will constantly frustrate them.

Since 2013, the game's reputation improved. Tony Deans from Hardcore Gamer said the choices featured in the game made the narrative engrossing and engaging, and that any small choice may have big consequences. He concluded by saying every RPG player should play the game. Richard Cobbett from Eurogamer called it the best spy game ever made, appreciating that the story and characters react to players' choices, and said that other games should learn from it. He concluded by expressing his desire for a sequel. Phil Savage called the game "a wonderful mess, full of great ideas, but hampered by the sort of behind-the-scenes development troubles". He criticized the opening Saudi Arabia level for being "monotonous", but stated later levels are more varied and interesting. He thought the game should be applauded for its modern setting that was rarely explored by other role-playing games, and added that there are many great game design and systems that can be expanded upon by Obsidian or other game development companies. Anthony Burch from Destructoid praised the game's sense of humor, ending variety, and the combat system, in which he stated its "brokenness" becomes fun. He concluded by calling it one of the best role-playing games ever, and compared it with Mass Effect. Rowan Kaiser of Engadget positively compared the game to Deus Ex, saying, "the strengths of both games point toward the future of video games".

### Legacy

In the United Kingdom, the game was the thirteenth-best-selling entertainment-related retail software in its week of release. A month after release, the game had sold 700,000 copies in the US and Europe. The game's slow sales contributed to Sega's lower-than-expected financial results in the three months ending on June 30, 2011.

Sega was not satisfied with the game's commercial performance and announced there would not be a sequel to it. The game gained a cult following upon release, mainly due to its handling of players' choices. Obsidian Entertainment had publicly stated its desire to develop a sequel for Alpha Protocol, for which the development team had new ideas. Intellectual property owner Sega must approve any sequel, for which it has not announced any plans. The trademark was cancelled in 2021.

2010 action role-playing game

Video games developed in the United States