That \u2018stuff\u2019 included a fastball that topped out in the low 90s, unremarkable in today\u2019s game but enough to earn him a reputation as a fireballer in the early 1990s. His greatest hurdle was the mental side of the game. Highly competitive on the mound, Kamieniecki would later recall how living and dying with every pitch held him back early in his pro career. \u201cI would have been out there in the second or third inning and had a negative attitude, like, \u2018Here we go again, it\u2019s not my day,\u2019\u201d he said<\/a> of his ability to cope with adversity. \u201cNow, I try to channel my energies somewhere else. If a guy gets a base hit, it\u2019s not the end of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Kamieniecki started the year at Triple-A in 1991, where his 2.36 ERA with just two homers allowed in 76.1 innings made him a standout. A late bloomer at 27, he was ready at the right time, when the Gene Michael-led front office was beginning to promote its promising youngsters instead of trading them away for established veteran talent. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot better atmosphere, knowing you\u2019ve got a chance,\u201d Kamieniecki said<\/a>. \u201cIn the past, they neglected their system and traded guys away for a quick fix. Now they\u2019ve brought up three or four of our players, and we\u2019re feeling like a part of the Yankee future.\u201d<\/p>\n His comments would prove remarkably prescient. Kamieniecki was called up to make his big-league debut just a week later, allowing two runs over six innings to earn his first victory. He was a bright spot on a team that would finish the year 20 games below .500, posting a 2.68 ERA through his first seven starts. Nonetheless, the following camp, he was forced into a battle with Greg Cadaret for the final spot in the rotation. It would begin a frustrating cycle that would go on throughout Kamieniecki\u2019s Yankees career, with the right-hander shuttling between the rotation and bullpen with remarkable regularity.<\/p>\n Kamieniecki started 48 games between 1992 and 1993, a high-water mark during his time in New York. He pitched to a 4.23 ERA and 95 ERA+, serving as a solid contributor for a struggling team but doing little to cement his status going forward. Before the 1994 season, with the Yankees on the come-up, they signed veteran Bob Ojeda, a key cog on the \u201886 Mets nearly a decade earlier, supplanting Kamieniecki in the team\u2019s rotation. While the veteran endured the indignity of returning to the bullpen, Ojeda lasted a combined three innings through two starts before the Yankees cut him loose. Back in a starting role, Kamieniecki was circumspect. \u201cYou can\u2019t get upset and you can\u2019t carry it out on the field,\u201d he said at the time<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve worked too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d stick in the rotation most of the season, putting up his best numbers in pinstripes. At 30, it looked like Kamieniecki might finally have the wind at his sails.<\/p>\n Of course, Kamieniecki would end up one of many victims of the labor dispute that would end the MLB season in August.<\/p>\n The following season, he\u2019d miss time with injury early in the year on the Wild Card-winning club and nearly lose his job in August, this time to a young starter at Triple-A named Mariano Rivera. \u201cIt\u2019s New York,\u201d Kamieniecki said<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s the way things were before I got here and the way things will be after I leave. You have two or three bad games and you\u2019re on the hot seat. I\u2019m used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n TORONTO, CANADA – OCTOBER 2: New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (L) hugs pitcher Scott Kamieniecki after the Yankees clinched the American League wild card berth as they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 at Skydome 01 October. Kaminiecki pitched a complete game victory 30 September helping the Yankees to their first playoff appearance since 1981. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read GREIG REEKIE\/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the resilient right-hander stuck in the rotation, making a pivotal start in Game 4 of the ALDS with the chance to send the Yankees to the doorstep of the pennant. The day prior, his children were involved in a house fire that nearly turned into a tragedy. \u201cYou\u2019re talking maybe 30 seconds more and you lose both kids,\u201d he said later<\/a> of the jarring incident which nearly precluded him from pitching in the biggest game of his life.<\/p>\n Kamieniecki ended up taking the bump, though he allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings in an eventual loss. The next spring he faced a familiar fate after undergoing elbow surgery in the offseason, with another member of the \u201886 Mets, Dwight Gooden, signed to take his place in the rotation. This time, he didn\u2019t find out directly from new skipper Joe Torre but instead heard from the press that he would be on the outside looking in. A professional but disgruntled Kamieniecki called the situation<\/a> \u201cdeja vu three years over,\u201d adding simply, \u201cnothing surprises me around here.\u201d<\/p>\n When he did get the chance to pitch, he did little to build trust with his new manager, allowing 30 runs in 22.2 innings. \u201cIf he\u2019s like he was the last two starts, we have to start looking,\u201d Torre said<\/a> after Kamieniecki\u2019s final outing in pinstripes. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to have starters pitch two innings. It\u2019s detrimental to the rotation and to the bullpen.\u201d He was sent down shortly thereafter and non-tendered after the season.<\/p>\n After his departure, Kamieniecki was more blunt about his dissatisfaction with how he was treated in New York. He claimed <\/a>the team put him on the DL with a \u201cbogus\u201d elbow injury, decried Joe Torre as a liar, and expressed frustration that the team made a public showing of getting him sized for a World Series ring but never gave him one.<\/p>\n By the time he made those comments, though, he was on to greener pastures. Kamieniecki had a career year in 1997 at the age of 33, going 10-6 with a 4.01 ERA while starting 30 games for the playoff-bound Orioles. He\u2019d end up tossing eight scoreless innings in the ALCS against Cleveland that year, a performance which no doubt felt like a vindication of his second-class status while a Yankee.<\/p>\n Kamieniecki would spend two more seasons in Baltimore before splitting 2000 between Cleveland and Atlanta. He briefly returned to the Yankees<\/a> as a non-roster invitee in 2001 spring training, seemingly burying the hatchet with Torre, but he didn\u2019t make the cut. His career would end with eight games for the Iowa Cubs.<\/p>\n In all, the 14th-rounder who didn\u2019t crack the big leagues until the age of 27 ended up sticking for 10 years, proving that he belonged. Kamieniecki appears to have left any hard feelings over his treatment by the Yankees in the past, making his Old-Timers\u2019 Day debut in 2019.<\/p>\n![\"TORONTO,](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gettyimages-51993021.jpg\"\/)
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