William Steven Searcy (born June 4, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies. Early years Though he is naturally right handed, Searcy was born with osteomyelitis in his right shoulder. Thus, he does some tasks with his left hand, including throwing a baseball. Hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, Searcy attended the University of Tennessee. With a team leading 2.45 earned run average (ERA) and 95.1 innings pitched, he led the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team to a second-place finish in the 1984 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament. Following one more season playing college ball, he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 1985 Major League Baseball Draft. In , Searcy went 11–6 with a 3.30 ERA and 139 strikeouts over 27 starts for the Glens Falls Tigers in their inaugural season. A knee injury limited Searcy to just 53.1 innings in . Injuries aside, however, the Tigers were reluctant to part with their young pitcher at the 1987 trade deadline when they were in need of a veteran arm for the major league club's playoff drive. Instead, they opted to ship fellow minor league pitcher John Smoltz to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander. He returned healthy in to go 13–7 with a 2.59 ERA and 176 strikeouts for the Toledo Mud Hens to earn International League Most Valuable Pitcher honors and a call up to the majors in late August. Detroit Tigers Searcy made his major league debut on August 29, , against the Chicago White Sox at old Comiskey Park. Starting, he pitched seven plus strong innings, but was tagged with the loss. In his second and final start of the season, Searcy faced six Milwaukee Brewers batters, and gave up three runs (2 earned) while only retiring one batter before being lifted. Arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder kept Searcy off the mound til June of . After eighteen rehab starts for the Lakeland Tigers and Toledo, Searcy made his first major league appearance of the season on August 20, starting against the New York Yankees. After four relief appearances, Searcy made a second start against the Minnesota Twins on September 17 to earn his first major league win. He split the season between Toledo and Detroit. After winning his first start with the Tigers, his record fell to 1–5