On June 11, 1974, Stottlemyre was pitching against the California Angels at Yankee Stadium when, on a curve ball to Frank Robinson, he felt something pop in his shoulder. He had torn his rotator cuff. In those days, they didn’t have the technology to either detect or correct it. Instead, he was told to shut it down until the following spring when Yankee GM Gabe Paul assured him he’d be given all the time he needed until May 1 before the Yankees made a decision on him. But once Paul learned they’d have to pay him $30,000 in severance if they kept him on the roster after March 31, they released him. Stottlemyre’s career, 164-139, 2.97 ERA, in which nine of his 11 seasons he logged 250 innings or more, was over. Even though Steinbrenner was under suspension that year, and it was Paul’s decision to so rudely cut an honored and popular Yankee, Stottlemyre remained bitter at the only organization he’d known, especially after Steinbrenner promised – but never paid him - $40,000 to go to a kinesiology doctor friend of his at Michigan State to have his shoulder worked on.