Pat Dobson, one of four pitchers to win 20 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1971, has died. He was 64.

Dobson died Wednesday night in the San Diego area, the San Francisco Giants said Thursday.

Pat Dobson was one of four Orioles pitchers to win 20 games in 1971.
(Associated Press)

He was a special assistant to Giants general manager Brian Sabean this year, his ninth with the club.

The team didn't immediately release details about the cause of death.

Dobson went 20-8 with a 2.90 earned-run average for the American League champion Orioles in 1971, rounding out a famous rotation that also included Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (20-9), Dave McNally (21-5) and Mike Cuellar (20-9).

The 1920 Chicago White Sox are the only other team in major-league history to have four 20-game winners in a single season.

"He is one of four that everybody will remember," retired Orioles manager Earl Weaver told The Associated Press. "He had a great year for us."

"He had a great curveball," said Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, Dobson's teammate with the Orioles.

"He was a real gamer, a real competitor. He didn't give in to anybody."

An all-star with Baltimore in 1972, Dobson was 122-129 with a 3.54 ERA in 11 MLB seasons and won a World Series with the 1968 Detroit Tigers.

He also pitched for the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians.

"He was a free spirit and I enjoyed having him," Weaver said. "He was a pleasure to have on the team.

"When he started throwing that curveball for a strike, it was all over. He could throw the curveball at any time in the count."
 
Dobson spent eight seasons as a pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers (1982-84), Padres (1988-90), Kansas City Royals (1991) and Orioles (1996).

"I got to know Dobber well when he returned to our organization as pitching coach in 1996 and will never forget the fun times we had, talking baseball and telling stories, before and after games," Orioles executive vice president for baseball operations Mike Flanagan said. "He will be missed."

Dobson joined the Giants in 1997 and served as an advance scout before becoming a special assistant to Sabean.

"Pat's untimely death is a complete shock to the whole organization and me and it's hard for us to express our feelings right now," Sabean said. "We've all become so close through the years and we're going to miss him dearly."

Dobson's bio in San Francisco's media guide said he was living in El Cajon.

He was born on Feb. 12, 1942, in Depew, N.Y., and is survived by wife Kathe and six children: Pat III, Nancy, Stacy, Chris, Shannon and Stephanie.