Minor League Workhorses:  1961-1965

Has it really been five months since our last installment in this series? That’s too long.

Anyway, here’s a reminder of how this exercise works: we record the top 10 pitchers in innings pitched in each minor league classification each season, and then we compute the average stat lines of these top workhorses and compare the year-to-year changes. So far we’ve done this for three five-year periods: 1946-1950, 1951-1955, and 1956-1960. This time we’ll include 1961-1965.

EP = Estimated number of pitches, using Tangotiger’s pitch estimation formula. This first category includes the Triple-A leagues, as well as the Pacific Coast League, which operated under a unique “Open Classification” status from 1952 through 1957.

Class AAA/Open Top 10 Average Innings Leaders

    Year Age     G   GS   CG   IP   W    L   H     BB   SO  ERA   EP
    1946 31     39   ?    24  280   18   15  262   78  157 2.69 4303
    1947 32     39   ?    21  277   17   15  286   77  117 3.39 4290
    1948 30     38   ?    18  251   16   13  268   93  122 3.93 4062
    1949 30     41   ?    23  282   21   13  271   98  147 3.35 4448
    1950 29     41   ?    21  283   19   14  270  102  133 3.46 4447
    1951 28     36   32   18  249   16   12  220   98  123 3.22 3912
    1952 31     40   34   20  270   18   14  238   79  135 2.76 4094
    1953 29     42   34   18  266   19   13  253   84  115 3.30 4094
    1954 29     39   34   17  258   17   13  229  101  162 3.15 4111
    1955 29     39   34   19  259   19   13  237   76  129 2.88 3956
    1956 28     38   32   17  245   16   13  244   85  133 3.43 3905
    1957 25     35   31   14  233   16   11  215   92  139 3.29 3730
    1958 28     35   30   14  226   15   11  209   76  127 3.31 3536
    1959 29     36   31   13  233   15   11  226   73  122 3.31 3639
    1960 27     38   30   13  225   14   12  226   66  121 3.37 3512
    1961 28     36   30   11  218   14    9  214   65  123 3.47 3401
    1962 28     35   30   13  225   14   10  219   67  139 3.28 3527
    1963 26     38   30   14  224   15   13  220   61  143 3.50 3491
    1964 24     36   30   12  217   13   12  198   65  166 3.08 3406
    1965 24     33   30   11  215   14   11  209   65  140 3.61 3381

 1946-50 30     40   ?    21  275   18   14  271   90  135 3.37 4310
 1951-55 29     39   34   18  260   18   13  235   88  133 3.06 4033
 1956-60 27     37   31   14  232   15   12  224   78  128 3.34 3664
 1961-65 26     35   30   12  220   14   11  212   64  142 3.39 3441

Here we see the trend that occurred so dramatically in the late 1950s continue, though the rate of change slowed. Independent minor league teams almost completely disappeared in the early 1960s. With the minors now existing almost entirely as a subsidized talent development arm of the majors, the average minor league player was younger than ever before. These younger pitchers, being groomed rather than being deployed as aces in their own right, were limited to more careful workloads than ever before.

Class AA Top 10 Average Innings Leaders

    Year Age     G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA   EP
    1946 29     38   ?    ?   252   19    9  227   80  132 2.42 3874
    1947 28     36   ?    20  253   18   11  238   77  132 2.83 3909
    1948 25     40   ?    17  244   16   14  239  102  115 3.53 3938
    1949 29     38   ?    17  239   16   11  242   85   99 3.57 3785
    1950 27     40   ?    18  244   19   11  220   98  148 3.15 3908
    1951 26     37   32   20  258   16   14  227  113  130 2.92 4123
    1952 30     38   31   19  256   18   12  234   80  109 2.82 3913
    1953 28     39   31   17  251   16   12  246   99  129 3.21 4036
    1954 27     40   31   15  246   17   12  237   99  149 3.89 3982
    1955 29     39   32   18  254   19   11  226   92  146 3.03 3985
    1956 28     37   32   15  240   17   10  229   80  135 3.27 3775
    1957 29     39   31   15  243   17   12  224   88  132 3.25 3826
    1958 27     36   32   16  247   17   11  235   86  154 3.30 3920
    1959 28     39   31   17  243   16   12  241   75  137 3.48 3820
    1960 24     38   29   13  227   15   10  221   94  151 3.53 3716
    1961 24     34   27   12  217   14   12  205   80  130 3.51 3462
    1962 22     36   28   12  213   14   11  226   77  141 4.01 3485
    1963 28     33   30   16  227   16   10  218   63  156 3.09 3551
    1964 28     34   31   14  226   15   11  221   69  166 3.56 3592
    1965 26     35   30   13  233   17   10  214   69  168 3.02 3645

 1946-50 28     38   ?    18  246   18   11  233   88  125 3.10 3883
 1951-55 28     38   32   18  253   17   12  234   97  133 3.17 4008
 1956-60 27     38   31   15  240   16   11  230   85  142 3.37 3811
 1961-65 26     34   29   14  223   15   11  217   72  152 3.44 3547

That early 1960s aces in Double-A tended to be no younger and slightly heavier-worked than those in Triple-A, is largely a function of the influence of the Mexican League. Though it was fully incorporated into the National Association (“organized baseball”), and classified as Double-A, the Mexican League remained the last bastion of minor league teams independent from major league affiliation. While major league teams sometimes acquired Mexican League talents, for the most part Mexican League stars played out their careers south of the border. The impact of career Mexican League aces pulls these averages upward. But still, the average top workload in the 1961-65 period was distinctly lower than ever before.

Class A Top 10 Average Innings Leaders

    Year Age     G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA   EP
    1946 24     33   ?    19  235   17    9  213   93  177 2.76 3805
    1947 23     37   ?    15  237   16   11  226   84  146 3.05 3769
    1948 25     38   ?    19  245   17   13  235  106  152 3.48 4013
    1949 22     36   ?    18  245   16   13  223  100  140 3.11 3916
    1950  ?     34   ?    21  250   16   13  236  105  132 3.34 4025
    1951 23     36   31   21  254   18   12  223  103  156 2.95 4056
    1952  ?     40   31   22  268   18   14  263  109  160 3.46 4360
    1953  ?     41   31   21  264   18   15  279   98  115 3.77 4245
    1954 23     37   31   21  254   18   11  227  101  157 3.07 4056
    1955 23     33   29   19  229   16   10  216   91  141 3.15 3687
    1956 22     35   28   16  227   15   12  195  103  160 3.18 3690
    1957 23     36   30   19  240   16   11  227   93  154 3.42 3874
    1958 20     35   30   13  229   16   10  211   96  140 3.16 3705
    1959 23     36   29   15  226   16   11  216   69  147 3.29 3546
    1960 21     31   29   12  207   14   11  187   91  146 3.41 3383
    1961 23     31   28   15  213   14   11  190   74  137 3.02 3345
    1962 22     32   27   15  210   14   11  190   79  173 3.28 3398
    1963 19     33   29   16  225   16    9  198   85  194 3.03 3641
    1964 22     32   27   15  214   14   11  194   81  203 3.40 3504
    1965 20     33   28   15  222   15   11  195   91  194 2.98 3634

 1946-50 24     36   ?    18  242   16   12  227   97  150 3.15 3906
 1951-55 23     37   30   21  254   18   12  241  100  146 3.28 4081
 1956-60 22     35   29   15  226   15   11  207   90  149 3.29 3639
 1961-65 21     32   28   15  217   15   10  193   82  180 3.14 3504

These were all developing talents. Even the Mexican Center League, which was classified as Class A beginning in 1963, was the developmental feeder to the Mexican League. These workhorses were younger on average than ever before, and their workloads more carefully modulated than ever before.

Class B Top 10 Average Innings Leaders

    Year Age     G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA   EP
    1946 25     34   ?    23  243   16   12  225  106  161 3.44 3972
    1947  ?     39   ?    22  263   17   12  268  117  165 4.06 4381
    1948  ?     44   ?    22  276   19   14  276  102  146 3.69 4417
    1949  ?     43   ?    24  284   20   12  268  101  143 2.90 4471
    1950  ?     40   ?    23  281   17   16  266  105  107 3.35 4399
    1951 33     39   ?    24  275   22   11  256  101  168 2.94 4371
    1952 32     41   31   25  282   22   11  234   90  126 2.77 4245
    1953  ?     41   31   24  278   21   11  260   85  142 2.83 4285
    1954 23     42   32   21  267   18   13  259   85  146 3.57 4188
    1955  ?     41   32   23  271   19   13  263  109  163 3.40 4388
    1956 31     40   31   24  275   20   12  260   86  180 3.54 4319
    1957  ?     36   29   23  244   18   12  229   82  157 3.46 3861
    1958 23     36   29   16  235   16   11  215   96  181 3.14 3834
    1959 20     32   29   19  219   16   11  208   93  154 3.50 3596
    1960 20     33   29   14  220   16   10  207   80  158 3.38 3537
    1961 21     33   27   15  208   15    9  185   81  167 2.96 3369
    1962 21     33   29   14  211   14   10  194   83  174 3.47 3448

 1946-50 25     40   ?    23  269   18   13  261  106  144 3.49 4328
 1951-55 29     41   31   23  274   20   12  254   94  149 3.10 4295
 1956-60 24     36   29   19  239   17   11  224   87  166 3.40 3829
 1961-62 21     33   28   14  210   15   10  189   82  171 3.21 3409

The changing nature of the minor leagues, and particularly the increasing difficulty of economically sustaining teams and leagues at the lowest classifications, led to a large-scale reorganization following the 1962 season. The B, C, and D classifications were eliminated, and the surviving teams and leagues from those categories were all recombined into an enlarged Class A.

Class C Top 10 Average Innings Leaders

    Year Age     G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA   EP
    1946  ?     39   ?    26  277   21   11  264   80  199 2.71 4348
    1947  ?     42   ?    25  288   21   12  265  104  193 3.03 4582
    1948  ?     45   ?    25  297   21   15  299  117  166 3.45 4817
    1949  ?     42   ?    25  283   21   12  274  111  193 3.23 4603
    1950  ?     43   ?    28  300   23   13  294  125  223 3.81 4963
    1951  ?     49   35   29  318   26   13  333  115  184 3.48 5152
    1952  ?     41   33   26  284   23   10  263  136  204 3.62 4734
    1953  ?     45   33   27  292   22   13  314  126  188 4.18 4896
    1954  ?     44   35   25  287   21   14  289   95  171 3.82 4570
    1955  ?     47   31   22  277   21   14  284   95  200 4.03 4498
    1956  ?     36   30   22  254   19   10  248   99  185 3.80 4156
    1957  ?     38   30   22  255   19   11  252  103  202 3.87 4228
    1958 27     38   30   19  245   18   11  246  105  209 3.63 4126
    1959 20     34   26   14  209   14   10  204   90  158 3.53 3473
    1960 19     34   27   15  217   16    9  204   96  192 3.42 3638
    1961  ?     36   24   15  210   15    9  203   93  137 3.47 3460
    1962  ?     37   27   12  206   13   11  224   93  151 4.61 3522

 1946-50  ?     42   ?    26  289   21   12  279  107  195 3.25 4662
 1951-55  ?     45   33   25  291   23   13  297  113  189 3.83 4770
 1956-60 22     36   29   18  236   17   10  231   99  189 3.65 3924
 1961-62  ?     36   26   13  208   14   10  214   93  144 4.04 3491
Class D Top 10 Average Innings Leaders

   Year Age     G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA   EP
    1946 33     41   ?    27  292   21   14  254  106  230 2.93 4656
    1947  ?     44   ?    25  295   23   12  255   96  203 2.91 4593
    1948  ?     44   ?    26  291   23   11  266  108  186 3.04 4635
    1949  ?     41   ?    28  295   21   13  263  114  187 2.85 4700
    1950  ?     41   ?    23  281   21   12  270  116  196 3.32 4606
    1951  ?     41   32   27  289   24    9  264  100  219 2.89 4613
    1952  ?     45   27   23  283   21   10  243  125  195 2.62 4585
    1953  ?     43   28   22  278   22   11  251  110  204 3.15 4485
    1954  ?     38   30   23  263   20   11  246  110  183 3.24 4295
    1955  ?     43   31   24  282   22   12  274  109  194 3.47 4589
    1956 20     41   26   19  247   19   10  207  112  218 2.63 4068
    1957  ?     39   29   20  245   19   11  213   82  205 2.69 3886
    1958 20     35   28   21  234   18   10  207   74  174 2.70 3662
    1959  ?     34   28   19  231   19    9  204   93  179 3.04 3738
    1960  ?     34   26   18  227   17   10  198   97  166 3.04 3676
    1961  ?     31   26   16  205   17    8  189   80  168 3.16 3345
    1962  ?     32   26   15  212   14   12  184   90  198 3.18 3497

 1946-50 33     42   ?    26  291   22   13  262  108  200 3.01 4638
 1951-55  ?     42   30   24  279   22   11  256  111  199 3.07 4513
 1956-60 20     36   27   19  236   18   10  206   92  188 2.82 3806
 1961-62  ?     32   26   16  209   15   10  186   85  183 3.17 3421
Rookie Class Top 10 Average Innings Leaders

    Year Age     G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA   EP
    1963 18     15   12    3   80    5    4   74   59   85 4.32 1486
    1964 19     16   12    5   94    7    5   83   53  100 3.72 1642
    1965 18     18   11    5   91    7    4   92   39   99 3.93 1562

 1963-65 18     16   12    4   88    6    4   83   50   95 3.99 1563

In place of Classes B, C, and D, a new Rookie League classification was created in 1963. As the name implies, it deployed mostly newly signed rookies straight out of high school or college, in a short season that began at the end of the school year.

Class AAA Top 10 Workloads

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.
Pitcher          T Age Year     League         G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA  EP
Dick Egan        L  25 1962  Pacific Coast    40   33   15  253   17   11  239   81  201 3.45 4040
Dave DeBusschere R  24 1965  Pacific Coast    35   34   10  244   15   12  255   66  176 3.65 3884
Chi-Chi Olivo    R  35 1963  Pacific Coast    44   26   14  233   14   13  279   67  165 4.29 3843
Laurin Pepper    R  30 1961 American Assoc.   34   32    8  227   15   11  234   94  129 3.45 3730
Nick Willhite    L  21 1962 American Assoc.   38   32   19  243   18   14  229   68  129 3.33 3729
Ed Thomas        R  ?  1963  Pacific Coast    34   32   15  236   14   14  230   73  153 3.74 3726
Cal Koonce       R  23 1964  Pacific Coast    38   36   12  238   11   15  237   56  157 3.48 3682
Al Stanek        L  20 1964  Pacific Coast    37   32   11  223   13   12  161  108  220 2.83 3663
Ed Thomas        R  ?  1962 American Assoc.   42   28    9  222   13   13  230   83  140 3.69 3623
Al Lary          R  32 1961 American Assoc.   37   32   12  231   15    9  217   72  149 3.58 3623

In the 1956-60 period, six Triple-A pitchers had worked seasons with over 4,000 estimated pitches, with a high of over 4,300. Over the next five years, just one pitcher reached the 4,000 mark.

Yes, that is that Dave DeBusschere, the basketball great. He had already appeared in the majors (and done pretty well); he could pitch. Nevertheless, it’s the case that none of the young pitchers included here became major league stars, and indeed most of them were never more than bit players in the majors. Indeed, among the pitchers who came out of Triple-A in this period and went on to achieve the greatest major league success, only two (Gaylord Perry with 3,333 estimated pitches in 1961 and Wilbur Wood with 3,235 in 1964) had top 10 Triple-A workhorse seasons, and neither of their seasons make this list.

Class AA Top 10 Workloads

Pitcher          T Age Year     League         G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA  EP
Miguel Sotelo    R  ?  1963     Mexican       37   34   24  272   24    8  246   93  208 2.85 4328
Ramon Lopez      R  31 1964     Mexican       37   30   19  245   13   13  224  101  213 3.45 4040
Miguel Sotelo    R  ?  1964     Mexican       40   32   15  243   17   12  246   98  148 4.29 3979
Ramon Lopez      R  32 1965     Mexican       38   30   17  242   14   16  229   91  201 3.38 3954
Harvey Branch    L  23 1962      Texas        37   33    9  237   14   12  255   80  216 4.03 3952
Jose Santiago    R  21 1962      Texas        38   29   14  232   16    9  233   93  188 3.88 3859
Charles Spell    R  ?  1964      Texas        40   33   16  240   14   15  247   55  224 3.30 3830
Camilo Estevis   R  ?  1963      Texas        38   33   19  238   16   12  237   68  196 3.74 3806
Julius Grant     L  ?  1965     Mexican       37   30   14  229   18    8  247   83  167 4.05 3789
Pete Magrini     R  23 1965     Eastern       33   33   13  239   18    8  193   89  189 2.26 3776

In the preceding five-year span, all 10 of the top Double-A workloads were over 4,100 pitches. In 1961 through 1965, just one was that high.

Here we see several of the Mexican League aces. Of the youngsters who made the majors, neither Branch nor Magrini had more than the briefest cup of coffee. But Santiago, who also makes an appearance in the Class C list below, achieved a fair amount of major league success before, perhaps significantly, flaming out with a bad elbow in his late twenties.

Class A Top 10 Workloads

Pitcher          T Age Year     League         G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA  EP
Dick Nold        R  21 1964      NY-P         35   31   20  249   20    8  217   97  274 3.58 4126
Homero Gonzalez  R  ?  1963 Mexican Center    42   30   12  231   16   10  238  133  141 4.01 4015
Jackie Brown     R  22 1965   California      33   32   15  236   15   11  228  110  214 3.66 4015
Jack Nutter      R  ?  1965   California      32   31   17  238   16   12  219  104  223 3.25 3985
Henry Harden     R  ?  1963  Florida State    31   30   23  256   22    7  202  100  143 2.18 3966
Mike Szemplenski L  ?  1963 Western Carol.    34   29   18  225   14   10  202  107  313 2.72 3952
Raul Gamez       L  ?  1965 Mexican Center    36   26   14  229   20    6  185  118  234 2.63 3878
James Zwergel    R  ?  1964   California      38   29   15  220   11   17  220   92  256 4.05 3794
Leo Marentette   R  21 1962 South Atlantic    35   30   14  221   14   11  174  125  205 3.14 3757
Ed Barnowski     R  20 1964   California      30   28   15  222   13    8  130  111  321 1.95 3719

We’ll find out in future installments, of course, but I suspect Szemplenski and Barnowski might have been the last of the minor league 300-strikeout guys.

One of the things this exercise demonstrates is just how difficult it is to make the major leagues at all, let alone become a major league star. Here were several young studs blowing Class A away with their heat, but for whatever reason, never making a splash in the bigs. The one guy here who did achieve a reasonably substantial major league career (Brown) wasn’t the most impressive ace at this level.

Class B Top 10 Workloads

Pitcher          T Age Year     League         G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA  EP
Mel Stottlemyre  R  20 1962    Carolina       32   31   17  241   17    9  167   92  190 2.50 3728
Bob Locker       R  23 1961     Three-I       33   30   16  228   15   12  170  106  215 2.57 3724
Jim Brenneman    R  21 1962    Carolina       34   32   10  214   14   10  205  112  157 3.95 3647
Art Thompson     R  ?  1962    Northwest      35   29   15  204   15   12  222  110  165 4.72 3605
Ed Merritt       R  ?  1961    Carolina       29   29   15  211   15   10  182  108  132 2.98 3482
Al Eisele        R  ?  1961    Carolina       38   27   11  208   15   11  223   94  111 3.64 3479
Frank Kreutzer   L  22 1961    Carolina       32   29   14  207   12   11  184   95  170 3.39 3434
Fred Rick        R  ?  1961    Northwest      43   25   14  204   13   16  216   78  175 4.19 3424
Frank Bork       L  21 1962    Carolina       29   28   18  230   19    7  166   55  191 2.00 3414
George Miller    R  ?  1962    Carolina       34   28   13  213   12   11  183   87  145 2.87 3409

Here, however, we do find two minor league workhorses who did extremely well in the majors. Stottlemyre handled a big Class B workload at age 20, was starring as a Yankee rookie two seasons later, and would remain an extraordinarily durable and effective big league ace for a long time. Locker was a college player; in this, his first full season as a pro, he stifled Class B hitters. Then he spent two years in the military, before coming back and having an outstanding year in Triple-A (16-9. 2.59 in 226 innings). But the White Sox put Locker in the bullpen as a 27-year-old major league rookie, and as a sinkerballer with impeccable control, he would pitch 10 years and 576 games in the majors—every single appearance in relief.

These workloads are far less daunting than those of just a few years earlier. In the 1956-60 period, there were 18 Class B seasons of more than 4,000 estimated pitches, including two in 1959-60.

Class C Top 10 Workloads

Pitcher          T Age Year     League         G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA  EP
Alfredo Ortiz    L  ?  1962 Mexican Center    42   30   20  235   19   10  264  102  145 5.02 3976
Jose Santiago    R  20 1961   California      34   29   17  222   13   13  215  130  218 4.26 3949
Jim Ward         R  ?  1961     Pioneer       31   31   17  240   20    6  261   69  219 3.45 3945
Mike Urrizola    R  ?  1962   California      33   30   11  226   15   13  278   68  153 4.30 3758
Jose Rodriguez   R  ?  1961 Mexican Center    34   25   18  217   13    7  191  136  118 3.02 3704
Len Clendenin    R  ?  1962   California      33   31   10  207   12    9  199  127  179 4.35 3673
Francisco Rivas  L  ?  1962   California      32   27   11  213   10   11  211   92  205 4.01 3619
Tom Burgmeier    L  18 1962   California      34   27   10  197   12   11  204  100  210 4.34 3489
Nicolas Garcia   R  ?  1961 Mexican Center    37   26   16  221   16   11  187  101   85 2.52 3488
Alberto Posadas  R  ?  1962 Mexican Center    40   25   13  199   14   12  232  108  100 6.29 3480

Among these hard-working youngsters, only Santiago (whom we saw above) and Burgmeier saw the light of day in the majors. But Burgmeier would spend 17 years as a relief specialist in the big leagues.

Class D Top 10 Workloads

Pitcher          T Age Year     League         G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA  EP
John Zahn        R  ?  1962  Florida State    35   30   17  233   14   12  208   90  255 2.70 3871
Raul Medrano     R  ?  1962  Florida State    32   29   11  230   13   13  231   94  151 2.86 3783
Jim Merritt      L  18 1962      NY-P         35   26   16  223   19    8  199   96  249 3.67 3766
Bill Rygwelski   L  ?  1962     Midwest       33   25   15  217   11   13  199  100  219 3.28 3684
Tom Newton       L  ?  1961     Midwest       29   27   22  228   20    7  201   74  208 2.92 3640
Ron Banovic      L  ?  1961  Florida State    34   28   19  223   18    9  218   92  128 3.35 3625
Jim Farland      R  ?  1961  Florida State    34   27   17  209   17   10  184  114  206 2.67 3612
Bob Flynn        R  ?  1962  Florida State    34   30   19  229   13   16  201   69  198 3.50 3607
Joe Johnson      R  ?  1961    Sophomore      38   26    7  201   12   11  217  123  147 5.24 3603
Dave Busby       R  ?  1961     Midwest       29   27   22  219   21    7  176   62  237 2.42 3445

Merritt was signed at the age of 17 by the Dodgers in June of 1961. I don’t know the story on it, but he didn’t play a single game in their minor league organization that year and was drafted by the Twins that November. The season above would be his first of seven, in the minors and majors, in which Merritt handled 200 or more innings, including a high of 267 at the age of 21. Whether coincidentally or not, he then encountered serious arm trouble: he was 74-62 in the majors through age 26, and 7-24 thereafter.

Rookie Class Top 10 Workloads

Pitcher          T Age Year     League         G   GS   CG   IP    W    L   H    BB   SO  ERA  EP
Joe Robinson     R  ?  1964     Pioneer       16   15    7  116    8    4  103   57  129 3.34 1995
Dennis Daboll    R  ?  1964     Pioneer       15   15    7  104    5    7   68   99  131 4.15 1995
Jim Strickland   L  18 1964     Pioneer       14   14    7  102    6    7  115   57  120 4.32 1883
John Silva       R  ?  1965   Appalachian     23   12    6  108    8    5  105   40  145 4.25 1853
Arvell Boyett    L  ?  1965   Appalachian     23   13    6  105    6    5   85   54  144 2.74 1833
Ray Jarvis       R  19 1965   Appalachian     16   14    4   93    7    5  106   55  105 5.81 1731
Mike Zirkle      R  ?  1964   Appalachian     14   14    2   91    8    2  113   59   75 5.54 1711
Bill Davis       R  ?  1964     Pioneer       15   14    4   91    4    7   76   71   91 3.26 1679
Frank DeVivo     L  ?  1964   Appalachian     15   13    9  105   11    2   81   30  123 2.83 1656
Marty Bunnell    R  ?  1963   Appalachian     15   15    2   84    5    4   83   79   75 5.04 1653

These kids struck out a whole bunch of their fellow kids, but only two of them would make The Show, and neither of those (Strickland and Jarvis) had much success.

Next Installment

We’ll see what happened in 1966-1970. I promise we won’t wait so long this time; hopefully it will be in July, no later than August.

References & Resources
The formula of Tangotiger’s Basic Pitch Count Estimator is 3.3*PA + 1.5*SO + 2.2*BB, where PA = 3*IP + H + BB.


Steve Treder has been a co-author of every Hardball Times Annual publication since its inception in 2004. His work has also been featured in Nine, The National Pastime, and other publications. He has frequently been a presenter at baseball forums such as the SABR National Convention, the Nine Spring Training Conference, and the Cooperstown Symposium. When Steve grows up, he hopes to play center field for the San Francisco Giants.
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Audrey Eisele
9 years ago

Hello! :)) PLEASE help! We are looking for information, books, articles, etc for my husbands father… Robert Eisele who was a pitcher for the Phoenix Stars in 1954. We are unable to find anything and want to get him something special for an upcoming celebration. A 1954 Phoenix Stars Jersey, tshirt, cap… would be great as well! I like this site and when I search Bob Eisele it takes me to the most worked pitchers stats but doesn’t show names. He did not play long as he was needed by family. Please help!

Most Sincerely,
Randy and Audrey