Win–loss record 6–11 Name Dave Baldwin Earned run average 3.08 Role Baseball player | Strikeouts 164 Education University of Arizona Saves 23 | |
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David George Baldwin (born March 30, 1938) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.
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Life and career
Born in Tucson, Arizona, on March 30, 1938, Baldwin pitched for three years for the University of Arizona. In the 1959 College World Series he beat Fresno State 5 to 1 on a two-hitter and lost the final game of the series 5 to 3 to Oklahoma State. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1959 and pitched on three pennant winners in his first four years of pro ball.
Later, he was a relief specialist for the Washington Senators (1966–69), Milwaukee Brewers (1970), and Chicago White Sox (1973). In 176 games he compiled a record of 6 wins and 11 loses, with 23 saves and an ERA of 3.08. The combined batting average of opponents against him was .234. In 1967, he ranked 3rd in the American League and 5th in the major leagues (of pitchers with 10 or more appearances) with an ERA of 1.70. That season he ranked 5th in the American League for relief runs saved (11.8), ranked 7th in saves (12), and ranked 9th in pitching appearances (58). In 1970, Baldwin led major league pitchers in range factor per nine innings (a measure of fielding proficiency) with a value of 5.094, the seventh highest value ever compiled.
In 1974, Baldwin, at age 36, was the second oldest player in both the Pacific Coast League and the American Association. Baldwin did not commit an error during his six-year major league career and committed only three errors throughout the 16 years he played professional baseball. But he was arguably the worst hitter in major league history. He achieved the only base hit of his career by beating out a bunt.
After he retired from baseball in 1974 he earned a Ph.D. in genetics and an M.S. in systems engineering from the University of Arizona. He worked as a geneticist, engineer, and artist until his retirement in 2003. Subsequently, he has collaborated with other researchers studying the physics, physiology, and psychology of baseball. In addition, he has published his baseball memoir, Snake Jazz, and (under the pen name "DGB Featherkile") a collection of his poetry, Limbic Hurly-Burly. Many of his poems have appeared in such journals as American Poetry Journal, Blue Unicorn, and Evansville Review. His poetry won the Atlanta Review's 2007 International Publication Prize and the 2009 Fluvanna Prize from The Lyric.
Baldwin's painting "Fugue for the Pepper Players" is in the collection of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and was featured in Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame by John Thorn (1998) pp. 188–189.
Baldwin has been inducted into the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2015) and the Pima County, Arizona, Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2011). He received the Professional Achievement Award from the University of Arizona Alumni Association in 2009.