Win–loss record 6–12 Role Baseball player Earned run average 4.55 Bats Left-handed | Strikeouts 118 Position Pitcher Name Nick Willhite Date joined 1963 | |
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Died December 14, 2008, Alpine, Utah, United States | ||
Jon Nicholas Willhite (January 27, 1941 – December 14, 2008) was an American professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Willhite grew up in Denver, Colorado and graduated from South High School in 1959. He was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959 and was called up to Major League Baseball in 1963 and pitched from 1963 to 1967 for the Dodgers, Washington Senators, California Angels and New York Mets.
Willhite was with the Dodgers when they won the 1965 World Series, but he did not pitch in the series. He was out of baseball by age 26, with an overall record of 6–12 and a 4.55 ERA.
Willhite later worked as a pitching coach at Brigham Young University and in the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees organizations.
He struggled in post-baseball life. Willhite was married and divorced three times, eventually living on the streets of Salt Lake City as a drug and alcohol addict. He reached out to another former Dodger pitcher, Stan Williams, for help. He ultimately received that help from the Baseball Assistance Team, which assists former baseball players in need. Willhite entered a treatment center in 1989 and later became an addictions counselor.
Willhite died of cancer at his son's home in Alpine, Utah.