Tom Bolton (baseball)

Thomas Edward Bolton (born May 6, 1962) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1987 through 1994 for the Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, and Baltimore Orioles. He batted and threw left-handed. Bolton led Antioch High School to 1979 Tennessee High School Class AAA state championship.

Bolton spent 18 years in professional baseball, constantly moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen. A six-season minor league veteran, he reached the majors in 1987 with the Boston Red Sox, playing in part of six seasons with them before moving to Cincinnati, Detroit and Baltimore. His most productive season came in 1990 with Boston, when he had a 10–5 mark with a 3.38 earned run average (ERA) in 16 starts. In 1996 he recorded a high-career 19 starts, but went 8–9 and 5.24. After that, he was used mostly as a middle reliever and left-handed specialist. In the 1992 midseason, he was sent to Cincinnati in the same trade that brought Billy Hatcher to the Red Sox. In his last two seasons, he divided his playing time with the Tigers and Orioles.

In an eight-season career, Bolton posted a 31–34 record with a 4.56 ERA and 244 strikeouts in 209 appearances, including 56 starts, three complete games, and 540 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. Following his major league career, he pitched in the Pacific Coast League for the Calgary Cannons (1996–97), Tucson Toros (1997) and Nashville Sounds (1998). In 14 minor league seasons he went 72–58 with 743 strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA in 1125 ¹⁄₃ innings.