Jackie Collum | |||
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Pitcher | |||
Born: Victor, Iowa |
June 21, 1927|||
Died: August 29, 2009 Grinnell, Iowa |
(aged 82)|||
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MLB debut | |||
September 21, 1951, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
August 23, 1962, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Games pitched | 171 | ||
Win–loss record | 32–28 | ||
Earned run average | 4.15 | ||
Saves | 12 | ||
Strikeouts/Walks | 171/173 | ||
Teams | |||
John Dean Collum (June 21, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for eight different teams between the 1951 and 1962 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 160 lb (73 kg), Collum batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Victor, Iowa.
Collum was one of four children of John Edward Collum and Sophia Louise Lohman and the youngest of three brothers. He was raised in Newburg, Iowa, near Grinnell, and graduated from Newburg High School, where he played in the Iowa State Baseball Tournament.
Collum served in World War II with the United States Air Force in the Pacific Theatre of Operations, where he was stationed in the Philippines. Following the war he returned home and married Betty Belles on February 28, 1948. He pursued his major league dreams after going 24–2 in 1948 for Class-A St. Joseph team of the Western League.
Basically a reliever, Collum also served in starting roles. He entered the major leagues in 1951 with the St. Louis Cardinals, playing for them until the 1953 midseason before joining the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1953 to 1955. After spending two years out of baseball, he rejoined the Cardinals in 1956 and also pitched with the Chicago Cubs in 1957 and for two Dodgers teams; in 1957, when they were leaving his hometown of Brooklyn for the sunny skies of Los Angeles starting the 1958 season.
Collum's most productive season came with Cincinnati in 1955, when he recorded career-numbers in wins (9), earned run average (3.63) and complete games (5), while pitching 134 innings. His highlight of the season came on July 18, when he pitched a three-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies and Jim Konstanty, silencing a powerful lineup that included Richie Ashburn, Eddie Waitkus, Del Ennis, Stan Lopata, Willie Jones and Granny Hamner.