Jay Baller | |||
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Pitcher | |||
Born: Stayton, Oregon |
October 6, 1960 |||
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MLB debut | |||
September 19, 1982, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
August 31, 1992, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 4–9 | ||
Earned run average | 5.24 | ||
Strikeouts | 117 | ||
Walks | 79 | ||
Innings pitched | 156⅓ | ||
Teams | |||
Jay Scot Baller (born October 6, 1960) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals. Listed at 6' 6", 215 lbs., he batted and threw right handed.
Baller spent parts of six different seasons in the majors but never was able to stick with a big league time for an entire campaign. Primarily a reliever, he recorded 137 saves in 14 Minor League seasons and six saves in 94 Major League contests.
Baller was selected by the Phillies in the fourth round (98th overall) of the 1979 MLB draft out of Canby High School in Canby, Oregon. He made his Major League debut with the Phillies as a reliever on September 19, 1982, throwing a scoreless, hitless inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would pitch in three other games that season, including one of his five major league starts, before returning to the minor leagues.
Baller was a throw-in player in a major trade after the 1982 season, as the Cleveland Indians sent Von Hayes to the Phillies in exchange for Julio Franco, Manny Trillo, George Vukovich, Jerry Willard, and Baller. He spent the next two seasons as a starter in Cleveland's minor leagues before being traded again to the Chicago Cubs for Dan Rohn in April 1985. That season, Baller would finally return to the majors, appearing in 20 games (4 starts) and posting a respectable 3.46 ERA. Baller split the 1986 season between the Triple-A Iowa Cubs and the major-league Cubs, sporting a 5.37 ERA, a 2-4 record and five saves in 36 games with Chicago. It would be the most extensive big-league action of his career.