Jay Ritchie
| Jay Ritchie | |||
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: November 20, 1936 Salisbury, North Carolina |
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Died: January 5, 2016 (aged 79) Rockwell, North Carolina |
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| MLB debut | |||
| August 4, 1964, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 6, 1968, for the Cincinnati Reds | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 8–13 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.49 | ||
| Strikeouts | 212 | ||
| Teams | |||
Jay Seay Ritchie, Sr. (November 20, 1936 – January 5, 2016) was an American right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1964 to 1968 for the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds. He was 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds.
He attended Granite Quarry High School in Granite Quarry, North Carolina where he starred in baseball and basketball. His combined pitching record his junior and senior years was 24–0 and upon graduation he was also the county's all-time basketball scoring leader.
He was originally signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1955. He spent several years in the minors before making his big league debut with the Red Sox on August 4, 1964 in a road game against the Minnesota Twins. Entering the game in relief of Bill Monbouquette, the first batter he faced was Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew, who singled. In four innings pitched that game, he allowed two hits and three walks, but did not allow an earned run in the 12–4 loss.
His rookie season overall was the best season of his career—in 21 games, he had a 1–1 record with a fine 2.74 ERA in 46 innings. The 1965 season was also a successful one for Ritchie, as he was 1–2 with a 3.17 ERA in 44 relief appearances, as was 1967, when he was 4–6 but again posted a 3.17 ERA in 52 relief appearances (which ranked 10th in the National League).
On January 11, 1966, Ritchie was sent to the Braves as the player to be named later in a deal that was made on December 15, 1965. The deal went as such: The Red Sox sent Lee Thomas, Arnold Earley and a player to be named later (Ritchie) to the Braves for Bob Sadowski and Dan Osinski.
He spent two seasons with the Braves, appearing in 22 games and posting a 4.08 ERA in 1966 and appearing in 52 games in 1967, posting a 3.17 ERA. In 1967, he tied for 10th in the league with Bob Miller in pitching appearances. While with the Braves in 1967, he pitched the equivalent of a perfect game and then some, retiring 28 batters in a row over a span of four consecutive outings.
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