Bob Duliba

Robert John "Ach" Duliba (born January 9, 1935 in Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. The 5'10", 185 lb. right-hander played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959-60, 1962), Los Angeles Angels (1963-1964), Boston Red Sox (1965), and Kansas City Athletics (1967).

Duliba made his major league debut on August 11, 1959 against the San Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium. He pitched two scoreless innings in the 5-4 Cardinals loss. He struck out one batter, outfielder Jackie Brandt. He earned his first big league save eighteen days later in a home game vs. the Cincinnati Redlegs.

After relieving in 28 games with a 2.06 earned run average for the Cardinals in 1962, he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels for relief pitcher Bob Botz. In 1964, Duliba had his busiest season, finishing in the American League TOP TEN in games pitched (58) and games finished (35). He was 6-4 with 9 saves and an ERA of 3.59 for the Angels that season.

He was traded to the Red Sox in 1965, had a good year for them, and then closed out his major league career with the A's in 1967, their last season in Kansas City.

Through his career, Duliba had significant success against some of the games toughest hitters, including holding Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Luis Aparicio, Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, Al Kaline, Willie Mays, Bill Mazeroski, and Duke Snider to a .114 collective batting average (4-for-35).

Career totals include 176 games pitched, all in relief, a 17-12 record, 93 games finished, and 14 saves. In 257 innings pitched he allowed 257 hits and 96 walks for a WHIP of 1.374. He struck out 129 and had an earned run average of 3.47.

In 2007, "Ach" retired from baseball for good, after helping out with the Wyoming Area baseball program for many years.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dulibbo01.shtml Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pdulib101.htm Retrosheet]