- Johnny James
Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=darkblue
bgcolor2=maroon
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Johnny James
position=Relief Pitcher
bats=Left
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1933|7|23|
debutdate=September 6
debutyear=by|1958
debutteam=New York Yankees
finaldate=October 1
finalyear=by|1961
finalteam=Los Angeles Angels
stat1label=ERA
stat1value=4.76
stat2label=Record
stat2value=5-3
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=73
teams=
*New York Yankees (1958, 1960-1961)
*Los Angeles Angels (1961)
highlights=
*Gave upRoger Maris ' 20th home run in 1961.John Phillip James (born
July 23 1933 inBonners Ferry, Idaho ) is a formerMajor League Baseball relief pitcher who played for theNew York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels between by|1958 and by|1961. James was originally signed by the Yankees in by|1953. He batted left-handed but threw right-handed, and he was 5'10", 160 pounds. He attended theUniversity of Southern California .He played only one game in his debut season, 1958. Appearing in relief for
Art Ditmar (who had given up seven earned runs in six innings of work) onSeptember 6 , James pitched three innings of scoreless baseball. He did walk four batters and strikeout only one. He also had one at-bat in that game-he struck out.He didn't play any big league ball in 1959, but he did appear in 28 games in relief for the Yankees in 1960. He earned a spot on the team by being a part of a
spring training no-hitter. In 43 innings of work, he posted a solid 5-1 record, allowing 21 earned runs and striking out 29 batters. He walked 26. He also saved two games.1961 would end up being his final season in the majors. He pitched in only one game for the Yankees that year before being shipped off to the Angels with
Ryne Duren forTex Clevenger andBob Cerv onMay 8 . In 36 games with the Angels, he posted a 5.30 ERA. Overall that season, he walked 54 batters and struck out only 43. His record was 0-2. James gave up the 20th home run ofRoger Maris ' then record-setting 61 home run season.His career ended on
October 1 of that year. He had a 5-3 record in 66 career games, starting only 3 of them. In 119 innings of work, he walked 84 and struck out 73, finishing with a 4.76 ERA. Although he did not collect a single hit in 17 at-bats (he struck out 8 times), he did score three runs so one can assume he was used as a pinch runner a few times in his career. He was a perfect fielder, committing zero errors. Statistically, he is most similar toDarrell Sutherland . He wore three numbers in his career: 27 in 1958, 53 in 1959 and 1960, and 22 in 1961.At last check, he lived in
Scottsdale, Arizona .External links
*baseball-reference|id=j/jamesjo01
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Johnny_James_1933 Baseball Library]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
