Bob Locker

Robert Awtry "Bob" Locker (b. March 15, 1938 in George, Iowa) was Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher from 1965 to 1975, with the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Pilots, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and Chicago Cubs. The sinker-balling Locker never made a start in his big-league career.

Biography

Locker graduated from George High School in 1956, where he played baseball and basketball. He enrolled at Iowa State University, and made the varsity team in both sports. Locker graduated from ISU in 1960 with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in geology. After graduation, he signed his first professional baseball contract, with the Chicago White Sox.

Career

Minor Leagues (1960-61, 1964)

Locker began his professional career in 1960 at Idaho Falls, appearing in a handful of games. The next year, he made 33 starts, winning 15 games, pitching 228 innings and leading the Three-I league with 215 strikeouts.

Locker missed the next two seasons due to military service. He returned to baseball in 1964, and winning 16 games for Indianapolis. It would be his last year in the minors.

Chicago White Sox (1965-1969)

At age 27, Bob Locker had made the big leagues, joining a bullpen that featured knuckleballers Hoyt Wilhelm and Eddie Fisher. He made his debut in Baltimore on April 14, 1965, tossing two innings and giving up three runs. Locker settled down, however, and in a stretch from May 30 to June 20 -- 10 total appearances -- he was unscored upon. He would finish his rookie campaign with 93⅓ innings pitched and a 3.15 earned-run average.

During his time in Chicago, Locker was the most often-used reliever. He appeared in 77 games in 1967 and 70 games in 1968. In 1969, Locker got off to a rough start (2-3 record, 6.55 ERA), and on June 8, the White Sox shipped him to the expansion Seattle Pilots for Gary Bell.

eattle Pilots (1969) / Milwaukee Brewers (1970)

Upon arriving in Seattle, the 31-year-old Locker began a reversal of fortune, posting a 2.18 ERA for an expansion team that would finish in last place in the division. He finished the season with a flourish, allowing just eight runs in his last 30 appearances on the season.

When the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee at the end of spring training, 1970, Locker went with them. He didn't stay there long; after appearing in 28 games for the Brewers, Locker's contract was purchased by the Oakland Athletics.

Oakland Athletics (1970-1972)

Locker made his presence felt once he arrived in Oakland, having allowed no runs in his first seven innings for the Athletics. His most impressive outing came on August 12, 1970, against the Cleveland Indians, in which he pitched 5⅔ of scoreless relief, the longest outing of his career.

In 1972, Locker was a key member of the World Series champion team, posting a 6-1 record and 2.65 ERA, often appearing in the seventh and eighth innings as the setup man for closer Rollie Fingers. Locker struggled in the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers, giving up three runs in two innings of work. On October 21, he made his first and only World Series appearance, relieving Vida Blue with two outs in the sixth inning of Game 6. He gave up a single to Tony Perez but got the final out of the inning, then was pinch-hit for.

A month later, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Billy North.

Chicago Cubs (1973, 1975)

Pitching in the National League for the first time, Locker had one of his best seasons, winning 10 games, saving 18 and topping 100 innings pitched for the first time since 1969. In an odd twist, in November the Cubs sent him back to Oakland. According to Bruce Markusen in his 1998 book, "Baseball's Last Dynasty: Charlie Finley's Oakland A's", Locker had told Cubs general manager John Holland that he would only pitch one season for the Cubs, then he wanted to be traded back to the A's as Charlie Finley had agreed to try and arrange. He had moved his family to Oakland and planned to live and work there after his baseball career. Otherwise, he'd retire. Holland and Charlie Finley obliged the pitcher's request. It turned out to be a bad deal for the A's in the second go-around; Locker had to undergo surgery to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow and would sit out the entire 1974 season.

Charlie Finley sent Locker back to the Cubs just days after winning the 1974 World Series, acquiring veteran hitter Billy Williams. Locker's 1975 season saw him make 22 appearances, post an ERA near five, and get released. His baseball career had come to an end.

References

* Oakland Athletics 1971 Press/Radio/TV Guide. Published by the Oakland A's Baseball Club.
* Markusen, Bruce. "Baseball's Last Dynasty: Charlie Finley's Oakland A's." Master Press, Indianapolis, 1998.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lockebo02.shtml Baseball-Reference.com]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/L/Locker_Bob.stm BaseballLibrary.com]