Robert Sadowski (February 19, 1938 – August 5, 2018) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played from 1963 through 1966 for the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

(1963–65) and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

(1966). Sadowski batted and threw right-handed. He debuted on June 19, 1963 and played his final game on July 4, 1966. He was the brother of

Ed Sadowski Edward Roman Sadowski (January 19, 1931 – November 6, 1993) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played in all or part of four seasons between and for the Boston Red Sox (1960), Los Angeles Angels (1961–1963) and Atlanta Braves (196 ...

and

Ted Sadowski Theodore Sadowski (April 1, 1936 – July 18, 1993) was an American professional baseball baseball player, player and a relief pitcher, middle-relief pitcher in the Major League Baseball, Major Leagues for the Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators ...

, and uncle of

Jim Sadowski James Michael Sadowski (born August 7, 1951) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 1974 season. Listed at 6' 3", 195 lb, Sadowski batted and threw right-handed. Coming out of a ...

. He was not, however, related to third baseman Bob Sadowski, who played for four MLB teams between 1960 and 1963. Sadowski divided his playing time between starting and relieving. He was signed by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1958, then was sent to the Milwaukee Braves along with

Gene Oliver Eugene George Oliver (March 22, 1935 – March 3, 2007) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 786 games in Major League Baseball, primarily as a catcher and first baseman, between and , for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959, ...

in 1963 in the same trade that brought

Lew Burdette Selva Lewis Burdette, Jr. (November 22, 1926 – February 6, 2007) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves. The team's top right-hander during its years in Milw ...

to the Cardinals. His most productive season came in 1964, when he posted career-highs in wins (9),

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

(51), starts (18), saves (5) and

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

(166). Sadowski has the distinction of being the last Braves starting pitcher in their final home opener in Milwaukee, as he defeated the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

5–1 (April 15, 1965). Suffering from arm miseries, he pitched his final Major League season for the Boston Red Sox in 1966. Sadowski worked in only 33 innings and made five starts, but one of them, on June 1, saw him combine with José Santiago on a three-hit

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

to defeat the Washington Senators at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

. It was Sadowski's only win in a Red Sox uniform and his last in the big leagues. In a four-season MLB career, Sadowski posted a 20–27 record with a 3.87

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, eight saves, and 257

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 115 games (54 as a starter). In 439 innings pitched, he allowed 416 hits and 130

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

References

External links

Baseball LibraryTimes-Herald interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadowski, Bob 1938 births 2018 deaths American people of Polish descent Atlanta Crackers players Austin Braves players Baseball players from Pittsburgh Boston Red Sox players Charleston Marlins players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chickasaws players Milwaukee Braves players Rochester Red Wings players San Juan Marlins players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Winnipeg Goldeyes players