Dale Roberts (April 12, 1940 – October 8, 2010) was an

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relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees in the 1967 season. Listed at , , Roberts batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was nicknamed "Mountain Man".

Early life

Born in Owenton, Kentucky, Roberts was the son of Clarence A. and Julie E. Roberts (née Etherington). After graduating from Versailles High School, he served in the United States Naval Air Forces to a term of four and a half years.

Career

Roberts was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1963, and initially assigned to the

Harlan Yankees Harlan Smokies was the primary name of a minor league baseball team based in Harlan, Kentucky. The team complete for a total of 11 seasons during 1948–1965, first in the Mountain States League and later in the Appalachian League. The team wa ...

of the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

, a Rookie-class league. After pitching in 21 games, all but one as a relief pitcher, and a 4–3 record, he was promoted to the

Shelby Colonels The Shelby Colonels were a Tar Heel League (1940), Western Carolina League (1960–1962) and Western Carolinas League (1963) baseball team based in Shelby, North Carolina. They were affiliated with the Washington Senators in 1940, the Pittsburgh ...

/Yankees of the class-A Western Carolinas League, and pitched in an additional two games, both of which he was credited with the loss. In 1964, he remained with the Shelby team, and pitched in 47 games while having a 3.53

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. For the 1965 season, he was assigned to the Binghamton Triplets of the class-A

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. In 112

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

in 45 appearances, he had a 6–4 record and a 3.21 ERA. In 1966, Roberts was transferred to another class-A team, the Greensboro Yankees of the Carolina League. After appearing in 35 games for Greensboro, and having a 6–4 record and a 2.21 ERA, he was promoted the class-AAA Toledo Mud Hens of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. The Yankees switched affiliations for the 1967 season from the Mud Hens to the Syracuse Chiefs, also of the International League, and Roberts moved as well. For Syracuse, he had a 9–4 record and 2.97 ERA in 50 games pitched, when he was a late-season call-up by the Yankees to their Major League club. He appeared in two games for the Yankees; the first one occurred on September 9, when he pitched the final inning in a 7–1 loss to the Boston Red Sox, allowing one

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on two

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and one

base 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 ...

. His second and last Major League appearance occurred on September 16, when he pitched the eighth inning in a 6–1 loss against the Cleveland Indians, and gave up one run on one hit, one intentional base on balls, and two hit batters. Roberts did not appear in another game for the Yankees, who traded him on December 7, 1967, along with

Bob Tillman John Robert Tillman (March 24, 1937 – June 23, 2000) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Boston Red Sox (1962–67), New York Yankees (1967), and Atlanta Braves (1968–70). He th ...

, to the Atlanta Braves for Bobby Cox. His first assignment in the Braves organization began with the

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

Braves, a class-AA team in the Texas League. Toward the end of the season, Roberts was promoted to the Braves' class-AAA team, the

Richmond Braves The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the ...

of the

, and had a 1.93 ERA in eight appearances. He returned to Shreveport in 1969, and played the entire season with the club, appeared in 61 games, had a 2.29 ERA, and collected 14 saves. In 1970, his last season in professional baseball, Roberts began the season in Shreveport, made 33 appearances, and while his ERA was a low 2.80, he was moved to the Hawaii Islanders of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

(PCL), the class-AAA affiliate of the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. He played in four games with the Islanders before being moved again, landing with the Eugene Emeralds, also of the PCL. He retired after when the season was completed.

Personal life

After his playing days, Roberts worked as an industrial electrician for several companies, including Texas Instruments and

Osram Sylvania Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer Osram. It was established in January 1993, with the acquisition of GTE’s Sylvania lighting division by Osram GmbH. In 2016, Osram spun off their general lighting busi ...

. On October 8, 2010, he died in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, aged 70, at Chandler Medical Center located on the campus of University of Kentucky. He was survived by a daughter, two granddaughters, three brothers, and a sister.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Dale 1940 births 2010 deaths Arizona Instructional League Braves players Baseball players from Kentucky Binghamton Triplets players Eugene Emeralds players Greensboro Yankees players Harlan Yankees players Hawaii Islanders players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Richmond Braves players Shelby Colonels players Shelby Yankees players Shreveport Braves players Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players People from Owen County, Kentucky