Richard Eugene Starr (March 2, 1921 – January 18, 2017) was a

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), ...

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 ...

. Listed at , , he batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Kittanning, Pennsylvania Kittanning ( pronounced ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in, and the county seat of, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Armstrong County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is situated northeast of Pittsburgh, along the east bank of the Al ...

New York Yankees

Starr signed with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in 1941, and went a combined 32–12 with a 4.00

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

for the

Butler Yankees A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

over two seasons. He missed the 1943 through 1945 seasons serving in the US Army in World War II. When he returned to the Yankees in 1946, he went 19–10 with a 2.07 ERA for the

Augusta Tigers The Augusta Tigers was the primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams in Augusta, Georgia. Beginning in 1884, Augusta has hosted numerous teams in various leagues. History The Augusta Yankees were a South Atlantic League minor league ba ...

. Assigned to the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

in 1947 and 1948, he was called up to the Yankees when rosters expanded in September of both seasons following the conclusion of the minor league season. His first major league

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

was a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

victory over Fred Sanford and the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

. At the 1948 winter meetings, he was traded to the Browns with

Red Embree Charles Willard Embree (August 30, 1917 – September 24, 1996) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. His key pitch was the curveball. Nicknamed Red, due to his red hair, Emree joined the Cleveland Indians in , and spent three seaso ...

and

Sherm Lollar Sherm is a shortened version of the given name Sherman and may refer to: People *Sherm Chavoor (1919-1992), American swimming coach *Sherm Cohen (born 1965), American storyboard artist *Sherm Feller (1918–1994), American musician and sports ann ...

plus $100,000 for Sanford and

Roy Partee Roy Robert Partee (September 7, 1917 – December 27, 2000) was a Major League Baseball catcher. Listed at , , Partee was nicknamed the "Little Round Man." He is likely best remembered as the man behind the plate for Enos Slaughter's "mad dash" i ...

. Starr went 1–7 with a 4.32 ERA for a Browns team that lost 101 games in 1949, however; he was 7–5 with a 5.02 ERA in 1950, and was the only pitcher on the Browns' pitching staff with a winning record. He was involved in a second trade for Sanford during the 1951 season, this time, going to the Washington Senators even up for Sanford.

Minor leagues

Starr returned to the minor leagues in 1952, going 21–21 with a 3.88 ERA over two seasons with 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 ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. He joined the unaffiliated

Richmond Virginians The Richmond Virginians was the name of a minor league baseball franchise that played in Richmond, Virginia, from 1954 through 1964. The team competed at the Triple-A level as members of the International League, and were affiliated with the ...

in 1954, and returned to the Yankees organization when the team became affiliated with the Yankees in 1956. Starr also pitched in the

Venezuelan Winter League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

with the Caracas Lions (1952–53) and Magellan's Navigators (1953–54) and in the 1953 Caribbean Series.

Major leagues

Over five major league seasons, Starr posted a 12–24 record with 120

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 and a 5.25

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 ...

in 93 appearances, including 45 starts, seven

s, two

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 ...

s, two saves, and 344⅔ innings of work.

Personal

After his playing career ended, Starr was employed in the production control department for the Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corporation. Starr died on January 18, 2017, in Kittanning, Pennsylvania at the Armstrong County Health Center where he and his wife resided, the same town in which he was born.

References

External links

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Baseball Library
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SABR Biography ProjectVenezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Dick 1921 births 2017 deaths Augusta Tigers players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from Pennsylvania Butler Yankees players Findlay Browns players Leones del Caracas players Major League Baseball pitchers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Yankees players Newark Bears players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players St. Louis Browns players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players United States Army personnel of World War II