Erik Paul Schullstrom (born March 25, 1969) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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 ...

who played for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in its 1994 and 1995 seasons. Listed at , 220 pounds, Schullstrom threw and batted right-handed. He was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and attended Alameda High School where he was voted Oakland Tribune Northern California Pitcher of the year in 1987. He later attended

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

where he was a Freshman All-American in 1988 after going 14-2 with 11 complete games. The Bulldogs were at one point ranked #1 in the nation after winning 32 consecutive games, and eventually finished 7th in the 1988 College World Series. He also was a member of Team USA in 1989.

Career

Schullstrom was originally drafted out of high school by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

620th overall in the 24th round of the

1987 Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional cont ...

. Deciding not to sign, he would have to wait until 1990 to be drafted again, where he was selected 51st overall in the 2nd round of the 1990 draft by the

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 ...

. In the minors, Schullstrom spent time starting and relieving. Perhaps his best minor league season as a starter was in 1991, where he went 5–6 with a 3.05 ERA and 93 K's in 85+ innings. His best season as a reliever in the minors was 1994 with Nashville, when he had a 2.63 ERA in 26 games, and 43 strikeouts in 41 innings. Schullstrom was traded twice by the Orioles within a span of a year. He was first dealt to the

Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

for

Craig Lefferts Craig Lindsay Lefferts (born September 29, 1957) is a German-American former relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Ranger ...

on August 31, 1992 in a deal which was completed four days later on September 4 when

Ricky Gutiérrez Ricardo Gutiérrez (born May 23, 1970) is an American former shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from through for the San Diego Padres (1993-), Houston Astros (-), Chicago Cubs (-), Cleveland Indians (-), New York Mets () and Bo ...

joined him in San Diego. He was claimed off waivers on April 2, 1993 by the Orioles who sent him to the Twins 4 months later on August 16 to complete a transaction from the previous day in which

Mike Pagliarulo Michael Timothy Pagliarulo, a.k.a. "Pags" (born March 15, 1960), is an American former professional baseball third baseman and later the hitting coach of the Miami Marlins. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, San Diego Pa ...

went to Baltimore. On July 18, 1994, Schullstrom made his Major League debut as a 25-year-old rookie for the Twins. In nine games that year, he posted an ERA of 2.77 and had 13 strikeouts in 13 innings of work. His success did not carry over to the next season-in 37 games in 1995, he had a 6.89 ERA. In the field, he committed only one error in his career for a .889 fielding percentage. On September 27, 1995, Schullstrom played his final Major League game. Even though this was the end to his majors career, he played four seasons in Japan, two for the

Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a s ...

in 1998 and 1999, and two for the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

in 2001 and 2002. Schullstrom is currently the Director of Scouting-USA for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

Other information

*Earned $109,000 in 1994 and $113,000 in 1995. *Wore the number 58 in both his stints with the Twins. *Holds the Major League record of 60 innings pitched without being awarded a decision, i.e. a win or a loss. *On July 3, 1991, starting for the

Frederick Keys The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team masco ...

at Class A+

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

, pitched a 2–0 no-hitter against the

Kinston Indians The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Ki ...

. *In between, played winter ball with the

Tiburones de La Guaira The Tiburones de La Guaira ( en, La Guaira Sharks) are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, they play their home games in Estadio Fórum La Guaira and have won seven national champions ...

club of the

Venezuelan 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 ...

, and also for the

Acereros de Monclova The Acereros de Monclova (English: Monclova Steelers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Their home ballpark is Estadio de Béisbol Monclova, which has a capacity of 11,000 people. The Acere ...

and Sultanes de Monterrey of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. Schullstrom resides in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda (island), Alam ...

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schullstrom, Erik 1969 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from San Diego Bowie Baysox players California State University, Fresno alumni Frederick Keys players Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Hagerstown Suns players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players Nashville Xpress players Nippon Ham Fighters players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Pawtucket Red Sox players Salt Lake Buzz players Sultanes de Monterrey players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Trenton Thunder players Wausau Timbers players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players