Garry Earl Roggenburk (born April 16, 1940) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. The

left-hander In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

was listed as a lanky tall and . Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, he was a high school teammate of Mike Hegan's at Saint Ignatius High School. The two would later be teammates with the 1969 Seattle Pilots. Roggenburk attended the University of Dayton, where he played college baseball and starred in basketball, leading Dayton to the

1962 National Invitation Tournament The 1962 National Invitation Tournament was the 1962 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament.

championship. He entered professional baseball in 1962 when he was signed by 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 ...

. He was also selected in the fourth round (34th overall) of the

1962 NBA draft The 1962 NBA draft was the 16th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 26, 1962, before the 1962–63 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball playe ...

by the San Francisco Warriors.

Major League Baseball career

Roggenburk made his Major League debut on April 20,

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, with the Twins, playing against the Chicago White Sox at

Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Buil ...

with 7,137 people attending the game. Roggenburk was called to replace

Bill Dailey William Garland Dailey (born May 13, 1935) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played in all or part of four seasons for the Cleveland Indians from 1961 to 1962 and the Minnesota Twins from 1963 to 1964. The right-hander ...

in the sixth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

. He pitched only of an inning while walking one batter and allowing one run. Roggenburk was then replaced by Frank Sullivan, who surrendered a two-run home run to Dave Nicholson, one of those earned runs charged against Roggenburk. The Twins lost the game 10–7 in the tenth inning, with Roggenburk getting a no-decision. Roggenburk appeared in 60 games for the Twins over parts of three seasons before being purchased by the Boston Red Sox on September 7, 1966. After finishing with Boston, he appeared in portions of the and seasons for the Red Sox, then was purchased by

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their ho ...

on June 23, 1969. He worked in 12 total games for Boston and seven for Seattle. In 79 MLB appearances, 73 of them as a relief pitcher, he fashioned a 6–9

won–lost record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

, with a 3.64 earned run average and seven saves. Four of his six

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

assignments came with the 1969 Pilots. He threw his only MLB

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 ...

July 8 against 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 ...

, a five-hit, 3–1 Seattle victory at Sicks Stadium. In 126 big-league

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 ...

, he surrendered 132 hits and 64 walks; he struck out 56.

Activity after retirement

After Roggenburk's playing career ended, Roggenburk became a

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

in the Red Sox' minor-league system, and later became general manager (GM) from 1978 to 1983 for the Winter Haven Red Sox, Boston's affiliate in the Class A

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. After leaving baseball, he returned to Cleveland and he worked as a real-estate appraiser. As of 2014, Roggenburk was living in

Avon Avon may refer to: * River Avon (disambiguation), several rivers Organisations *Avon Buses, a bus operating company in Wirral, England *Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunched in 1922, following ...

, Ohio.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roggenburk, Garry 1940 births Living people American men's basketball players Baseball coaches from Ohio Baseball players from Cleveland Basketball players from Cleveland Boston Red Sox players Cleveland State Vikings baseball coaches Dayton Flyers baseball players Dayton Flyers men's basketball players Denver Bears players Erie Sailors players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball executives Minnesota Twins players San Francisco Warriors draft picks Seattle Pilots players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Saint Ignatius High School (Cleveland) alumni