George Raymond Culver (born July 8, 1943), is an American former professional baseball

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 in

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), ...

(MLB) for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

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 ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, from to . He also pitched for the

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB)

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 .

Early career

Culver was offered $1,000 to sign with the Phillies following an outstanding high school career at North High School in Bakersfield, California, where he played five sports. He turned that down and instead went to

Bakersfield College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 22,000 students each semester or 31,000 annually, and offers Associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community C ...

and excelled in baseball for two years.

Major league career

Culver was signed by 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 ...

as an amateur free agent in 1963 for $2,500. He made his major league debut at age 23 on September 7, 1966, as the Indians' starting pitcher against

Jim Lonborg James Reynold Lonborg (born April 16, 1942) is an American former professional baseball right-handed starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Philadelphia Phillies. Though nickname ...

and the

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 ...

Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball a ...

. Culver pitched five innings and gave up five earned runs in a 5–4 loss; the first-ever major league hitter he faced was José Tartabull. Culver pitched a no-hitter for the Reds on July 29, 1968, in a 6–1 win over the Phillies at Philadelphia's

Connie Mack Stadium Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, ...

. Culver struck out four batters and walked five as he outdueled

Chris Short Christopher Joseph Short (September 19, 1937 – August 1, 1991), nicknamed "Styles", was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1959–1972), and Milwaukee Brewers ...

in game two of a doubleheader. In 1973, Culver appeared in 28 games (all in relief) for the

, posting a 4–4 record and a 3.00 ERA before getting placed on waivers in August. Though Culver was the last pitcher on the Dodger depth chart, teammate

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...

thought his dismissal was a big reason Los Angeles missed the playoffs in 1973. "George didn't get into a lot of games, but he held a vital role as team comic. His antics kept guys loose and kept us in a good frame of mind. When they released him...it upset the chemistry of the team. We couldn't believe it. It was like cutting out our heart."

Minor league coach, manager

After retiring as a player, Culver spent 30 years as a minor league manager, pitching coordinator and pitching coach in the Dodgers and Phillies organizations. His last season in professional baseball was as a roving pitching coach for the Dodgers in 2010. On his last day as an active coach, the

Bakersfield Blaze The Bakersfield Blaze were a minor league baseball team in Bakersfield, California. They played in the Class A – Advanced California League. They played their home games at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Opened in 1941, the stadium is well known for facin ...

minor league team honored him with a "George Culver Retirement Night" on August 23, 2010.

Personal life

For many years he has been supporter of

, which started when he began the BC Baseball Hot Stove Dinner as a means to upgrade the baseball facilities. The Hot Stove dinners generated over $1 million, which provided lights for the BC baseball field, a state-of-the-art clubhouse with showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, lockers, and coaches offices along with two new scoreboards and dugouts. His work in the Bakersfield community, especially through the nonprofit Light Brigade, has also helped raise money for the

California State University, Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Bake ...

baseball program plus help for the local high schools and various youth baseball groups. He brought baseball to the

Police Athletic League The Police Athletic League (PAL; Police Activities League) is an organization in many American police departments in which members of the police force coach young people, both boys and girls, in sports, and help with homework and other school-rel ...

for inner-city kids in the Bakersfield area and has raised funds to purchase equipment and helped coach players in the PAL program. In 2012, he was inducted into the California Community College Athletics Association Hall of Fame. He was previously inducted into Kern County's Bob Elias Hall of Fame and the Bakersfield College Alumni Hall of Fame. Culver lives in Bakersfield, California, with his wife of 36 years, Rosie, and he has three adult stepchildren.

References

External links