Ivan Martin Delock (November 11, 1929 – February 28, 2022) was an American

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), ...

right-handed

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 11 seasons for 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 ...

and

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 was born in

Highland Park, Michigan Highland Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,977 at the 2020 census. Along with its neighbor of Hamtramck, Highland Park is an enclave city surrounded by the city of Detroit. History The area tha ...

. In ten-plus seasons with the Red Sox, Delock had a record of 83–72. He pitched in at least 20 games for the Red Sox every year from 1952 to 1961 (1954 excepted), and had an

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

of 110 or better in 1955 (114), 1956 (110), 1958 (118), 1959 (138), and 1961 (110). Delock led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

with 11

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

wins in while tying for fourth with nine saves (then not an official statistic). In 1958, he was among the league leaders in win percentage and had a 13-game win streak that was broken at the end of July. His best season was when he went 11-6 with a 2.95

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 ...

—1.10 points lower than the league average. His

in 1959 was 138, and his winning percentage of .647 was fifth best in the American League. In , a knee injury shortened his career, which ended the following season after Delock made seven appearances, five as a

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 ...

, for the Orioles. Delock died in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, on February 28, 2022, at the age of 92.

References

External links

Baseball-Reference.com

SABR Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delock, Ike 1929 births 2022 deaths Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Michigan Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Oneonta Red Sox players People from Highland Park, Michigan Roanoke Red Sox players Scranton Red Sox players