James Edward Pyburn (November 1, 1932 – May 21, 2011) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. An

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, Pyburn appeared in 158

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), ...

games over three seasons (1955–57) for 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 ...

. Pyburn threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Pyburn was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, and attended

Ensley High School Ensley High School, located in the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama (United States), was founded in 1901 to serve the then-independent community of Ensley, which was centered on major plants operated by U.S. Steel and the American Cas ...

. He signed with the Orioles for a reported $30,000 bonus after starring in baseball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. As a "bonus baby," Pyburn had to be kept on Baltimore's 25-man Major League roster for the first two years of his professional career. Initially a third baseman, he was abruptly shifted to the outfield by Baltimore GM/

field manager In baseball, the field manager (commonly referred to as the manager) is the equivalent of a head coach who is responsible for overseeing and making final decisions on all aspects of on-field team strategy, lineup selection, training and instruct ...

Paul Richards. In , his sophomore season for the Orioles, Pyburn appeared in a career-high 84 games, 64 in

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

, but he batted only .173 in 156 at bats. He was sent to minor league baseball during the middle of the 1957 season and retired from professional baseball after the 1958 season. All told, Pyburn collected 56

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 294 MLB at bats, including five doubles and five

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

Football coaching career

Pyburn played

offensive end An end in American and Canadian football is a player who lines up at either end of the line of scrimmage, usually beside the tackles. Rules state that a legal offensive formation must always consist of seven players on the line of scrimmage and ...

for the Auburn Tigers football squad in 1953–54, and set a school record for most receiving yards in a season. He was drafted in the 18th round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. After his retirement from baseball, Pyburn returned to football and became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

at the college level.Eisenberg, John, ''From 33rd Street to Camden Yards: An Oral History of the Baltimore Orioles.'' New York: Contemporary Books/McGraw-Hill, 2001, page 43
/ref> A longtime associate of Vince Dooley at Auburn and the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, Pyburn served as an assistant coach at Georgia (1964–79), coaching

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

, linebackers and defensive backfield over that timeframe.Obituary, ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', May 23, 2011
After a temporary retirement, Pyburn briefly revived his coaching career as the defensive coordinator at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

(1985–86). A member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (inducted in 2000), he died at age 78 after a period of struggle with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. He was a member of the Church of Christ and served as an elder at the Woodland Trace congregation in Jasper, Alabama.

References

External links

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyburn, Jim 1932 births 2011 deaths Abilene Christian Wildcats football coaches Auburn Tigers baseball players Auburn Tigers football coaches Auburn Tigers football players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Knoxville Smokies players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball outfielders San Antonio Missions players