James Richard Todd, Jr. (born September 21, 1947) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

. He 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) from 1974 to 1979 for the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

Professional career

Todd was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the

1969 Major League Baseball draft The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks ...

. He pitched in their organization through his major league debut in 1974, when he went 4–2 with 3 saves. Shortly before the 1975 season, Todd was traded to the Oakland Athletics. In 1975, Todd posted career bests in wins (8), saves (12), and ERA (2.29), and even received votes on the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

ballot for the

AL West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams cur ...

division champion A's. He pitched briefly in each of the three games of the ALCS, which Oakland lost to 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 eigh ...

. The following season, Todd's performance slipped, setting a career high in losses with 8 and seeing his ERA rise by over a run and a half to 3.81. For the first time in his career, Todd also walked more than he struck out. His decline mirrored that of the team, which missed the playoffs for the first time since 1970. The following spring, Todd was shipped back to the Cubs for veteran pitcher Joe Coleman. In 1977, Todd fell apart, posting an ERA over 9 in 22 games giving up 66 baserunners in 30 innings. After July, Todd did not pitch in the majors and in October he was sent to the

. Todd bounced back somewhat in 1978, but he still was giving up a lot of baserunners in 106 innings. After being released by the Mariners in February 1979, he got one last shot with the team in which he'd had his greatest success, the A's. Oakland was in the midst of losing 108 games in 1979 and Todd contributed a 6.56 ERA, walking nearly twice as many batters as he struck out. He was released the following spring and never returned to the major leagues. He did pitch one season for the

Phoenix Giants Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

in 1980 before retiring.

External links

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Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Jim 1947 births Living people Baseball players from Pennsylvania Chicago Cubs players Huron Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers Millersville Marauders baseball players Oakland Athletics players Phoenix Giants players Seattle Mariners players Quincy Cubs players San Antonio Missions players Sportspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Tacoma Cubs players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tucson Toros players Wichita Aeros players