John Thomas Fulgham (born June 9, 1956 in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
) is a former right-handed
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), ...
pitcher who played from 1979 to 1980 for the
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 hav ...
. One of the team's promising pitching prospects in the late-1970s, his big league career was cut short because of a
rotator cuff tear
A rotator cuff tear is an injury where one or more of the tendons or muscles of the rotator cuff of the shoulder get torn. Symptoms may include shoulder pain, which is often worse with movement, limited range of motion, or weakness. This may limi ...
.
[Rains, Rob. "Injured Cards Pitcher Working on Comeback," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Saturday, March 26, 1983.](_blank)
Retrieved June 9, 2020 His wife is the great-granddaughter of
Effie Norton
Elisha Strong Norton (August 17, 1873 in Conneaut, Ohio – March 5, 1950 in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania), also nicknamed "Leiter," was a right-handed professional baseball pitcher who played from to for the Washington Senators. He is the great-gr ...
.
Before professional baseball
Prior to professional baseball he attended
Pattonville High School
Pattonville High School is a public high school located in Maryland Heights, Missouri. It is the only high school in the Pattonville School District.
History
Pattonville High School's first graduating class was in 1937 with 2 girls graduating. I ...
and then
Yavapai Junior College and
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
.
Draft and early minor leagues
Originally drafted 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 ...
15th overall in the 1976 amateur draft, Fulgham did not sign. Drafted again 15th overall in the secondary phase of the
1976 amateur draft by the Cardinals, he signed and began his professional career with the
GCL Cardinals
The Florida Complex League Cardinals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Cardinals. The team plays i ...
. With the GCL Cardinals, Fulgham went 3–3 with a 3.38 ERA in 56 innings (12 games). For the
St. Petersburg Cardinals in 1977, he went 18–6 with a 2.05 ERA in 26 games (202 innings). He pitched for the
Arkansas Travelers
The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League.
History
The team succeeded ...
in 1978, going 9–7 with a 4.03 ERA in 154 innings.
The big leagues
He began the 1979 season with Springfield, going 6–3 with a 3.16 ERA in 77 innings. He made his big league debut on June 19 of that year, and he was arguably the Cardinals best pitcher over the rest of the season. In his debut, he pitched a complete game shutout, allowing eight hits, one walk, striking out six, and getting the win. For the season, he went 10–6 with a 2.53 ERA, with all 10 of his wins being complete games. His ten wins tied him with
David Palmer for second most wins by a rookie that season, trailing only
Rick Sutcliffe
Richard Lee Sutcliffe (born June 21, 1956), nicknamed "The Red Baron", is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals between 1976 and ...
's 17. Despite pitching well, he did not receive a single vote for
Rookie of the Year.
Because of an torn rotator cuff, Fulgham appeared in only 15 games in 1980, going 4–6 with a 3.38 ERA. All four of his wins were complete games. He would never appear in the majors after 1980, playing his final game on August 27.
Major league totals
In total, Fulgham went 14–12 with a 2.84 ERA in 35 big league games (33 starts). All 14 of his wins were complete games.
In 231 innings, he allowed 189 hits, 17 home runs, 58 walks, and he struck out 158 batters.
Back in the minor leagues
Despite not pitching in the majors again after 1980, Fulgham bounced around in the minors until 1983. Fulgham did not pitch in 1981, and he spent 1982 with St. Petersburg and the
Louisville Redbirds
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
. He went 4–2 with a 2.45 ERA for St. Petersburg, and with the Redbirds he went 4–3 with a 7.01 ERA.
Overall, he went 8–5 with a 4.81 ERA. In 1983, he made five appearances for the Redbirds, going 1–2 with a 6.27 ERA.
Post-playing days
Following his retirement, Fulgham was the head coach for
Rollins College
Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution.
History
Rollins Colle ...
from 1992 to 1994, going 63–52 with one playoff game.
References
External links
Baseball Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulgham, John
Living people
1956 births
Major League Baseball pitchers
St. Louis Cardinals players
Baseball players from Missouri
Yavapai Roughriders baseball players
Miami Hurricanes baseball players
Arkansas Travelers players
Gulf Coast Cardinals players
Louisville Redbirds players
Springfield Redbirds players
St. Petersburg Cardinals players