Juan Tyrone Eichelberger (born October 21, 1953) is an American former

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. He graduated from Balboa High School of

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, in 1971, played collegiately at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and pitched for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

(1978–82),

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 ...

(1983) and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

(1988). He also pitched one season in Japan (1989) for the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

. On June 2, 1982, Juan almost threw the Padres first no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs. A questionable umpiring call resulted in

Scot Thompson Scot Thompson (born February 11, 1981 in New York, New York) is an American soccer player. On January 20, 2010 he was ranked 21st in the USL First Division Top 25 of the Decade, which announced a list of the best and most influential players of ...

being credited with a 2nd inning single on a ground ball that was not cleanly fielded by

Tim Flannery Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, Conservation biology, conservationist, Exploration, explorer, author, Science communication, science communicator, activist and p ...

. Juan kept the Cubs hitless over the next 7 innings and ended up with a complete game 1 hitter. The Padres won the game 3–1. In 1982 he was traded by the Padres along with

Broderick Perkins Broderick Phillip Perkins (born November 23, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or parts of seven seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1978 until 1984, for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians, primaril ...

to the Cleveland Indians for

Ed Whitson Eddie Lee Whitson (born May 19, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He batted and threw right-handed. Pittsburgh Pirates Whitson was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft out o ...

. In 7 seasons he had a 26–36 win–loss record, 125 games, 79 games started, 14 complete games, 1 shutout, 16 games finished, innings pitched, 575 hits allowed, 312 runs allowed, 275 earned runs allowed, 50 home runs allowed, 283 walks allowed, 281 strikeouts, 8 hit batsmen, 25 wild pitches, 2,605 batters faced, 20 intentional walks, 14 balks and a 4.10 ERA. His career WHIP was 1.422. Eichelberger was known for his unusual set position. While most pitchers would come to a standing position with their feet together and bring the ball and glove to their chest or chin, Eichelberger would keep his feet spread apart with his knees bent in a crouch and ball and glove at his belt. Juan Eichelberger's son Jared followed his father into

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 ...

, as a RHP originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2001. Juan is the founder and head instructor at Baseball Science, a baseball training program in San Diego, California.

References

External links

Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eichelberger, Juan 1953 births Living people African-American baseball players Alexandria Aces players Amarillo Gold Sox players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from St. Louis California Golden Bears baseball players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cleveland Indians players Greenville Braves players Hawaii Islanders players Major League Baseball pitchers Miami Marlins (FSL) players Minor league baseball coaches Reno Silver Sox players Richmond Braves players San Diego Padres players Sun City Rays players Tiburones de La Guaira players University of California, Berkeley alumni Vancouver Canadians players West Palm Beach Tropics players Yakult Swallows players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Anchorage Glacier Pilots players