Jack Patrick Curtis (born January 11, 1937) 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 ...

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 ...

and

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

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 worked in 69 games 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), ...

for the Chicago Cubs (1961–62), Milwaukee Braves (1962) and

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 Fi ...

(1963). He was listed as tall and and signed with the Cubs in 1955 after graduating from Granite Falls High School in

Granite Falls, North Carolina Granite Falls is a town in Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,722 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The name Granite Falls comes f ...

. Curtis joined the MLB Cubs after two stalwart seasons in minor league baseball. In 1959, he won 20 games (losing 10) with a sparkling 2.84

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

for the Class B

Wenatchee Chiefs The Wenatchee Chiefs were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Wenatchee, Washington. Founded in 1937, the team was a part of the Class B Western International League through 1954, although the team did not oper ...

. Then, in 1960, he went 19–8 (3.57) for the Double-A San Antonio Missions and was named the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

's pitcher of the year. In his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

campaign, , Curtis took a turn in the Cubs'

starting rotation R rabbit ears :Indicates a participant in the game who hears things perhaps too well for their own good. A player who becomes nervous or chokes when opposing players or fans yell at or razz them is said to have rabbit ears. Also, an umpire ...

and won ten games, tied for second on the team. He threw six

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s. However, Curtis finished below .500 with 13 defeats and posted a 4.89 ERA. In , he began the year by going winless in three starts and one

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 ...

appearance during April. On April 30, Curtis was traded even-up for veteran Braves' starting pitcher

Bob Buhl Robert Ray Buhl (August 12, 1928 – February 16, 2001) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Milwaukee Braves (1953–69), Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies. A native o ...

, a former

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

All-Star. But Curtis made only five starts for Milwaukee through the end of 1962 and put up a 4–4 record in 30 games, with one save. At the end of the season, he was traded again, this time to the Cleveland Indians, who had just hired

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Birdie Tebbetts George Robert "Birdie" Tebbetts (November 10, 1912 – March 24, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and front office executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers, B ...

away from the Braves. Curtis appeared in four games for Tebbetts in relief in the early weeks of and was treated harshly in three of them. He was sent to Triple-A

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

at the May cutdown after allowing ten

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

in only five

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. The rest of his pro career was spent in the minors. Curtis retired in 1967. During his MLB career, Curtis compiled a career record of 14–19 with a 4.84 earned run average. In 279 innings pitched, he permitted 328 hits and 89

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

with 108 strikeouts. He was credited with six complete games and two saves.

References

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1937 births Living people Baseball players from North Carolina Burlington Bees players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians players Jacksonville Suns players Magic Valley Cowboys players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Braves players Paris Lakers players People from Caldwell County, North Carolina Portland Beavers players Ponca City Cubs players Pueblo Bruins players San Antonio Missions players Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players Wenatchee Chiefs players Crestview Braves players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub