Jack Elmer Urban (December 5, 1928 – June 26, 2006) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 dr ...

who appeared in 69 games in the Major Leagues, 37 as a starter, for the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

(–) and St. Louis Cardinals (). Listed as tall and , he threw and batted right-handed. Urban was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

, where he attended Technical High School. Originally signed by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

before the 1949 season, he spent six full years in the Bronx Bombers' organization (as well as two years in the military) before his 1957 trade to the Athletics in a 13-player blockbuster. The Yankees sent

Irv Noren Irving Arnold Noren (November 29, 1924 – November 15, 2019) was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He was an outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1950 through 1960 for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees, Kansas C ...

Milt Graff Milton Edward Graff (December 30, 1930 - August 2, 2005) was a Major League Baseball second baseman. He was born on Tuesday, December 30, 1930 in Jefferson Center, Pennsylvania. He was listed at a height of and a weight of 158 pounds. Graff at ...

Mickey McDermott Maurice Joseph "Mickey" McDermott Jr. (April 29, 1929 – August 7, 2003) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Pre-professional career Mickey McDermott was the third son of Maurice McDermott Sr., a police officer and ...

, Tom Morgan,

Rip Coleman Walter Gary "Rip" Coleman (July 31, 1931 – May 14, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher who played from 1955 to 1957 and 1959 to 1960 for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics and Baltimore Orio ...

, Billy Hunter and Urban (as a player to be named later) to the Athletics for

Art Ditmar Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...

Bobby Shantz Robert Clayton Shantz (born September 26, 1925) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through , and won the 1952 American League Most Valuable Player Award as ...

Jack McMahan Jack Wally McMahan (July 25, 1932 – October 16, 2020) was a right-handed batting, left-handed throwing Major League Baseball pitcher who played in 1956 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Athletics. McMahan attended University of Ark ...

Wayne Belardi Carroll Wayne Belardi (September 5, 1930 – October 21, 1993) was an American professional baseball player. The first baseman and native of St. Helena, California, appeared in 263 games in Major League Baseball over all or parts of six seasons ...

and two players to be named later, who would end up being

Curt Roberts Curtis Benjamin Roberts (August 16, 1929 – November 14, 1969) was an American baseball second baseman who played three seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates in Major League Baseball from 1954 to 1956. He was signed by the Boston Braves as a ...

and

Clete Boyer Cletis Leroy "Clete" Boyer (February 9, 1937 – June 4, 2007) was an American professional baseball third baseman — who occasionally played shortstop and second base — in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Athletics (1955–57 ...

. In the minors, Urban won 23 games in the Class D

Sooner State League The Sooner State League was a Class D level minor league baseball league that operated from 1947 through 1957. The league owners kept it alive in 1958, anticipating a return to play in 1959. However, when only Ardmore and Paris, Texas, were able ...

(1950), followed by a 17-win season in the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League (1950). In 1954, Urban tossed a no-hitter for the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...

of the Double-A

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

. He made a successful big league debut on June 13, 1957, at the age of 28. Facing the Washington Senators, he tossed a

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 ...

, allowing only two runs and five

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 s ...

. Although the team as a whole finished 59–94 on the year, Urban did exceptionally well compared to that, compiling a 7–4 record and a 3.34

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 numb ...

in 129

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 inning ...

. He allowed only 111 hits and 45 walks. Experiencing a sophomore slump, his 1958 season was not so impressive, however. In 30 games – 24 of which were starts – he went 8–11 with a 5.93 ERA. In 132 innings of work, he allowed 150 hits and 51 walks. He was traded back to the Yankees on April 8, 1959 for Mark Freeman. Urban never appeared in a Yankees uniform, however; he was purchased by the Cardinals in May of that year. Appearing in only eight games for St. Louis, Urban allowed 18 hits, seven walks and 11 earned runs in 10 innings for a 9.28 ERA. He played his final game on August 6, 1959 against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Although he entered the majors with a bang, he left them with a bust – in only one-third of an inning, he allowed a total of five runs. Overall, in his three-year MLB career, Urban went 15–15 with a 4.83 ERA. In 272 innings, he allowed 279 hits, 103 walks, and he also had 113

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

s. He threw one shutout, a four-hitter on July 14, 1958, also against Washington.

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every majo ...

br>box score (14 July 1958): "Kansas City Athletics 4, Washington Senators 0"
/ref> A respectable hitter (for a pitcher), he hit .209 in 86 career at-bats.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urban, Jack 1928 births 2006 deaths Birmingham Barons players Charleston Senators players Denver Bears players Kansas City Athletics players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball pitchers McAlester Rockets players Omaha Cardinals players Quincy Gems players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players St. Louis Cardinals players Baseball players from Omaha, Nebraska Technical High School (Omaha, Nebraska) alumni