Jerry Maxwell Reed (born October 8, 1955), 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 pitched for nine seasons 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), during 1981–1990.

Career

Pre-MLB career

Reed was originally drafted out of Enka High School in Candler, NC by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. He was chosen in the 11th round of the 1973 MLB draft, but did not sign, instead opting to attend

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

, where he threw the first no-hitter in the school's history. After four years at WCU, Reed was again drafted by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in the 22nd round of the

1977 MLB draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The White Sox surprised some when they passed on right-handed pitcher Bill ...

. He played the next four seasons in their farm system before earning a September call-up in 1981.

Phillies

Reed pitched just 4 innings in 4 games in the majors in 1981. He pitched another 7 games for the Phillies in , then was traded to the

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 ...

with two other prospects ( Wil Culmer and Roy Smith) in exchange for

John Denny John Allen Denny (born November 8, 1952) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds, from ...

to boost the Phillies' September stretch run, which fell three games short of the division-winning

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 ...

Indians

Reed pitched a handful of games during the rest of September for the Indians, then returned to the minors for the entire season. In , he spent most of the year in the major leagues for the first time, pitching in 33 games (including 5 starts). Despite pitching well, with an ERA of 4.11 in 72 innings, he was released during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in .

Mariners

Reed caught on with the

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) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

, starting the season back in the minors, but he would eventually get called back to the majors, going 4–0 in 11 games, and he would then spend the next three full seasons pitching out of the Mariners' bullpen. was his best season, when Reed had a 3.42 ERA in 39 games, with 7 saves. Reed was released early on in the season.

Career winding down

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 eight ...

were the next team to pick up Reed, but his ERA had ballooned to 4.80, and he was released in August. After the season, he made his way to the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

, where he pitched in 4 games for the

St. Petersburg Pelicans The St. Petersburg Pelicans were one of the eight original franchises that began playing in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. The team was managed by Bobby Tolan, while Dick Bosman, Ozzie Virgil, Sr. and Tom Zimmer served as c ...

before the league folded, and Reed's professional baseball career ended along with it. Reed wound up pitching in 238 major league games, all but 12 in relief, with a record of 20–19 and 18 saves.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Jerry 1955 births Living people Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from North Carolina Boston Red Sox players Calgary Cannons players Charleston Charlies players Cleveland Indians players Maine Guides players Major League Baseball pitchers Oklahoma City 89ers players Peninsula Pilots players People from Bryson City, North Carolina Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Phillies players Seattle Mariners players Spartanburg Phillies players St. Petersburg Pelicans players Western Carolina Catamounts baseball players