James William Archer (May 25, 1932 – September 9, 2019) was an American

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 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 played for two seasons with 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 seas ...

. He threw left-handed and batted right. Archer was eighteen years old when he was signed as an amateur free agent in 1951 by the New York Yankees. He did not make the major leagues till 1961. In between Archer spent seven years in the minor league farm systems of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. Before the 1961 season began, Archer was part of an eight-player trade that brought him to Kansas City. Archer made his first major league appearance on April 30. He soon became a starting pitcher for Kansas City and finished the 1961 season with a record of 9–15 with a 3.20

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 ...

. Archer pulled a leg muscle in spring training the next year. Favoring the leg, he soon developed tendinitis in his throwing arm. He appeared in just 18 games for Kansas City in 1962. By 1964 Archer was out of professional baseball. After his playing days were over, Archer served as a city commissioner in

Tarpon Springs, Florida Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal po ...

. Archer served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He died on September 9, 2019.

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1932 births 2019 deaths Kansas City Athletics players Hawaii Islanders players Portland Beavers players Miami Marlins (International League) players San Antonio Missions players Knoxville Smokies players Vancouver Mounties players Columbus Foxes players Pulaski Counts players LaGrange Troupers players York White Roses players Baseball players from Virginia People from Wythe County, Virginia Military personnel from Virginia American expatriate baseball players in Colombia American expatriate baseball players in Canada {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub