James Russell Ellis (born March 25, 1945 in

Tulare, California Tulare ( ) is a city in Tulare County, California. The population was 68,875 at the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, eight miles south of Visalia and sixty miles north of Bakersfield. The city is named for t ...

) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in 1967 and 1969 for the Chicago Cubs and

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 ha ...

. The , Ellis was originally signed by the Cubs as a free-agent in 1963, and he made his big league debut with them on August 11, 1967, at the age of 22. Although he allowed one run, three hits and two walks in the 2 innings he pitched in his big league debut earning the loss, his first big league at-bat was notable because he hit a double off an opposing pitcher

Jim Bunning James Paul David Bunning (October 23, 1931 – May 26, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher and politician who represented Kentucky in both chambers of the United States Congress. He was the sole Major League Baseball athlete to ha ...

, driving in the Cubs only run of the game. Overall, Ellis went 1–1 with a 3.24 ERA in eight games (one started) in his first big league season. On April 23, 1968, Ellis was traded with Ted Savage to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

for Jim Hickman and Phil Regan. On October 21 of that year, he was traded to the Cardinals for Pete Mikkelsen. He appeared in two games for the Cardinals in 1969, starting one of them. In 5 innings, he allowed only one run for a 1.69 ERA. Ellis played his final big league game on July 12, 1969. Overall, he went 1–1 with a 2.86 ERA in 10 major league games. He was involved in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers on October 20, 1970. The Cardinals sent Ellis and Carl Taylor to the Brewers for Jerry McNertney, George Lauzerique and Jesse Huggins, a minor leaguer. After one season with the Brewers' top farm club, the

Evansville Triplets The Evansville Triplets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Triple-A American Association (AA) from 1970 to 1984. They were located in Evansville, Indiana, and played their home games at Bosse Field. The Triplets served as a farm club for t ...

, Ellis' professional career ended.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Jim 1945 births Living people People from Tulare, California Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago Cubs players St. Louis Cardinals players Pocatello Chiefs players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Quincy Cubs players Spokane Indians players Tacoma Cubs players St. Cloud Rox players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Evansville Triplets players Baseball players from California