James Webster Wilhelm (born September 20, 1952) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

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), ...

from to for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Wilhelm threw and batted

right-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 subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed . Chosen in the seventh round of the 1974 Major League Baseball Draft, Wilhelm spent five seasons in the Padres' farm system before his recall in September 1978. In his first game on September 4, Wilhelm doubled off the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Larry McWilliams Larry Dean McWilliams (born February 10, 1954) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves (twice), Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Kans ...

, driving in two baserunners and putting the Padres ahead to stay in a game they would eventually win 8–4.Information
at

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 major ...

Although he started the 1979 season in Triple-A, Wilhelm was recalled to San Diego in July and appeared in 39 games over the remainder of the season,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.243 with 25 hits. However, just prior to spring training in , on February 15, Wilhelm 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 Fi ...

with

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 ...

Bob Owchinko Robert Dennis Owchinko (born January 1, 1955) is a former professional baseball pitcher. A left-handed pitcher, he played all or parts of ten seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1976 and 1986, for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, Oa ...

for outfielder

Jerry Mumphrey Jerry Wayne Mumphrey (born September 9, 1952) is an American retired professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals (1974–79), San Diego Padres (1980), New York Yankees (1981–83), Houston Astro ...

. Rather than report to the Indians, Wilhelm, 27, retired from the game. His final MLB totals included 49 games played, all with the Padres, with six doubles and three triples among his 32 MLB hits.

References

External links

1952 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from San Jose, California San Diego Padres players Alexandria Aces players Hawaii Islanders players Amarillo Gold Sox players Walla Walla Padres players Santa Clara Broncos baseball players Sportspeople from San Rafael, California Bellarmine College Preparatory alumni {{US-baseball-outfielder-1950s-stub