Billy James Gobble (born July 19, 1981) is a former

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 last played in the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

organization.

High school career

Gobble attended John S. Battle High School in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State S ...

and started four years on the varsity team. He led the team to three state tournament appearances and compiled a 32-8 record and 512

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 deno ...

s. As a senior, he was 10-1 with a 0.49

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, striking out 151 and allowing just 23

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 se ...

in 71 innings of work. His only

loss Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

came at the hands of Sullivan East High School, which is located in nearby

Bluff City, Tennessee Bluff City is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,733 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kingsport– Bristol (TN)– Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johns ...

. He was also a strong hitter, compiling a .493

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with nine

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 30 RBI and 24 walks. He signed a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

scholarship with the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

before being drafted by the Royals with the 43rd pick in the

1999 Major League Baseball draft The 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

. Gobble was the fourth Royal chosen, following Kyle Snyder,

Mike MacDougal Robert Meiklejohn MacDougal (born March 5, 1977) is a former relief pitcher in professional baseball. He is a switch hitter and throws right-handed. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Washing ...

, and Jay Gehrke.

Professional career

Kansas City Royals

Gobble made his major league debut with the Royals in . He steadily improved through his first three seasons; in he appeared in 74 games, the most on Kansas City's staff and tied for fifth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. Gobble was 4-1 with a 3.02 earned run average. On July 21, , Gobble surrendered 10 runs to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in the eighth inning, setting a Kansas City franchise record for the most runs surrendered in a game by a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

.Kaegel, Dick
Royals subjected to Tigers' revenge
''MLB.com'', 22 July 2008.Riedel, Charlie

''Detroit Free Press'', 22 July 2008. He was released by the Royals on March 18, .

Texas Rangers

On March 21, , the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers signed Gobble to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. He was released on March 30.

Chicago White Sox

On April 5, 2009, the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

signed Gobble to a minor league contract and assigned him to the Triple-A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

. The

promoted him from Triple-A

on Monday, May 11, 2009 to take the roster spot of struggling starter

José Contreras José Ariel Contreras Camejo (born December 6, 1971), is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher, who played in the Cuban National Series (CNS), Major League Baseball (MLB), and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team. Contr ...

. On July 7, 2009, he was designated for assignment.

Colorado Rockies

On January 28, 2010, Gobble signed a minor league contract with the

with an invite to spring training. He did not allow a hit in three

Cactus League 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 roster and position spots, and gives establ ...

outings and appeared to have locked up a spot as the team's left-handed specialist before suffering an injury. He appeared in two games for the Class AAA

Colorado Springs Sky Sox The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado Rockie ...

before retiring.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gobble, Jimmy 1981 births Living people Kansas City Royals players Chicago White Sox players People from Bristol, Tennessee Baseball players from Tennessee Major League Baseball pitchers Gulf Coast Royals players Charleston AlleyCats players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Wichita Wranglers players Omaha Royals players Charlotte Knights players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players