Robert Roe Skidmore (born October 30, 1945) 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 ...

player and one of the few players 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), ...

history with a perfect career batting average of 1.000. An

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 cat ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, he had a ten-year, 1,289-

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

career (1966–1975) in minor league baseball, but made only one Major League appearance as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. He 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 . Skidmore had split the 1970 season between the Cubs' two top farm clubs, the

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded. ...

and the Tacoma Cubs, before his late-season trial in the Majors. On September 17, 1970, during a 9–2 loss to the

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 ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

, he pinch hit for

Joe Decker George Henry Decker, Jr. (June 16, 1947 – March 2, 2003) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs (1969–72), Minnesota Twins (1973–76) and Seattle Mariners (1979). He was born in Storm Lake, Iowa. He was traded a ...

in the seventh

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

and singled off Cardinal

left-hander 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 ...

Jerry Reuss Jerry Reuss (born June 19, 1949)—pronounced "royce"—is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, best known for his years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Reuss played for eight teams in his major league career; along with the Dodge ...

. He was then retired on a

force out In baseball, a force is a situation when a baserunner is compelled (or ''forced'') to vacate their starting base (time-of-pitch base) and try to advance to the next base. When a runner is forced to advance to a base, they are forced out if an op ...

. It was Skidmore's only Major League

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. He was traded along with

Dave Lemonds David Lee Lemonds (born July 5, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher who played in the Major Leagues in and for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. Lemonds appeared in 33 Major League games, all b ...

and

Pat Jacquez Pat Jacquez (born April 23, 1947 in Stockton, California) is a former right-handed pitcher who played for the Chicago White Sox in 1971. Jacquez only pitched in two games in his major league career. He was drafted in 1967 by the Chicago Cubs an ...

by the Cubs to 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 ...

for

Ossie Blanco Oswaldo Carlos Blanco Díaz (born September 8, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He batted and threw right-handed. Blanco posted a .196 batting average in 52 games for the Chicago White Sox in 1970 and the Cleveland Indians ...

and José Ortiz on November 30, 1970."Center Fielders Are Exchanged," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 1, 1970.
Retrieved March 10, 2020 Roe attended Eisenhower High School in Decatur, Illinois.

References

External links

, o

or
Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skidmore, Roe 1945 births Living people Arizona Instructional League Cubs players Arizona Instructional League Giants players Baseball players from Illinois Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Chicago Cubs players Decatur Commodores players Denver Bears players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Oaks players Millikin Big Blue baseball players Pawtucket Red Sox players San Antonio Missions players Sportspeople from Decatur, Illinois Tacoma Cubs players Tucson Toros players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players West Palm Beach Braves players Yakima Braves players

References

Further reading

External links