Alexander Ames Wihtol

andy Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

(born June 1, 1955) 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 Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. A right-handed

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 ...

, he worked in 28

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

— all in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

— over parts of three seasons (1979–1980; 1982) for 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 F ...

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), ...

. He stood tall and weighed . Wihtol's professional career lasted for nine seasons (1975–1983), all in the Cleveland organization. He attended

Homestead High School (Cupertino, California) Homestead High School is a four-year public high school serving western Sunnyvale, southern Los Altos, and northwestern Cupertino, in Santa Clara County, California. Established in 1962, the school serves 2,405 students in grades 9 to 12 as part ...

, and De Anza College, also in

Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

, and was selected by the Indians in the second round of the secondary phase of the June 1974 amateur draft. After a strong season as a relief pitcher with the Triple-A Tacoma Tigers, Wihtol made his Cleveland and MLB debut that September when rosters expanded to 40 men. Although treated roughly in his first two outings, Wihtol was unscored upon in his last three appearances to post a creditable 3.38

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 ...

, with ten

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allowed in 10

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. In , Wihtol split the year between Tacoma and Cleveland; he worked in 17 games for the Indians from July through September and notched his only Major League win (on July 25 against the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

) and save (on September 30 against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

). After spending all of and most of in Triple-A, Wihtol received a final trial with the Indians in September 1982, appearing in six more games without recording a decision or a save. In 28 career Major League games, Wihtol allowed 54 hits and 24

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 57 innings pitched, with 34

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. Since retiring from the game in 1984, Wihtol has been a full-time

Realtor A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

working and living on the San Francisco Peninsula and has stayed involved with the game by serving as head baseball coach of Los Altos High School.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wihtol, Sandy 1955 births Living people Baseball players from Palo Alto, California Charleston Charlies players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cleveland Indians players De Anza Dons baseball players Gulf Coast Indians players Jersey City Indians players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers People from Cupertino, California Portland Beavers players San Jose Bees players Tacoma Tigers players Tacoma Tugs players Waterloo Indians players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players